Back in 1995 I bought an 83 Westy Air Cooled Westy.
After about three months of just general troublesome little repairs I went
on a little trip 250 miles.
While reroute I blew the #2 Ring off #4 Piston and I saw oil on my back
window when that happened.
If I hadn't seen the oil I'd probably never known and blown the entire
engine and crippled myself 250 miles from home.
I nursed the Westy back 250 miles by driving on service roads at 35 mph and
adding a quart of oil every 35 miles or so.

Stan Wilder
Engine Ceramics
214-352-4931
www.engineceramics.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Moon" <Moonf4@YAHOO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: Film of oil all over back hatch

> I had the same thing happen with my van. The oil all over the back of the
> hatch was reddish, so obviously in my case it was transmission fluid.
After
> a few failed attempts at different fixes, I ended up taking the
transmission
> to a shop in El Cajon and they did a pressure test on the torque converter
> and they discovered a minor crack on one of the welds for the three bolts
> holes in the torque converter. I replaced the torque converter and the
> problem was solved. The difficulty in finding the cause was compounded
> because the leak only occurred at higher speeds when the tranny was
turning
> at a high rate.
>
> Don't know if yours is engine oil or tranny fluid though. Hope that helps
> someone.
>
> Mike