Chris, the cooling systems on these beasts can give strange symptoms unless
you get all the air out.  I bought my '84 with same symptoms in 5/97.  It
was still going strong until ignition problem hit this weekend.  On cooling
system, make sure all the air is bled out.  There are some procedures
floating around in the archives on the list along with ways to check for
exhaust gases in the coolant.  One thing that helped to resolve my cooling
system problems was to have radiator professionally cleaned and to make sure
radiator fan switch and relay was working correctly.

If you are having problems with distributor cap, you may be heading towards
same problem that apparently has my van dead in the garage:  bad ignition
module.

John Lauterbach
Macon, GA
----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Fall <cpfall@UCDAVIS.EDU>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, January 02, 2000 5:32 PM
Subject: couple of questions

> just bought an 83.5 Westy a few months ago and have had a hell of a time
> with cooling system. I believe that I have a small and possibly
intermittent
> blow by problem in a cylinder leading to air in the system.
>
> Q(s):
>
> 1) any idea how fast these things progress into more serious leaks? I'm
> having to burp it every 700-1000 miles or so.
> 2) my mechanic says that heads can't be tightened - doesn't work.
> reasonable?
> 3) it is possible that I also have a sticky thermostat - seems like it
> doesn't want to settle on a gauge position on the hwy. is this a VW only
> part or are there other ok replacements?
>
> 4) wierd and possibly related: This sounds like a Tom and Ray question,
but
> they don't seem too interested in vanagonstys...
>
> engine misses a bit at idle and sometimes on acceleration. I replaced the
> rotor cap because one of the plug sockets was really corroded. after less
> that 1000 miles/2 mos the same socket position is corroded again. The wire
> doesn't seem to be cracked. Any ideas?
>
> Chris Fall
> cpfall@ucdavis.edu