Volks,

It�s all about the weight.

STORY:      Two weekends ago I traveled north from San Diego to Lone Pine,
CA to hike Mt. Whitney.  The van ran great until I started to do some heavy
climbing from around 5,000-9,000 feet elevation.  At that point my oil/light
and buzzer started to sound off.  I had the correct level of oil and my temp
gauge was only one needle width above the light.  So I limped to the parking
lot and let it sit for a few days.  When I drove home the oil light/buzzer
sounded about five times at various elevations and temperatures (outside
temp and car temp).  Every time this would happen I would immediately turn
off the car, let it sit for one or two minutes and then turn the car back
on.  This seemed to do the trick to get me home.

In preparation for a camping trip in Sequoia National Forest over the
Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to solve this problem for I knew I would have
to traverse the dreaded California Grapevine on Interstate 5.

SOLUTION:     After receiving tons of great advice from the list (thank you
all!!) I realized I was using the wrong weight oil.  Also, while having my
local v-dub mechanic flush my coolant (just didn�t have time and confidence
to do it myself, yet) he spotted a couple coolant leaks.  So he fixed the
leak, �T� off my rear heater, and flushed the coolant.  Then I replaced my
oil with Mobil 1 15W-50.

RESULT:     After putting 700 miles on my car this weekend I can report that
it ran great.  I went over the Grapevine at night and at midday with no
light and no buzzer.  I, even, averaged 19 miles per gallon, my best yet.
My temp gauge did move 1 needle width above the light but I believe that is
an acceptable range considering what I was asking the van to do.

Cheers to the List,
luke
88-westy-zorbus
ocean beach

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