Joe,

Do it yourself.  The expandable push rod tubes (025 109 337) are a little
less than $20 each, and the lifters are between $8 and $15, depending on
whether you use Brazilian "CRAP" (I'm being nice) or OE German.  Add in a
pair of valve cover gaskets (~$1.00), oil and oil filter (~$15), and your
parts total is between $240 and $295.

Even a weekend warrior could do the swap.  The only problems you may
encounter are worn adjusters (~$4.00 each) and lifters that are reluctant to
slide out.  The lifters can usually be coaxed out by cleaning and
lubricating the lifter passage and using a strong magnet.  If they still
fight, take a wire and make a little hook at the end.  That will let you
grab the lifter through the oil hole.  Very rarely, you may need a puller
which you could probably borrow from someone on this list.  But 99% of the
time you can work them out with a little patience.

Cheers,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of joe lucca
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 8:26 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: replacing lifters

Hello everybody,
i just wanted to see what kind of input i could get on this subject...

the mechanic says the lifters in my van are worn out and need to be replaced
in order to get rid of horrible ticking sound. replacing the lifters and
tubes =$800

does this seem like too much?

how hard is this to do for a novice?

more than likely I'll be living with the ticking for a while longer.

joe