The most common failure mode of that valve is when it is in "closed"
position but still lets enough hot coolant thru to produce noticeable heat
in the summer.  If it's the original, it probably needs to be replaced.

I can't believe you've riding around with no bolt to hold up the spare.
Deal with that immediately!

Larry A.

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 9:34 PM, Slloth <slloth@comcast.net> wrote:

> Well I looked above to tire carrier and saw that valve.  It wasn't very
> hard to manually close.  I think that fixed the problem although I am
> still getting a little heat I figure that is the "ram air" or fresh air
> coming from outside?  But it's not burning my feet anymore.  I drive
> barefoot most of the time.  Also that latch holding up the spare tire
> didn't seem very stout.  Is it only held up by the latch or is there
> supposed to be a bolt or something holding it up?
>
> --
> '84 Westfalia, 1.9L
> '73 FJ40, 2F
>