On Mon, 6 Feb 95 20:06:48 CST From simood@aol.com (Simood) <unknown@unknown> sai
>I have a 1985 vanagon with a what seems to be an oil pressure
>problem,after about 20-30 minutes of driving the oil pressure light comes
>on ,engine looses power and develops a loud ticking sound.If I turn off
>engine for a minute or two and restart it it runs fine for about the same
>amount of time,and then the same old thing.

here's one possibility:
from Technical Newsletter, 88-N04
........................................................................
Volkswagen Technical Newsletter
88-N04

High Pressure, Low Performance

A Volkswagen that stalls when the engine is cold or after driving a few
hundred feet could be suffering from an air/fuel imbalance.  It could also
have a bad oil pump.  That's right, oil pump!  If the same engine has zero
compression, the chances are even greater than the oil pump is to blame.

If the oil pressure relief valve sticks, oil pressure could rise to over
200 psi when you accelerate to drive off.  With pressure that high, the
hydraulic valve lifters will overextend themselves, causing the valves to
hang open.  After the engine warms up, the car will probably run great the
rest of the day.  So check the oil pressure when you've tried everything
else to solve a stalling problem ... believe it or not!