Date:         Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:55:17 -0500
Reply-To:     Zach Hale <zach@ZACHHALE.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Zach Hale <zach@ZACHHALE.COM>
Subject:      Oil/gas leak from passenger cv joint
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hello all,

I'm at a bit of a loss for what to do right now as I'm at a campground
intending to drive a full day so any help is much appreciated.

This morning I checked my oil and coolant as I normally do and all
looks good. Start up my 85 vanagon and noticed a slightly louder than
normal clicking noise (normal to hear but it got my attention) so I
went to listen in while it warmed up. Then I noticed something
dripping from around the passenger side rear axle boot. I can't tell
whether it's oil or gas. It smells like gas, but it sometimes does
when I start the van up. The cvs are only about 6000 miles old and
seem to be in good shape. The liquid stopped dripping after I turned
the van off and has since (20 min) dissapeared almost completely from
around the boot. Based on that I'm thinking its probably gas and I
only thought it was oil from scraping the ground where it was dripping
and would have mixed with dirt. I really don't know. Smells like gas.

I doubt the clicking is any worry and is just the van warming up. The
oil level is full and it seemed to be warming up like normal before I
stopped. Gas tank is almost full as well. I did notice that after my
last oil change a month ago the oil level was a little bit above max
for what that's worth. Seems a normal max level now. At least while
cold.

Any thoughts/worries? I appreciate any help as I'm eagerly ready to
leave this camground. :)

Thanks,
Zach