Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:31:22 -0700
Reply-To: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Roger Whittaker <rogerwhitt1@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Our new 1982 A-C M/T Vanagon/Westfalia. Questions and
concerns.
In-Reply-To: <7814B0F3-7D69-4443-AD8C-44F83F2C6077@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
dear newbie
congrats on your new purchase
your next purchase should be a Bently
i suggest starting here
http://www.bentleypublishers.com/vw/vanagon/1980-1991/
pick out the books you need ... these will become the reference books of
choice when trying to learn about your vehicle...
it is very unlikely you will find very many Mr Muffler guys or any Mister
Mister guys who have a clue about your vehicle
for that matter it is very unlikely you will find any VW guys who have any
clues about it ... most have never seen one
unless your mechanic specifically says he has knowledge about your van it is
a good idea not to let him fix anything ...
you say you are in canada but donot mention the city ...
if you live in victoria there is an excellent vw repair guy just off
hillside / gorge-- west of douglas
he will only repair OEM VW and will not lay a hand to any form of conversion
if you live on the north sunshine coast there is another excellent VW guy
who is old country father land trained and he can tell what is what
just by rubbing his hand along the body ... repairs are effected with the
same sort of magic ...
but he is older now and less inclined to lay down under any formerly moving
machinery
as for parts if you have storage it is time to start collecting parts ...
or you can try BowWow auto parts
*http://preview.tinyurl.com/ydsvx3k*
i would bet before the day is over you will have several other guys with
considerably more knowledge than i ...
tell you of a dozen places to get parts and repairs... but we need to know
where you are so you dont get referenced to cities further away then
america
i always had good luck with them when i lived in kelowna bc
and after my friends saw i was fixing a 1969 type 2
well they came out of the wood work and i was even given a .09 distributer
the so called racing distributer for the 1100 cc air cooled type 2
reported to boost rpm and stall off having to shift shifting
good luck
yours
2009/9/27 Joseph Doré <josephpdore@gmail.com>
> Hi all.
>
> Just subscribed to the list a few days ago and I've really enjoyed
> reading the series of posts so far. It's really great to hear stories
> from people with the same unique vehicle.
>
> Anyhow. I'll get to it:
>
> My wife and I bought our very first VW camper just a few weeks ago.
> It's in beautiful condition but I guess the previous owner was not too
> mechanically inclined, so I (who is mechanically inclined but is a far
> far cry from being an auto mechanic) have found quite a few things
> that need attention over the last few weeks. Some little things like
> the exterior hose/tank/electrical covers being velcroed shut instead
> of just tensioning and installing the spring properly, or not running
> the speaker wires to the back after having redone/oil sprayed the
> interior. Little things like that are annoying but no big deal.
> Unfortunately I've found some other more serious problems as well.
>
> After a couple of days of driving, the oil pressure warning lamp began
> to illuminate faintly at high RPM just before changing gears. Then a
> few days later it would do the same but begin to stay illuminated
> faintly while cruising at 100km/h (if I had been driving during the
> day I would not have been able to see the light). So I did some
> research and the consensus seems to be that only Mann oh Mahle oil
> filters should be run on an air-cooled VW and the oil of choice for
> the fall season would be a 20W50 conventional oil. So I found a repair
> shop that stocks some air-cooled parts and got a Mann filter from them
> and picked up some good quality 20W50 and changed the oil yesterday.
> Nice new filter, nice fresh oil, then took her for a spin and I was
> shocked to see the oil pressure warning lamp coming on sooner and more
> frequently than before! I'm afraid to drive it now. Any ideas?
>
> Next thing I noticed was a rattling sound in the front passenger
> side. Every time we hit some good cracks or potholes it sounded like
> metal on metal rattling. I brought it in to Mufflerman (I've had
> great success with them and my '01 Honda) and asked them to look over
> the front end suspension. They found nothing wrong and said it must
> be the spare tire carrier. So I padded the spare tire above and below
> to test it out and the rattle was still there. So yesterday, after
> changing the oil, while I had access to a pit, I inspected the front
> end for myself and found (without any knowledge of suspension
> components) a sway bar linkage broken just above the lower bushing and
> the broken linkage has spun backwards and has been rattling against
> the coil spring this whole time! So my question now is, where do I
> find a sway bar linkage? Or does it need a whole new sway bar? I can't
> figure out how the linkage would ever be removed/installed onto the
> sway bar.
>
> Next thing is my back-up light switch is oozing transmission fluid and
> leaving annoying oil stains on my driveway. I ordered a switch from
> the repair shop but they gave me the wrong one (Looks like the one for
> a Rabbit). So I still need to exchange that for the right one before
> I can resolve that problem.
>
> Basically, this all leads me to one question: Where can I find Vanagon
> parts in Canada without having to travel 2 hours to the specialty auto
> repair shop or waiting 3 weeks and paying ridiculous import fees on
> parts from the U.S.? The driving season is short enough in Canada, it
> would be a shame to spend too much of it on repairs instead of travel.
>
> Thanks!
> Joe
>
--
roger w
From Proverbs:
Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a
servant who becomes king ...
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