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Date:         Sat, 1 Jan 2000 12:33:54 -0500
Reply-To:     EMZ <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         EMZ <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
Subject:      Re: Boston to DC Vanagon purchase saga (long)
Comments: To: Gary McEachern <glmce@HOTMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20000101160748.96213.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Great story, and sounds to me like you found a great deal. One note I would like the list to be clear about here:

Cooling system pressure is most important. If the system is not holding pressure, (witch is a very easy check) you still have a problem, and should be fixed before driving. Checking the cooling system for pressure can be done simply by squeezing a hose.

Eric 86-VW4x4 vw4x4@fyi.net 72-240z Pittsburgh, PA USA 1936-Chrysler

On Sat, 1 Jan 2000, Gary McEachern wrote:

> Hello > Several weeks ago Sean Bartnik posted his Sunday Washington Post Classified > newspaper listings of VWs for sale in the DC area. An ad for an '87 > Wolfsburg with 107K miles for $1650 caught my eye. The ad stated the vehicle > had an overheating problem. I was looking for another vehicle and this one > sounded as if it could be a great deal. I called the owner and verified he > still had the van and that it was in good condition except for the > overheating problem. > > I sent an SOS message to the list asking if there was anyone in the area who > would be willing to check the vehicle out for me. I received a number of > responses with offers. I was blown away! How cool! A special thanks to those > who offered, including: Sean Bartnik, Mike Ray, G Matthew Bulley, Dan > "Finalcut", Mike "MW575", Stu Schwartz and Bob Busick. > > Mike Ray ended up being the one who checked the van out for me. It turned > out he lives about about 2 miles from where the van was located. He did a > visual inspection and reported back to me that the van looked very nice. I > can't say enough about the help Mike Ray provided me which allowed me to > make the purchase and get the vehicle ready for the trip home. Thank you > Mike! > > I booked a flight to fly into DC early Tuesday morning (12/28). I brought a > bag of tools, my Bentley, a thermostat and a radiator(off my parts car). > Mike Ray met me at the airport in his '87 Westy and drove me to the Vehicle > in Falls Church. I bought the vehicle for $1,500 and we moved it to Mike's > place a few miles away. In addition to everything else, Mike provided me > with the use of a heated garage to check-out and repair the vehicle. This > helped make the whole thing work! > > THE VEHICLE > The vehicle is a dark grey '87 Wolfsburg Weekender. The "package" includes > euro style bumpers, alloys, rear facing jump seats, pop up table and a fold > out double bed. It's an automatic with AC, power steering, door locks, > windows and cruise control. The interior and exterior are in very nice > condition with almost no rust! Woohoo! > > PROBLEMS > The vehicle overheated (as advertised)during the 2 mile journey over to > Mike's place. The "DOS" oil warning light and buzzer came on when the engine > was reved over 2K rpm (bonus problem!). These two things were my only > immediate concerns. There were a lot of other small problems like the > standard gas tank leak problem, bad rear hatch struts and an some > intermittent electrical problems caused by a partially melted fuse box. > > The engine had a brand new water pump. I went to replace the thermostat and > found what looked like a new thermostat with the working parts cut out! No > doubt a drastic attempt to prevent the overheating! I put in the new > thermostat. The radiator looked OK so I didn't replace it. I bled the > coolant system, changed the oil and filter and took it for a test drive. It > didn't overheat but the oil light and buzzer still came on above 2K RPM. > > I found that the high pressure sender line was not connected but was > grounded instead to defeat the sensor. This line is used by the "DOS" > (dynamic oil pressure system) to assess oil pressure when the engine is > operating over 2000 rpm. The other low RPM/pressure sensor appeared to be > working OK. I determined that it was not low oil pressure that was causing > the oil pressure warning and chalked it up to a problem with the wiring or > the DOS electronics in the dash. Since the engine sounded OK, I decided to > start my trip home early Wednesday morning. > > THE TRIP > I headed out around 4am and all went well for the first 200 miles. The > engine started to overheat and so I pulled over to top up the coolant and > get a bite to eat. This top up took me half way through the NJ turnpike > where I had to stop again to top up the coolant. With a few more stops along > the way, and some anxious moments with coolant temperature climbing while > going through the NYC tolls, I finally made it home around 5 PM. WooooHooo! > > THE PROBLEM > I found the pressure relief cap on the expansion tank was not holding > pressure as it is supposed to. I replaced the cap which allowed the system > to pressurize properly for the first time. After bleeding the systen and > letting the vehicle idle for about 20 minutes,with no problem, I took a > short trip to the grocery store (1/4 mile away). When I came out of the > store I found a large pool of coolant on the ground. Arriving home I found a > 6" split in one of the rubber hoses apparently the result of a weakened hose > unable to withstand the normal operating pressure of the system. If I had > found the problem and replaced the cap in Virginia the hose may have let go > in the middle of my trip causing me major problems! It may be just as well > that I didn't discover the bad cover after I got home! It appears to me that > the defective expansion tank cover may have been the main cause of the > overheating problem the PO had as a result of loss of coolant from the > system. When I picked up the vehicle he mentioned to me that he was loosing > coolant but couldn't find the source of the leak! How ironic! > > Thanks once again to all the list members who helped me with my posts > requesting information I needed prior to going on this great adventure. I am > quite pleased with my purchase and feel I got a steal getting such a nice > vehicle for $1,500. > > Gary > > Gary McEachern, Reading Ma. > '84GL Sunroof > '87GL Wolfsburg Weekender > '75 Spitfire > > ______________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com >


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