Some factory vanagons don't have tachs, but instead have markings on the 
speedo that give some clues about shifting. These marks are often 
interpreted as shift points, and they are in sense. But, and it is a big 
BUT - all caps - Those marks are not to be interpreted as points to 
which to rev the engine before shifting, but rather points not to be 
exceeded before shifting. The V-dub beetles for years had the speedos 
marked that way. I had a dear uncle who bought a beatle in Anchorage, 
AK., interpreted the marks as points to rev the engine before shifting, 
and drove all the way to Alabama doing that. He had to have a new ingine 
installed somewhere along the journey. The point is -- shift by sound 
and feel - any seasoned driver can do it. And do not exceed the marks 
for any given gear nor make a habit of revving  the engine up to those 
marks every time before shifting. It's not necessary. Will shorten 
engine life. When to shift is determined by engine loading, and you can 
feel that in the seat of your pants!

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Ryan Shawley wrote:
> I got an 86 westy 4spd, with cruise control installed and working.  My tachometer does not work, when I first picked up the van and was doing nitty gritty cleaning I had the gauge cluster off and the wire for the tach was intact and the connector was snug.  I didn't see any obvious problems with the guage.  I'd like to have a working tach so how can I trouble shoot it?  Can I test the signal wire somehow with the engine running, like with a multimeter or something?  I hate to purchase and install another tach unit only to find out the signal is not there?  Is there a way to test the gauge itself?  Now while I am running without a tach can somebody give me some pointers for shifting without the tach, reading the archives now has me terrified of lugging the engine.  (don't think I'm a complete fool, I've been driving my 5spd jetta since new in 01 and the owners manual indicates to only downshift when things drop below 1500ish, this conditioning is probably not appropriate for the westy).  Specfically here in western pa we have a lot of hills, on a highway what top speed is it safe to drive in 3rd gear?  
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