I had a nasty experience recently when the filler at the camping ground in
Savannah apparently overfilled our tank.  Propane started venting from
behind the valve and would not stop.  Faced with about 3 gallons of propane
venting into a campground at dinner time, we elected to drive off  arguing
that the gas dissipating at speed was a better deal than incineration when
the closest BBQ was lit.  This worked out OK.
I then went out to my local (Fairfax VA) propane filler.  He put a small
amount of propane in but it too vented.  He advised that the Autostop valve
was shot and that Autostop had been out of business for 6 years, so good
luck with a replacement.  Oh, and it was illegal not to have a valve like
the Autostop. If there are fire 'problems' with propane, the first thing
insurance cos. do is send out a propane 'expert'.
I knew that complete tanks were available @$250, but ouch.  Stopped into the
local RV dealer and voila they had a whole lot of complete old unused tanks
with Autostop valves, $100 ea.
I bought one and swapped out the valves.  They have different part numbers,
and the old one is brass/bronze and the new one appears to be aluminium.
Apart from that they are identical.
I will fill the tank on Saturday and see how it goes.
I checked the old valve and could not see what the problem might be.
You may wish to try RV shops around your area.  Fairfax is a haul.
cheers
Geoff Thomas
Arlington, VA
'88Westy 223,000 miles and going strong

-----Original Message-----
From: BajaLeo [mailto:bajaleo@COX.NET]
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 12:16 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Propane tank fill valve leak

Hello List,

   Anybody figured out how to fix a leaky autostop fill valve without buying
a whole new tank? My local Suburban propane dealer said they can't be
repaired. It looks as if the autostop valve could be replaced with a
standard valve and a bleeder valve could be added to where the curved tube
goes into the tank. Anybody done anything like this?
_____________________
Leo Lipert
San Juan Capistrano, CA
'84 Wolfsburg Westy
'00 Golf