John, Unless, you or someone else has modified your 'oil system', there are
no oil related things up near your spare tire that I know of.  There are
power steering hose connections up there which could leak and that's power
steering fluid..  The oil alarm light is in the center portion of your dash
and when it goes off, there is a noisy alarm as well.

Under your water temp guage there is a red light which will blink if your
coolant reservoir is low.  Could it be that?  That sound more likely.  While
you're back there, check the level on your power steering reservoir as
well.  The PS doesn't have a massive reservoir though.

Well, those are my thoughts.

John Graham
88 Westy
Charlotte, NC

On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 10:10 AM, John Drew <john.p.drew@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello all:
> I'm confused. I was driving down the highway when suddenly my oil/temp
> light came on in my 1987 Vanagon. I immediately exited and coasted to
> a stop only to find a massive oil leak coming out of one of the hoses
> located near the spare tire rig. I took out a screw driver and
> tightened the fitting around the hose and then added 3 quarts of oil
> to bring the oil level to where it should be. I then drove a few
> miles, stopping frequently to gauge the status of the leak. Tightening
> the fastening seemed to do the trick as I have yet to see a single
> drop hit the driveway. The problem however, is that the oil light
> continues to flash. When I turn on the car, everything sounds normal
> and it idles normally but then the light comes on. If the oil level is
> normal, why is the light still telling me something is wrong? Also, I did
> just return from a trip in which I traveled 30 miles on a dirt road that
> might have rattled various fittings lose. Again though, since identifying
> the leak the prompted the light to come on in the first place, I have not
> seen additional leakage, but the light won't go off.
> John
> john.p.drew@gmail.com
>

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