I love Gerry.vanagon.com.  Who has a new oil pressure regulator spring to ship me in Oakville, Ontario?  I need it early next week. 

Story:

On the road with family, dog, bikes, canoe and all the ancillary gear, just 40km short of our destination for the week: Samuel de Champlain provincial park. Oil light comes on, flickering, no buzzer. Strange, yet unpleasant. A hint of lemons on the palate. 

Limp into the park. Mull it over. No buzzer. Manual (1986) says there should be a buzzer. Maybe it's been supplanted by buzzards circling overhead? Nah, it's just broken. Why wouldn't it be broken? 

Flickering light -- loose wire shorting out the Pressure switch?  Is it normally open? Normally closed?  Ahh, I don't know. Can't find any loose wires?  What if it was cheap oil that lost viscosity too soon?  Maybe an oil change?  

Get a basic oil change pan and some oil? Use it to check that spring?  Is there a spring???  Where is that thing anyway?  How come I never noticed anything down there?  Wish my eyes weren't shut whenever I look under the van. Wish I was someone else. 

Dig a  6" deep hole in the gravel and pine needles under the engine so I can use my heftiest flat head screwdriver to release the screw which surely hasn't been turned in 31 years. Vice grips turn the screwdriver. It breaks free -- HOORAY!  

Hmm spring is 60mm long. But how long should it be???  60 mm sounds pretty good, pretty nominal. 

Biggest challenge left: use my phone to mine the info from The List. I am a digital immigrant. 

Did it: 62.3mm!  

Gabby