Hi All, I'm new to this list as I've recently acquired a 1980 Riviera camper
Vanagon. I've been following suggestions as they have cropped up (although
most seem directed to the water-cooled models), and replacing things and
doing upgrades. But what is happening is that when the van is warm and is
left sitting for 10-20 minutes, it can be hard to start. But it has to sit
for a bit; shutting it of and starting right away it works fine. When it
sits for a bit, you have to crank and pump, and it sputters a fair bit
before starting, after which it runs fine. Cold it starts great. My wife was
just left stranded because she didn't know to keep it turning over while
pumping the gas.
Is this a common problem? What is really interesting is that my daughter has
an '89 Cabriolet, which does the exact same thing, but with a completely
different drivetrain. I've never bothered finding the problem and fixing
hers because she got used to it and doesn't complain about it :)

Also, when the heat is turned on the hot air smells like old engine. Is this
just how these things work and you get used to it? There is no oil leaking
onto the heat exchangers. I followed the air path and it looks like the air
intake to the heater fan is outside the vehicle so I don't know why it
should smell like that. There are a few oil leaks that I'm going to get to
soon.
Nathaniel