White ish chocolate milk kind of goop?  A little might be condensation in
the oil.  A lot might be bad news.

Mike

> From: Don & Christina Preston <betsy@UTAH-INTER.NET>
> Reply-To: Don & Christina Preston <betsy@UTAH-INTER.NET>
> Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 16:11:21 -0800
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: A ticking time bomb . . .
>
> Hello again all!
>
> I've been off the list for a while (computer died, and other sordid events),
> but I'm back. And of course, I've got a problem :-)
>
> My Vanagon's been running super smooth. Everything has been just great,
> until yesterday. I started to go to work, then realized I have fogotten my
> badge. So, I went back into the house and by the time I had returned to the
> van, there was gasoline leaking out of the rear, where the line connects
> above the starter, and it sounded like the valves were ticking (they haven't
> ticked since I replaced the head gaskets about a year ago). So, I shut down
> the motor and took the wife's car to work, since I was late already.
>
> Today I found the cause of the gas leak, just an old fuel line. So I
> replaced it and went for a drive. From the moment I started the van, I heard
> that ticking again. It sounds like a valve tick, but a bit louder, coming
> from the right head. So, I pulled the valve cover on the right head and
> noticed a couple of things.
>
> 1. There was no oil at all in there. I've always found there to be at least
> a little hangin around.
> 2. There was some kind of whitish goop on the underside of the valve cover.
> I don't know if this is important, but the more info the better, right?
> 3. All the valves are adjusted correctly. I had though that maybe one of the
> adjusters loosened, but nope.
> 4. There is a kind of squeaking noise coming from the engine while running
> as well as the tick.
>
> So, any ideas? I'm thinking this could be as simple as a bad oil pump or bad
> as a main bearing or bent rod.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Don Preston
> '87 Wolfie GL
> ~Betsy the Mp3 Bus~
>
> BTW, I don't think I thanked you all the last time I was around for all the
> help, so THANKS!!! I really do appreciate the great input from you all.
>