Tonya,

> it's an oil pressure switch (whew!). Great news, they said part
> $18, labor $45 (something I think I'm willing to pay cause I'm sure
> that it's probably a messy job--plus oil is too important to mess
> up on it).

I had this done a while back when the PO thought it was the
crankshaft pulley seal.  At the time, I was ignorant about the oil
pressure sensing system, so I don't know which sender they replaced
(if any...maybe they screwed me... who knows).

Anyway, there are 2 oil pressure senders.  The .3 bar switch for
under 2000 RPM is on the driver's side underneath the tin
between the pushrod tubes.  You can get it out easily with a 24mm
deep-well socket (Sears, about $7-8).  So if the oil is coming down
behind the driver's side engine tin, this could be it.  Take the tin
off (4 bolts: 2 on the side of the engine and 2 that also hold in
exhaust headers) and you can wipe down the oil underneath the sender
and see if it comes back.  BTW, no need to drain the oil to take the
sender out; only slow leakage when you take it out.  Of course, one
of the engine tin bolts is _much_ easier to remove with the oil
filter removed, so it may be best to do this while changing the oil
anyway.

I don't have Bentley here, but the .9 bar switch is up higher on the
engine.  From what I understand it's a bit more involved to get it
out.  This might be worth a dealer trip.

Jim Thompson from the Old Volks Home should be able to help you with
VDO stuff.  The Bus Depot has some VDO stuff as well.  Both are
pleasant to deal with, IME.

Since these are sending units for the oil pressure checking system,
there's not harm in keeping the old one in, assuming you don't have a
catastrophic oil pump failure or something similarly unlikely.  Drive
with the old ones until you get the new ones and just keep some oil
with you to make sure you don't drive around with a low level.

Best of luck!

-Karl

Karl F. Bloss - blosskf@ttown.apci.com or bloss@enter.net
Trexlertown, PA
'87 Vanagon GL Weekender "Beverley"
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/