Date:         Wed, 7 Apr 2004 17:35:41 -0400
Reply-To:     Liz Maher <liz@MAHERCONSULTING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Liz Maher <liz@MAHERCONSULTING.COM>
Subject:      Not a happy camper :(
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.GSO.4.44.0404071056240.13019-100000@neota>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Hi all,

It's been 3 years since I've been on this list...you all helped us decide
to buy our '85 Westy Wolfsburg Weekender popup Vanagon and it's been a
great camper for us.....until just a week or so ago.

We were driving along and the engine basically just stopped. It turns out
that the oil pump died.

Our mechanic (a friend who works on all of our cars but not a VW specialist
- we drive a bit to get to one when we need to) says if we replace the oil
pump the engine will likely die soon anyway as some damage was done during
the time the pump was broken but the van was still running.

Assuming he is correct, we now need to either rebuild the engine, buy a
new/rebuilt engine, or start over with a new van.

We happened to get a great deal on this one, and have put some work into it
over the years, so we'd rather keep it.

But...it needs a new gas tank (has a small hole, on top, luckily but a rust
issue that has already affected our fuel pump) and it needs some brake
work. As far as we know, that's it.

The engine only has about 70K on it, the van has over 250K.  We've replaced
the water pump recently, and the fuel pump (been following that discussion
with interest but I think in our case it is rust in the tank as the noise
stopped when we emptied the tank and removed the little floaties within).

Anyway, if anyone has a sec to confirm - in general - that a broken oil
pump on a motor that ran after it broke is indeed the death knell for this
engine, I'd really appreciate it.  Because if it isn't, replacing the oil
pump is not a big deal.

Assuming that it is, we're looking for a rebuilt/new engine in the central
Ohio area - would drive up to 6 hours or so to pick up if right for us. Any
pointers in that regard would also be much appreciated.

On another topic, a few years back I made a pictorial of our solution to
the "second battery problem" - ours didn't work and we needed a new one, to
run various things while camping. We have a weekender, not a full camper,
so we have a jump seat - that's where the new battery wound up.  It's still
working great for us, been over 3 years now.  Hope someone enjoys...

http://gallery.hookahheads.com/gallery/vanbattery

Thanks,

:) Liz