Date:         Sun, 8 Jun 1997 11:26:31 -0600
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ronclay@ldd.net (Ron Clayton)
Subject:      so that's what it was!

Hello Vanagoners!?:

I am new to the list so excuse me if I miss some net protocol or other.

I've been following the conversation about the o2 sensor with some
interest.................................I did not know about the reset
button=8A pity!

        Here is my story: In 1984 I ordered from the factory a brand new
marine blue Wolfsberg edition weekender with the curtain and screen
package, wide whale corduroy seats, gray stripe =8Ashe was a beauty!

18K miles on sabbatical trip to DC. And the heads fail.  I was fortunate
enough to be near Christiansberg VA.  Where a really good dealership
mechanic did the rebuild, I rented a car and went back to DC. For a week.
VW of America picked up the tab and I had no more serious trouble until
around 90k when, you guessed it, the -light- comes on.  At this point I'm
living 200 miles away from the nearest dealership and a shade tree mechanic
in Jonesboro AR sez to me: SheEOOT!  =8ADon't mean nothin' but instead of
punching that reset button he disconnected the o2 sensor!  =8AEngine begins
running rich, no one can set the idle properly, cat.converter eventually
burns out.  I still got 120k miles out of her but she never was quite
right, often had gas in the oil and other associated problems.   Ironically
it was not the engine but the automatic transmission that finally did her
in, another botched repair, this time of a simple O-ring seal leak!  In
1992 traded her in on a new '91 burgundy and gray GL with all the extras.
The Dealer told me he sent old blue off to California where "they're a lot
more popular and someone will appreciate her enough to do the needed work".
Aside from a slight ding in the sliding door just ahead of the rear wheel
well she was pristine inside and out.

Postscript: my '91 does not have the illconceived dash light and she is
nearing her 90k milestone, I really love her too so how do I know when the
o2 sensor actually does need attending to?

'91 GL
Living in Cape Girardeau, MO
Artist/College Professor.