Hi all - I had a frustrating experience today and need the advice of my fellow listees. Let me preface my story by saying that I've had my Vanagon since July of this year and feel like I'm pretty well read/informed - though I don't do my own work. My water pump had started leaking with the change in the weather. I bought a new one from The Bus Depot, picked up a few gallons of orange coolant and dropped the van off at the local independent VW shop to have the pump installed and the coolant system flushed. I specifically asked him to flush the system and use a 50/50 mix of the orange coolant and water. I went to pick up the van today. When I got home, I noticed the coolant expansion tank was very close to empty. In addition, the coolant at the bottom of the tank was blue. Then I noticed two of the three gallons of coolant I had supplied were in the back seat of the van. I phoned the mechanic and he said the system only needed two gallons of fluid after the water pump had been installed. I pushed him a little harder and he told me there is coolant in the system that is almost impossible to get out without unconnecting radiator hoses up front and flushing it out with a hose (which is what I thought I had asked him to do). He then started in with the "I wish you'd trust me - this is what I do for a living - blah,blah,blah.." Fair enough - I told him I was probably semi-paranoid thanks to the Vanagon Mailing List and knowing the limitations of the van. I also expressed my thoughts on the importance of flushing the cooling system every year or two. (You guys will like this) He discredited the vanagon mailing list saying that very few of you work on Volkswagens for a living and told me that it was ok to have a mix of the blue and orange stuff in there and the existing coolant looked ok. Knowing the PO was relatively clueless about the van (when bought, the van had under-rated Uniroyal tires, Fram Oil Filter, Etc.), isn't it important that I do a thorough coolant flush and not just top off what came out with the water pump install? Also, he charged me for 5 hours of labor for installing a water pump. Does that seem a little long? Can anyone recommend a good Vanagon mechanic in the Tulsa area? (I understand the systems in the van, but I'm a little intimidated to do my own work. My uncle is a great mechanic, but has no experience with Vanagons. Maybe I'll start having him do the work and just supervise?) Anxious to hear your thoughts. Sorry this is a little long. Thanks Colin Tulsa, OK __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one Place. http://shopping.yahoo.com/ |
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