Date: Thu, 5 Jan 95 10:49:12 PST
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Dave Kautz <dkautz@hpsidms1.sid.hp.com>
Subject: Back from the Snow
I've fianlly finished reading the digests that accumulated while we were off
playing in the snow. The snow / x-c skiing adventure was a big success and has
a VW bus component as well since the vehicles used were out '74 camper and
our friend's '91 "full-tilt-boogie" 2.1 liter Vanagon with the alloy wheels,
air dams and all those other hot props. Marlin was sure he was going to smoke
me on all those long hills up Hwy 180 to Kings Canyon and was not amused when
it didn't happen - He used to drive a '68 bus and figured all the breadloaves
were that slow. Other observations: It's easier to put chains on a Vanagon,
there is more room around the tire (Somehow, I ended up putting the chains on
BOTH vehicles). Those Vanagons sure are nice inside.
While waiting for Francesca to survive the check-out line at a supermarket,
the kids and I headed over to the magazine rack for a little reading - In one
of those "buyer-guide" kind of mags it said that the ONLY Eurovan available
in '95 is the long wheelbase Euro-Bago and that it is only available at
selected dealers. Furthermore, to get any portion of the camper part serviced
or repaired it would have to be taken to a Winnebago dealer. They listed the
curb weight at more that 4700 lbs.!; with 109 hp that results in a power to
weight ratio of of 43.1 which is not all that far from the pwr./wt. ratios
of past Westfalias. They described the performance as "glacial" - clearly,
they haven't tried a Diesel Westy. The sad implication is that there will be
no short wheelbase passenger only Dyslexivans for '95. Is this true?
I followed the thread on oil lights flickering in Vanagons and I have a few
questions: Has anyone looked up the circuit to see where the pressure
sensor is relative to the oil filter? If the sensor is between the pump and
the filter, and a more restrictive filter is used it may turn off the light
but it won't help lubricate bearings, etc. at all. Do any wasserboxer owners
have an oil temp gauge fitted? After going throught the exercise of the
wear index, one of my conclusions was that oil temp might be a problem on
long freeway trips, especially in the Syncro. Hot, thin oil could be causing
low pressure indications at idle. If the lights are going on when the engine
is cold, it must be something else.
I also want to wish Gerry a happy belated birthday. At 34, be comforted by
the fact that you are still young. Without revealing my age, I will mention
that Francesca enjoyed pointing out that I was the oldest attendee at the
recent Pizza gathering.
Lastly, I picked up a copy of the book that David Schwarze has recommended,
"How to Rebuild your Air-Cooled VW Engine" and I am impressed with it.
Very detailed, accurate and with lots of clear pictures. It's only $15.00
retail and could prove very helpful to someone doing a rebuild. Thanks
David, I second your recommendation.
Best Regards,
Dave Kautz
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