Thrown rod would have made noise and been obvious. Check oil level and
condition for water. Possible broken head stud. Or a burnt piston could
cause the oil to blow out the crank breather and explain the power loss.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Farrugia
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2006 1:34 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: engine quits, oil sprayed on
engine/compartment...smoke...oh my

you have a 2.1  with high mileage i vote for piston and rod sticking
through case :(.

jonathan

On Mon, 17 Apr 2006, Charles Laich wrote:

> today while driving my '89 westy gl automatic on the interstate at 64
> mph...poof...engine dies, smoke comes from the rear, lights come on on
the
> dash...pull over immediately.  inspecting the engine compartment we
see oil  all over
> the front of the engine mostly.   i'd just changed the oil  earlier
this week
> with gtx 20-50 and new proper oil filter (mann?).   she was running
perfectly
> until the episode.  a  AAA flatbed gets me  home tonight.
>
>   i don't expect a perfect diagnosis, but could anyone help me
understand
> what might have happened and what i can expect will be in the
repairs??   any
> ideas out there wise ones?
>
> thanks in advance
>
> charlie laich
> lake orion, mi
> '89 westy GL automatic
> (113,000 miles original engine)
>
>
>