but not without problems!

This morning, just as I turned the corner after leaving the driveway, the
oil light and buzzer blasted away in a very effective attempt to give me a
heart attack.  I turned around and headed back for the shop wondering just
what the heck I was going to do.  Hmmm, let's see, drive the Westy that's
threatening to have a meltdown, all the way to Dayton and back, or maybe I
should risk taking the 5000 and hope that the front brakes don't lock up
again somewhere in the middle of nowhere?  What to do, what to do???

The whole situation with the Westy seemed familiar from the GL days.  I
looked in the engine compartment and immediately noticed that the level in
the coolant jug was down to just above the Min. mark.  I topped it up and
filled the surge tank too.  Then started the van and let it run for awhile
to see what would happen.  No big surprise here, nothing happened!

I'm now in Dayton after a very nice drive down old route 40.  This was
Barry's first significant journey other than two cross town jaunts Wednesday
and Thursday.  Last night I switched the good tires off of the GL for the
brand new wrong tires that were on Barry.  They made for a nice improvement
in the handling and ride.

So just a reminder to all the Vanagon rookies out there.  If your oil light
and buzzer sound off suddenly it might not be an oil preasure problem.  You
may just need to top off your coolant.  You may also want to spend some time
and effort looking for an external reason for the coolant loss!!!

So far, so good, but it's Friday the 13th and I still have to make it home!
No worries...

Jeff Warner
'86 Westy Weekender "Barry"
'87 GL "Van"
Bunch of other stuff.