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Date:         Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:34:04 -0700
Reply-To:     Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Our new 1982 A-C M/T Vanagon/Westfalia. Questions and
              concerns.
Comments: To: Joseph Doré <josephpdore@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <7814B0F3-7D69-4443-AD8C-44F83F2C6077@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

'Canada' is a pretty big place - maybe you could narrow that down a little for us. =)

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 >

-- Jake

1984 Vanagon GL 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"

Crescent Beach, BC

www.thebassspa.com www.crescentbeachguitar.com http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27


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