Folks,

A few weeks ago I posted to the List about a sudden loss of oil pressure in
an otherwise, uptil then fine running '85 Vanagon.............a lot of folks
responded with suggestions such as bad oil pressure sender, stuck
oil-pressure relief valve, bad oil pump etc. etc., for which I am thankful. I
tried everything I could think of, with my 18 + years of hands-on experience
on VWs, including a brand new OEM high volume oil pump etc. etc., but I still
had zero oil pressure. Resigned to the inevitable, I yanked the motor out
last week, tore it down, and guess what I found? Something I'd never seen
before............. and I've seen pretty much everything! One of the
hydraulic lifters had somehow come apart, with the bottom part of it, along
with pieces of the locking circlip, falling into the push rod tube.......and
thereby venting off all the oil pressure! Needless to say, this totally blew
my mind! Luckily, no serious damage occurred to the innards of the motor
itself, other than scoring the main and cam bearings a little, so I'm just
going to go ahead and redo it with new bearings, lifters, rings etc. seeing
as I already have it all apart.........just thought I'd pass this on to all
you van folks out there as another addition to my numerous interesting
experiences with Dr. Porsche's brood.........

My regards to all,

Vic Ahmed
Z & S, Inc.
VW/Audi/MBZ/BMW specialists since 1982
pioneer of the 1.8GTI engine/diesel vanagon swaps since they were brand new
off the dealer lots..........