Date:         Thu, 9 Nov 2000 15:58:06 -0800
Reply-To:     Colin Carmichael <colincarmichael@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Colin Carmichael <colincarmichael@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Need your input - questionable mechanic (long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

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

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