Ham handed techs are a real hazard.  I think I'll be getting a pump and
changing the oil like they do in boats. 

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Eric Caron
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2015 6:45 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Oil drain plug problems-Help!

OH man,

        these bugs are one of my worries.  I like changing my own oil but
i�m always afraid I�ll mess up one of these fragile bugs.

        I bought a lovely 84 Westi years ago and when I got it home I found
the oil plug was missing and a rubber stopper thingy was stuck in their.  My
mechanic used a spark plug with a welded bolt head on it to replace it.
Worked for the three or so years I had the van.  I think it was a common
solution for air-cooled busses.

Dealing with that plug is partly why my van is over due for it�s oil change.
 the other reason is that my Walmart is out of Mobile 1 15/50 in the 4 quart
bottle.  the price is best there by a lot so I�m determined to get it from
them!  I read this tip from Dennis and he was right!  Only reason I�ve been
in that store in a year.

Eric Caron 
85 GL auto westfalia.

> On May 3, 2015, at 9:09 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> It�s just not my weekend for getting anything done.  Went to do the first
> oil change on my son�s �87 and found it has an 8mm hex key (Allen wrench)
> plug that now has a round hole instead of a six sided hole.  Is this
> somebody�s idea of a bad joke?  I do not see this type of plug for sale on
> any of our vendor�s sites. 
> 
> 
> 
> Which brings me to another point, my 1.9�s plug is the conventional bolt,
> but it says �14 1.25� on the top. It�s been rounded off and filed to fit a
> 13mm socket, but the replacement plug I ordered from Van Caf� is not the
> same thread pitch, it�s coarser. Hmm. 
> 
> 
> 
> My options  for the �87 as I see them are:
> 
> 
> 
> 1.       Buy a big enough screw extractor to back it out, which may
require
> drilling the hole all the way through and draining the oil over my drill
> 
> 2.       Take it somewhere and have them deal with it
> 
> 3.       Sell the van for $25,000 and look for another one 
> 
> 
> 
> My 1.9�s have all had a normal plug with a hex bolt head, as did the 2.1 I
> put into my �84 years ago.
> 
> 
> 
> This can�t be the correct plug, can it??
> 
> 
> 
> Stuart  
> 
> 
> 
>