Hello,

Over the past several days, my 80 Vanagon has been producing a strange
hissing noise that seems to be coming from the area around the steering
column. This has been most noticeable when starting and stopping the
engine. It has also been getting longer and louder.

Yesterday, it was much more pronounced than before, and after a lot of
driving yesterday, I had trouble starting after stopping for a few minutes
at a bookstore. The engine lurched and knocked and wouldn't start. I
checked the oil level -- which was normal -- and tried once more, and this
time it started fine and sounded okay. On the way home, though, the oil
pressure light flickered brightly at a stop, but this did not repeat.

I took the city bus to work today, figuring that it had the potential to
be a horrible, expensive problem that could only become more horrible and
expensive if I kept driving it without knowing what was wrong.

Any ideas?

-e.