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Date:         23 May 1996 11:05:53 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Harvey Chao" <Harvey_Chao@smtp.svl.trw.com>
Subject:      about "Under the Bus"

Ice! Crushed Ice! many uses - cooling drinks, keeping food cold in an ice chest, cooling off overheaded bodies, preventing swelling of joints or other injured areas, reducing lumps on the forehead resulting from dropped axles (Gotta be a rare malady - I hope!)

Bob - This bus would'nt be Grendel would it? Or is it the bus that you drove up to Pffeifer this Jan.?

Speaking of "wrenching on one's bus" -- Last time I had to take the diesel van to a shop (New Dimensions, San Jose) for something I had an interesting response that "it's a diesel, we may choose not to work on it" Why I asked, "because most of them are such a greasy mess". Guess I can understand that I' not real keen on working on a grease covered engine either - but I've kept the engine and compartment as clean and dry as possible. I'd have to guess that most messes come from changing the oil filter - the oil that dribbles out when the seal comes free of the flange, dribbles down the block and coats the pan and surrounding tin. VW very thoughtfully included a plastic cup that snaps around that interface, and I have been careful to keep mine from getting lost. However I would expect that most owners of the diesel beast would have lost theirs the first time some shop changed the filter and the person titled as a mechanic was too lazy to it back. For you diesel owners out there, if you still have your cup, or even if you don't, much of the mess can be readily controlled if you take a moment to slip a full size sheet of newspaper that has been folded in quarters under the oil filter/oil cooler flange and arrange it to catch whatever dribbles out. I have found that doing this plus a bit of care as I remove the filter keeps the engine compartment completely clean and dry of spilled oil. The second source of oil all over the bottom of the engine and the tin around it is a crack at the base of the plastic filler tube where the fresh oil is introduced to the engine. IF you look carefully, there is a cast aluminum elbow bolted to the pan, and then the plastic tube bolts to the elbow. Because of the long lever arm from the top of the tube to where it bolts to the elbow flange, it is not too hard to apply sufficient stress to the tube to crack it at the bottom, where it is below the level of oil in the crankcase. So if you seem to have a perpetual mess of oil on the bottom of the pan and on the tin surrounding it, try this - use simple green or whatever to clean up the pan and tin so you have everything nice and clean, then stuff a rag between the elbow and the tin and leave it there for a week or so. Go back and check the rag. In my experiences, a crack at the bottom of the filler tube will result in an oil soaked rag. The rag, absorbing the oil, will keep the rest of the engine and tin clean if there is no other source of a leak. The solution is to blow $35 and order a new tube and "O" ring from the dealer. You will re-use the cap and dipstick. The bolts that attach the tube to the elbow are metric cap screws - ab out 6 or 7 mm.


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