I'd recommend an oil pressure gauge and oil temp gauge. These have  
been invaluable on my air-cooled Van. Also, try to leave all the  
cooling and heating ductwork in place - the engine is prone to running  
hot if removed.

1980 Westy
"WAIT4ME"

On Sep 27, 2009, at 10:09 AM, Joseph Dor� wrote:

> Hi all.
>
> Just subscribed to the list a few days ago and I've really enjoyed
> reading the series of posts so far.  It's really great to hear stories
> from people with the same unique vehicle.
>
> Anyhow.  I'll get to it:
>
> My wife and I bought our very first VW camper just a few weeks ago.
> It's in beautiful condition but I guess the previous owner was not too
> mechanically inclined, so I (who is mechanically inclined but is a far
> far cry from being an auto mechanic) have found quite a few things
> that need attention over the last few weeks.  Some little things like
> the exterior hose/tank/electrical covers being velcroed shut instead
> of just tensioning and installing the spring properly, or not running
> the speaker wires to the back after having redone/oil sprayed the
> interior.  Little things like that are annoying but no big deal.
> Unfortunately I've found some other more serious problems as well.
>
> After a couple of days of driving, the oil pressure warning lamp began
> to illuminate faintly at high RPM just before changing gears.  Then a
> few days later it would do the same but begin to stay illuminated
> faintly while cruising at 100km/h (if I had been driving during the
> day I would not have been able to see the light).  So I did some
> research and the consensus seems to be that only Mann oh Mahle oil
> filters should be run on an air-cooled VW and the oil of choice for
> the fall season would be a 20W50 conventional oil. So I found a repair
> shop that stocks some air-cooled parts and got a Mann filter from them
> and picked up some good quality 20W50 and changed the oil yesterday.
> Nice new filter, nice fresh oil, then took her for a spin and I was
> shocked to see the oil pressure warning lamp coming on sooner and more
> frequently than before! I'm afraid to drive it now.  Any ideas?
>
> Next thing I noticed was a rattling sound in the front passenger
> side.  Every time we hit some good cracks or potholes it sounded like
> metal on metal rattling.  I brought it in to Mufflerman (I've had
> great success with them and my '01 Honda) and asked them to look over
> the front end suspension.  They found nothing wrong and said it must
> be the spare tire carrier.  So I padded the spare tire above and below
> to test it out and the rattle was still there.  So yesterday, after
> changing the oil, while I had access to a pit, I inspected the front
> end for myself and found (without any knowledge of suspension
> components) a sway bar linkage broken just above the lower bushing and
> the broken linkage has spun backwards and has been rattling against
> the coil spring this whole time! So my question now is, where do I
> find a sway bar linkage? Or does it need a whole new sway bar? I can't
> figure out how the linkage would ever be removed/installed onto the
> sway bar.
>
> Next thing is my back-up light switch is oozing transmission fluid and
> leaving annoying oil stains on my driveway.  I ordered a switch from
> the repair shop but they gave me the wrong one (Looks like the one for
> a Rabbit).  So I still need to exchange that for the right one before
> I can resolve that problem.
>
> Basically, this all leads me to one question: Where can I find Vanagon
> parts in Canada without having to travel 2 hours to the specialty auto
> repair shop or waiting 3 weeks and paying ridiculous import fees on
> parts from the U.S.?  The driving season is short enough in Canada, it
> would be a shame to spend too much of it on repairs instead of travel.
>
> Thanks!
> Joe