Date:         Thu, 10 Jun 1999 08:38:52 -0400
Reply-To:     Doug Alcock <dgalcock@HEWITT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Doug Alcock <dgalcock@HEWITT.COM>
Subject:      How do you fill the propane tank? and re:Starter woes
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Greetings to all,

     I'm a newbie to the list and to Westies. We just bought an '84 and I
tried to get the propnae tank filled. The attendant said there was
something wrong with the valve. I went over the list archives yesterday and
found mention of  the button on the forward side of the fill valve. When do
you puch this button? If someone would could give me step-by-step
instructions on the propane filling procedure I'd be grateful --- don't be
afraid of insulting my intelligence either.

     While I'm new to the list and westies I'm not exactly new to VWs. I've
owned three bugs, a 411 wagon and a '77 Camper Van (a very nice conversion
with stove, fridge, sink and poptop but done in British Columbia --- not a
Westy). The following post:

Brings back bad memories.  You don't mention what your vehicle is.  But I
had a '77 that wouldn't start after we'd been on the road for a few hours
and had shut it down--for gas, a meal, etc..  Drove us nuts for about two
years.  Had all kinds of opinions on it.  Finally solved it.  There is a
little bearing on the end of the shaft coming out of the starter.  Should
have been changed when the starter was replaced, but it wasn't.  Never had
any further problem after we changed it.

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Ferguson <rfergus23@YAHOO.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Tuesday, June 08, 1999 7:55 AM
Subject: starter woes

 what was frustrating was the
>starter dying after 5-6 hours of highway speed travelling...usually at
>a gas station refueling...various people have told me that the starter
>is placed too close to the engine and gets too hot to start after that
>amount of time on the road...this seem increadibly ludicrous since this
>is supposed to be a touring vehicle. I followed the advice of a local
>shop and had a booster solenoid installed that is supposed to alleviate
>the problem...my question is will it and also is this starter problem a
>design flaw or what?
>thanks for any advice,
>Cheers,
>Rick

had me roaring with laughter. This problem plagued me for 8 years in my '77
van and the first day on this list I see the answer without even asking the
question. I found ---- early on ---- that banged the starter with a hammer
the van would invariably fire right up. So, when the van wouldn't start ---
and I usually knew exactly when this was going to be ---- I could be out of
the van, under the back end whacking the starter with a the hammer I
carried specifically for this purpose, back behind the wheel and pulling
away in about 30 seconds --- so many times did perform this peculiar little
ritual.

     Anyway, I hope someone can help me with the propane question ---- I
suspect it will be first in a series. At the moment neither the stove nor
the fridge work and the water tank leaks copiously from somewhere so the
propane is the first step in debugging all the camping goodies.

Thank you all,
Doug