> >
> >it's a VW...you have to SLAM the doors..
> >
> >chris
>
> Not our '91! You can see a puff of air out those vents in the winter if
> there's snow on the car when you slam the door..
>
Chris is sorta right.  VW built those vans air tight.  But they also
provided a means for pressure to relieve itself as the door was being
shut so you wouldn't have to slam the door too hard :-)

Early Vanagons used the same system as Buses -- there is a vent on the
inside of each front door at the lower rear corner.  These vents can be
manually opened or closed by sliding a blue knob fore or aft.  These
vents vent interior pressure to the insides of the doors and from there
presumably to the outside.

Later Vanagon eliminated these door vents and went with the always-open
vents behind the rear side windows.  They serve the same purpose, hence
the puff of air from the vents as mentioned above.

VW had been doing this for a while -- many will notice that Volkswagen
Beetles (later ones) have little crescent-shaped black vents on each
side behind the rear side windows.  These are connected to outlets
inside the car on each side of the rear window.  The purpose, of course,
is to relieve interior pressure so you don't have to slam the doors.

Interesting to note that heat and fresh air will flow better into the
early vans when the door vents are open (assuming your van is still
airtight) than when they are closed (and all windows are closed).
--
Sean Bartnik
Fredericksburg, Virginia
1981 Volkswagen Vanagon L Westfalia
1974 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible
http://www.type2.com/bartnik/myvan.htm