>About one month ago I purchased my first VW bus, a pea green 1977
>camper with 135,000 miles on the original engine and transmission.  It
>had been used by a single family, strictly for camping, and it has a
>beautiful interior.
>
>Transmission:
>
>I have had some difficulty down shifting into first and second gear.

Sounds just like mine used to be.  I found that the coupler was broken -
the metal cage was broken.  Replacing that solved the problem... and to
think I put up with it for about 5 years before I tried to track down the
problem!
>
>Transmission oil:
>
>My owner's manual says that the gear oil should last forever, but
>after all this time should I change it?  If so, is the 90 weight
>hypoid oil easy to find?  The only straight 90 weight gear oil that I
>have seen is for marine use.

Can't hurt to change it.  The way the old oil looks can give you an
indication as to the health of your tranny.  I use regular 90-130 weight
gear oil.  I tried synthetic but it didn't do much for me, and it was
expensive.  A little easier to shift on cold mornings, that's all.
>
>Engine oil:
>
>Is it advisable to clean the oil screen or should I suppress the
>temptation and only change the twist-on filter?

You should clean the screen frequently.  I don't do it every time, but I
probably should.  The main reason that I don't is that it doesn't always
seal well, and once it seals I tend to leave it for a while.
>
>I truly do not want to start a religious war, but is there an FAQ
>which summarizes the various arguments about engine oil types in a VW.
>The PO used 10W40 but the local VW guru suggested using straight 30
>weight.  In chapter X of the idiot's guide, John Muir recommends
>straight 30 weight, but chapter XX (written after John Muir's death)
>recommends 10W30.

I have used 10-30, 20-50, straight 30, and straight 40.  I feel most
comfortable with the 20-50, although I have 10-30 in it now.  The 20-50
maintains oil pressure better than straight 30 weight in hot conditions, in
my experience.
>
>Fuel:
>
>Again not wanting to start a religious war, I would like to see a
>summary of arguments concerning fuel octane for VWs.  My owner's
>manual says to use 91 RON octane and that this is 87 (R+M)/2 octane
>(the method commonly used in the US).  The PO had always used low test
>gas and never experienced pinging when accelerating.  Someone told me
>that the higher octane fuel helps the engine run cooler.  Is this true
>even if the engine does not ping?

I seriously doubt it.  If your engine doesn't ping, putting high octane in
it is a waste of money, IMO.

>My engine does not seem to run hot.  After climbing the Blue Ridge
>when it is 80F the engine does not smell hot and the dipstick is
>comfortable to hold.  I will find out for sure when I drive across the
>country this summer.

Sounds like your engine is in good shape then.

>To get the emergency brake to hold on a steep hill I need to pull the
>handle back quite far and very hard.  Is this normal?

To an extent.  Depends on how steep a hill we are talking about.  I got
mine to hold much better by adjusting the rear brakes (turning the "star"
wheels
till the shoes almost touch the drums).

>I have not checked the brake pads and shoes yet.  Normal braking seems
>to work well, but I see from the service records that the brake pads
>were changed often.  Are replacement brake pads from a local auto
>parts store good enough, or should I be ordering them from a VW
>specific house?  (I was going to order a set from RMMW but they were
>out of stock.)

In my experience the pads wear out pretty quickly.  Busses are heavy, after
all, and the front brakes do most of the work.  I think I get around 20K
out of a set, maybe a bit more.

>The line leading to the EGR filter has been crimped off at the exhaust
>elbow.  The local VW guru said that this is really common around here.
>Does this affect engine performance at all?

Sorry, I'm not gonna touch this one.  :)

>I imagine that I would
>have to fix this were I ever to move to California (and it seems like
>the right thing to do anyhow).

Maybe so, maybe not.  I doubt working vs non-working egr will affect your
emissions much (as long as the egr valve is not stuck *open*).  God, I'm
probably gonna get flamed from here to Inuvik for that one...

I was surprised that RMMW did not have
>any EGR related items (the pipe, the filter, etc.).  Are these items
>available?

I was not able to find them.  Junkyard items.

>This is not a California model (no catalytic converter).
>Besides paying the impact fee, should I expect any difficulty bringing
>this bus to the golden state?

Nope, as long as your bus meets 49-state emissions requirements for that year.

>John Muir says to glue a new valve cover gasket to the valve cover
>with "a fast drying glue."  What should I use for this?

I just use permatex - the blue or red stuff in the tube.

>I have RMMW and a WC Metric catalogs.  I have heard that J. C. Whitney
>is a good source for VW parts.  How do I get their catalog?

They are not really a good source for FI busses.  They have mostly type I
engine parts.  Their rubber seals are garbage, too.  I'm afraid I don't
have their # offhand.  :(

-David

============================================================================
David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com        '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des     '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
============================================================================