Date:         Tue, 09 Aug 94 20:05:35 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: backup light saga continues ...

On Tue, 9 Aug 94 16:57:06 CDT John Huguenard said:
>By the way I changed the tranny fluid as well, and found a nice
>assortment of metal flakes attached to the magnetic drain plug.  Oh
>boy.  I wonder how long it will last.  Right now it will slip out of

i wouldn't worry if this is the first time you've changed the fluid. those
could be flakes from the original manufacturing processes, and the magnet
is only doing its job. every time i've changed the trans fluid, i find little
'grit' stuck to the magnet.

as an example, when i bought my 1980 bus, brand new from the factory, i
changed the oil at 300 miles (old habit) and found 'HUGE' metal flakes in
the oil drain plate! i mean, stuff the size of my little finger fingernail!
i was horrified! well, after getting a little bit calmer, i asked a porsche
mechanic that i knew at the time, and he said don't worry about it: that
even the 911's (at that time) would have those now and again: it was just
stuff that wasn't completely removed from the engine after manufacture, and
the strainer was doing its job. <note: porsche now claims they run your
car and change the oil BEFORE you get it for the new models. :) >

>first gear on a downgrade, but that is really the only sign of wear.
>The shifting is a little loose but I think that is mainly the linkage.
>Any thoughts?

i'd bet your little white plastic parts of the shift linkage (at the bottom
of the shift lever and along the shift rod to the transmission) are worn.
also: do you early vanagon folks know that there was a 'bug' in that box
under the shift lever? and you could get a later box (from like, 1983) and
install it to solve those first gear problems? let me know if you want me
to look up the part number ... i think i still have it.

>Finally, I seem to accumulate a good amount of dust in the engine
>compartment after travelling down dirt roads.  I have looked for air
>intake leaks with carb cleaner and have tried to seal them all, but I
>am concerned that some of this dust will end up where it don't belong.
>How much dust is "normal"?  And don't tell me to stay off dirt roads!

well ... i found that the dust in texas was coming in through the air
intakes on the side of the car. that the dust from the front wheels was
getting up and sucked into the engine area throught the vents in the sides.
especially if i was on twisty turny roads (where the front wheels would
turn and stick out from the body on those turns).

>From: RGOLEN@umassd.edu
>Those lights from Herrington are available from JC Whitney for $20 a
>pair. When we used to rally the 86 GTI, we took a fog light that
>had a sandblasted lens, put in a 100W bulb and ran a lead to the
>back up light...and one to a switch (just in case some idiot
>was sitting on the back bumper with hi-beams on).

>From: cev@rocket.com (Charles Vaughan)
>I have this fantasy that perhaps there is a halogen or other very bright bulb
>with say 2 to 3 times the light output of the stock bulb to put in the back-
>up light socket.  I really don't want to mount additional lights but I really
> need more illumination.  Any ideas?

there are some little halogen bulbs that fit into the same place as your
regular backup bulbs. just ask at the local auto parts place. (lapp?). but
a 'regular' fog light on the top of the rear bumper really really really
makes a much better backup light. you don't even need Ric's 100W bulb. :)
just the regular fog light bulb works great. it shines out to the sides so
much better than the regular bulbs, and you can actually SEE things back
behind you before they get close. i also recommend the dash-mounted switch,
but just because i was too lazy to connect the transmission-activated switch
into the fog light relay. :)

joel