Date:         Mon, 03 Mar 1997 13:59:34
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         list@busdepot.com (The Bus Depot)
Subject:      Re: Smelly Heat

>The air comming out of the heater in my 80 camper smells kind of like 
>exaust.  It only smells when I have the heat on.  I was wondering if 
>there is an air filter anywhere that could be replaced.  
>
>Also, anyone know if I could install a fan for the heat?  What makes 
>would work?
>
>kyle


Kyle,

Are you smelling exhaust, or burning oil?  A common problem with the Type 4 
motors is oil leaks causing oil to get inside the heat exchangers, causing 
a burned-oil smell when running the heater.  The fix is to repair the oil 
leak and then put up with the smell for a long, long time until all the oil 
burns out of the heater box.  If you're smelling exhaust, it probably means 
that the inside lining is rusted out of your heater box(es) and the only 
fix is to replace the heater box(es).  

As far as a fan goes, busses with Type 4 motors had a fan as standard 
equipment.  I think the fan was optional on Vanagons.  It didn't do a whole 
lot anyway.  I bought a 3-position fan for my '77 from Barney's Import 
Parts in NY (ad in VW Trends) for about $60 or $70.  Installed it up front, 
under the belly pan of my bus (or, I suppose, above the spare tire area of 
a Vanagon).  It blew a LOT of air.  Good fan.  However, the bearings failed 
in about 2 months, and after the second one did the same thing, Barney's 
finally refunded my money.  I think this is because I was using a gas 
heater, and the air was just too hot for the fan.  I suspect this wouldn't 
have happened if I'd been using regular heater-box heat.

-Ron Salmon
 The Bus Depot
 http://www.busdepot.com