Hopefully you already got this from others but there is NO oil/temp
light on a Vanagon. The light in the temp gauge is a dual function
coolant hot/low warning light. Coolant status only, nothing to do with
oil. There is an oil light that flashes on an 87 but it is for oil
pressure and is located in the center of the cluster with the alt
warning light and some others.

The hose up front would have been a coolant hose and now the coolant is
low and causing the coolant low light to flash. You need to open the
engine lid and add coolant to the main tank. Not the tank you get to
from the license plate but the tank in the rear driver's side corner of
the engine compartment.

Mark

John Drew 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
>