I know I've told this story before, but in short, I put a 1-gallon gas can in
the spare tire.  In Smuggler's Notch, Vermont, the radiator was working
overtime from the climb and the gas tank most likely shifted so that it touched
a coolant line.

The rupture disk on the cap burst with an audible pop, sending a nice spray of
fuel (actually 18:1 2-cycle mix) all over the spare and surrounding areas.  I
quickly pulled over and mopped stuff up, but it could have been catastrophic
with an ignition source (e.g. the cycling radiator fan).  Spare tire was clean
and nicely lubed, BTW.  :-)

I ain't doing it again.  Muir: "You can go to hell in your own way."

-Karl

> > I think your idea of putting a can of gas inside the spare is
> > ingenious... BUT it does occur to me that if the container's seal is
> > compromised... and this doesn't have to be a leak; just gasoline vapor
> > rising and being trapped under the van... and there is a spark from one
> > of the nearby wires... or the fan shorts out and burns up... the results
> > could be catastrophic...
Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA
'87 Westfalia Weekender  "Beverley" - 196K miles
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/
PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/pavanagon/