Funny thing is, IIRC VW actually has either a muffler or exhaust bearing! I think it's the flex joint couplers between the down pipes and the reat of the exhaust system.
I posted this on a few forums that give "preview windows" when you roll over the name of the thread, one guy saw the photobucket link when he did that and still tried to click on the YouTube pic. Most people got a laugh out of it, maybe peeved off a couple people, and I think I confused one or two........
Now that I look at you're problem it sounds a little like a problem my sister had with the alarm installed in her '92 Cherokee Brairwood before she purchased it (don't know if it was factory, but it had been there a long, long time!) Seems that sometimes her truck would refuse to start for no reason, Dad even took the starter over to a local parts house that had a machine to check it them and it worked fine! Finally they figured out that if she tried to unlock the door a second time with her key it would start. Dad even tried to get rid of the alarm system and has had to replace both the alternator and starter in the last year but it still does it from time to time...........
Pardon the stupid questions, but what makes that van a "Horst" (I'm mildly familiar what what Horst used to be) and how many of the VW vans could get out of their own way before the Eurovan's hit the market?
My first boss had one, it was so basic that it didn't even have full hubcaps, just plain argent wheels with silver dollar sized center caps, 3cyl/5-speed combo, and a radio. Kinda wish I could get my hands on a clean K-Car for cheap though!