Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 12:03:03 -0400
Reply-To: David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Subject: Re: 2 questions
In-Reply-To: <Law10-F50lGpf83sntG00004f40@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Sun, 14 Sep 2003, James Ballen wrote:
> Will I put excessive wear on the fuel pump by leaving the key on for say an
> hour or two?
Unless I'm mistaken, the pump only runs for a few seconds and then stops
if the engine isn't running. I don't have a gasoline Vanagon though so
someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
> This is great, but I cannot find anywhere that refers to where the drain or
> filler plugs are, or any other info I need to know about draining/refilling.
The fill plug is on the side of the transmission, about halfway up, close
to where the shift linkage attaches. Passenger side, if I remember right.
It's difficult to see even if you know about where it is, but look around
with a flashlight or feel around with your fingers and you'll find it.
The drain plug is on the bottom rear, in the center, near the bell
housing. It's pretty easy to spot if you look under the van. In both
cases you're looking for a round plug with a hex socket head.
Remove the fill plug first, so you aren't stuck with an empty
transmission if you can't get it out for some reason. :) It's a bear,
since the only real direction you can point the allen wrench is straight
up and it's hard to get a clear pull on it. Not much room for a cheater
bar, either. After repeated dousings of WD-40 and a lot of cussing I got
mine out.
When you remove the drain plug, remember that the fluid has momentum and
won't drain *straight* down, but in an arc...I didn't think about this and
the initial gush of fluid missed my drain pan. That mess was a real pain
to clean up. It was about 65 degrees out so the gear lube had the
consistancy of honey, but slippery.
Because of the location of the fill plug, you won't be able to pour the
fluid in from the bottle, so you'll need a pump or some other means to get
the fluid in there. I used a length of vinyl tubing routed up through the
wheel well to a funnel. I hung the funnel from the air vent with some
bailing wire. It took a long time to get the fluid to flow through all
that tubing into the transmission, especially since I forgot to snip out
the wire strainer in the funnel. (Consistancy of honey, remember?) It'd
probably help to warm the bottles of new fluid in a warm water bath first.
David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si
