I really think your starting problem is a bad fuel pressure regulator.

On two different Vanagons I experienced "Starts easy cold ... or right
away after being shut off but not if it sits for 10 minutes".  When it
happened on the 2nd van I didn't even troubleshoot.  I just replaced the
pressure regulator and all was back to normal.

Mike

Nathaniel Poole wrote:
> 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
>