Date:         Thu, 16 May 1996 16:46:29 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         roshea@pluto.scripps.edu (Ross O'Shea)
Subject:      Low compression in '83 1/2

First off, thanks to those who offered suggestions and information on
watercooled vanagon campers.  Now I need some help choosing the right bus.


One van that I'm looking at is an 83 1/2 Westfalia that has low (35 to 60
psi) compression in #1 and #3 - this seems very strange to me.  There is
also noise (sounds likes valves to me, but I'm not too familiar with these
engines) for a while when the car is first started up.  The guy who is
selling this car (it belongs to his sister) has been very honest about the
car - he told me about the low compression and some minor faults that I
wouldn't have noticed - but he hasn't tried to explain the compression test
results.  The engine was supposedly overhauled (heads, valves, muffler etc)
about 10K miles ago - I have a copy of the receipt - and the wierd
compression results started appearing after this time.  (lots of other
receipts/records to check this on - the owner took it for a checkup before
every long trip).

Any ideas about what would cause this? Comments on potential cost of parts
/ rapairs?

Thanks,
Ross