Greetings All -

I enjoy the list very much.  I've owned my '84 Westy (78,000 mi., orig.
motor) for 2 months and have enjoyed it, lived in it for a 7-week job
stint in Calistoga, but not without a few problems.  Here's one thing I'd
like to attend to soon:  rear hatch struts.  Does anyone know how to do
this job?  I have few tools and little mechanical expertise, but willing
to learn.  Thanks.

Les
Cellist &
Owner of '84 Westy

For the other stuff:

1)  Coolant drip from right cylinder head --- at the rear cylinder bolt.
Service people at dealer gave me the news of death telling me to replace
head.  My mechanic said "no f**king way!!" (he's a good mechanic,
really!).  He sealed up the bolt and this reduced the drip, but it still
appears much slower.  Was the dealer correct?  By the way I went to
dealer in Napa to replace the green stuff from PO after perusing vanagon
site warning about using phosphate coolant.  I've got blue now.

2)  Pilot bearing or throw-out bearing  seems to be out.  Can't disengage
clutch.  Made it home from Fort Bragg to Arcata in 2nd gear (a 150 mile
trip).  Had to force shift a few times and start in gear a few
times...did I possibly ruin something in the process?   I think this
(bearing job) would be too big for me, any advice?

3)  Since I am not currently driving it (checked out of my storage unit
and transferred the goods to the westy..sadly, but they do make fine
storage lockers) I do start the motor every week, but hearing a tapping
noise now...is this ok?  I have heard this is the hydraulic lifters which
over time with motor running get fluid and noise goes away.

4) I noticed the parking brake stuck, so I spent a good deal of time
forcing the van to move ( once in a while I can disengage the
clutch)...is the brake sticking a common problem?

5) oh yeah, I naively put QMI (like slick 50) in and drove it for 500 or
so miles until I read about ptfe(slick-50, qmi,etc) on the vanagon site
and did another change to get that stuff out of there...sounds like a
real scam those people run..  Hope I did no real damage with that junk.
By the way my mechanic recommends using 20w-50 engine oil...I live on the
foggy redwood coast. Temp here is 40-70 fahrenheit year-round.  I know
the engines run hot, so does this sound right?

Thanks,

Les

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