Date:         Sun, 15 Oct 1995 08:28:50 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         amunro@amunro.seanet.com (Alex Munro)
Subject:      '85 lifter noise, steering pump too.

Hello all.  Well we're still looking for an appropriate passenger vanagon in
our area.  My wife found one parked at a BP station, and it's been there a
couple of weeks now.  It is a very nice looking silver GL model with the big
sunroof and a pull out stereo.  It seems to have been pretty well
maintained, but there are two things that bother me.

First is what sounds like lifter noise.  It's one lifter and I only heard it
run for about three minutes at idle.  The owner said the sound goes away
after it warms up.  He started to mention that his mechanic told him that a
lot Vanagons do this but I'm skeptical.  Any thoughts?  Is there some
miracle rhino-snot that I can dump in and flush the lifters with?

Next is that the power steering pump is wheezing.  It still works fine, but
it's making a rather dry bearing sound and I'm picturing it needing
replacment.  Anybody know what a power steering pump costs?  Any other
wisdom from the net?

The coolant is blue, it's not leaking that I can see, and there are no white
deposits anywhere.  There isn't a speck of rust anywhere.  There is a little
parking lot rash behind the slider door that doesn't really bother me.  The
tires are nearly new. A couple of trivial oil leaks.  Total miles is
154,000.  No smoking, no knocking, starts right up.

The asking price is $3200
We're thinking about low balling him at $2500