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Date:         Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:55:45 -0700
Reply-To:     Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: In Missoula, overfilled oil
Comments: To: Mike Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <4C54569C.3090802@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

In my experience manual trans gear oil has a distinctive aroma, unlike engine oil and very different and much stronger.  If you sniff what you know is engine oil and then sniff what you suspect is gear oil you'd  be able to tell the difference.

Stephen

--- On Sat, 7/31/10, Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

From: Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> Subject: Re: In Missoula, overfilled oil To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Date: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 1:00 PM

Thanks, David (and all who have responded) -- I just called Steve and left a message. I'm briefly in town where I have Internet and cell service, the cabin is too remote for that fancy stuff.

200 miles ago, with a pretty darn cool engine -- it was 95 (F) so cool is relative -- the dipstick showed oil too high. This morning the level is good, below the upper notch. Operator error? I don't think so, but I'm not as smart as I wish I was so I might have screwed up, Steve might not have screwed up. That's a public record apology.

The transmission fluid reads good, too -- right below the upper embossed dot on the dipstick.

Which leads to a puzzle. The safety chain is wet with oil. It looks like and feels like engine oil. I did not smell it, the trailer is at the cabin.

Steve has noted previously that the differential (these things have differentials, yes?) has come up pretty dry. There is a leak someplace.   The engine underside is goopy.

So - I have a mystery here. Is there some way an average squirrel can i.d. the fluid type by examination?

Will check back later for any followup suggestions, and again, thanks, all!

-- Rocky J Squirrel 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana") 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) Bend, OR KG6RCR

David Beierl wrote: > At 01:47 PM 7/30/2010 Friday, Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\" wrote: >> My trust in Steve's Place in Bend, Ore., just went down a whole bunch. >> Last night, when I was unhooking the Westralia from the van, I noticed >> the safety chain was oily. The dipstick revealed that the chimps had >> overfilled the oil when they changed it last week. > > Dear Mr. Squirrel, > > Spoke to Steve.  His advice: > > a)  We put in 4 1/2 qt oil so it's not overfull, or else you added > some.  Check it when stone cold. > > b)  [from me] Does the oil on the stick smell like gasoline?  If so > could be washing down the cylinder walls.  It seems unlikely to me, but > there are people I trust who are firm that this can add more than a > quart (of gasoline) to the crankcase under the wrong circumstances. > > c) You have a known transmission leak, is this causing the visible > external oil? > > d) Call him. (541) 318-9884 > > Does that help?  He was definitely not receptive to the idea that the > motor had been overfilled. ;-)  I didn't insist, just asked what he'd > like you to do, and the above is the result.  I didn't for example ask > how precisely he *knew* that they'd put in 4 1/2 and not 5 1/2 qts. > > Yours, > David > ps -- He'd never heard of Jack Elliott, so there was a bit of a stumble > at the beginning. > > pps -- If you want to take some oil out, see if Missoula has a hardware > store (all right, I'm pretty sure it does) and get some pvc tubing that > will just go in the dipstick hole, and siphon some out.  Remember to > spit if you get a mouthful of oil.


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