Alan:  Thanks.  With regard to your breather hose, I had trouble
finding oil resistant hose that's semi flexible.  I bought some
expensive hose from Autohausaz or Bus Depot(forget which).  Sans that
availability, I suggest that you find a flexible spring or two that
fits inside your soft OE hose to prevent the collapsing.  I couldn't
find a suitable spring at our local hardware store, so I found a
piece of soft copper pipe to stick inside.  It didn't have to be  a
snug fit in there.  Just enough to keep the airflow uninterrupted.

A stop gap measure to keep the dipstick in it's place might be to put
a slight bend in it adding resistance to it's exit.  I haven't looked
at the Vanagon stick specifically, but didn't the old air cooled
sticks have a second piece of metal next to the grip that could get
spread like a cotter pin for more friction?

DM&FS

At 10:34 PM 10/4/2008, Allan Streib wrote:
>This afternoon I removed the rubber tubing between the breather tower
>and the intake.  It seemed a little soft, but I didn't have anything
>suitable at had to replace it.
>
>I removed the breather tower and noted that it had been sealed to the
>case with RTV.  I cleaned that off and made a gasket, and reinstalled it
>after checking it for blockage and finding none.  Likewise I did not see
>any blockage on the intake side.
>
>Took the van out for a drive; I had received word that gasoline was
>$3.19 a gallon in the next town ( about 15 minutes away ) which is about
>$0.40 less than it's selling for here.
>
>I noted that the radiator fan never came on (though the temperature
>gauge was right in the normal zone for the entire drive).
>
>Back at home, I checked the dipstick and it was pushed out again.  I'll
>hunt up some tubing to replace the old piece and see if it makes any
>difference.  I'm doubtful, but seems like a reasonable next step.  I
>also slipped a couple of fingers through the (upper) front grille and
>the radiator was cold.  I wonder if it's half full of air?
>
>Allan
>--
>1991 Vanagon GL