M,

I had the same problem on my 82 Westy, the valve for filling propane is stuck, you need to remove it and clean out the valve. You might also want to try pushing it in to clear it  out. A lot of rust and stuff came out of my valve , after removing them and oiling them w/ wd-40, I reassembled it using some thread sealant and has worked fine eversince . BTW, I do my own filling at home using a special hose and an old 50Lb. propane tank.

Regards

Steven
82 Westy
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Maurizio Penna 
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
  Sent: Thursday, April 22, 1999 11:16 PM
  Subject: Propane Tank Filling

  I searched the archives on this subject but the results were inconclusive.
   
  Today I went to 4 different propane stations and none of them could fill my 86 Westy propane tank.
   
  The pump automatically shuts off after delivering approximately 10 cents of propane and propane shoots out the side as if it were full.  We tried filling with the brass valve (towards back of vehicle)  both open and closed.
   
  After that, propane leaks out from the small hole located under the fill valve.  Opening the brass valve only allows more propane out from the tank.
   
  The tank was recently removed from the van, completely drained, painted and pressure tested.  Therefore it is completely empty of propane (As is sat for some time with all fittings removed).
   
  Any ideas / proper filling procedures ? What does the red button do (towards front of vehicle) I don't have the owner's manuals.  Any help would be appreciated.
   
  M
   

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