Hello fellow stranded (50-75 % chance) vanagon people,
I posted a while back a plea for help with my diesel oil pan.  As you might
recall, I had broken one of the seats off of it and it would not hold oil.
Here is the solution which I have ... it might not be perfect, but it stopped
that one leak ...
I removed the pan.  That's the easy part.
Then I got some NAPA brake cleaner and cleaned the thing.  
Then, I took it to the rattiest-looking welding shop that does aluminum
welding that I could find and they welded over the bottom hole for $20.
I then got some locktight which is supposed to be resistant to oil and
put it around the threads of my oil screw.  It has sure stopped that leak.
Oh, the final step: I put the oil pan back on.  That is a tedious
operation that takes about 2 hours or so to do right.  Anyway, that one
leak is now finished.  However, I will need to some up with some kind of
oil pumping solution to change oil since I really don't want to take that
bolt out again.
Now .. if I could just figure out why my engine makes such horrible sounds
and is so very loud ...
Stuart Hutton