Maybe you should think about getting your vehicles vaccinated so you don't have to worry. Aloha, Ed
On Fri, 10 Aug 2001 08:54:09 -0700 David O'Shea <DOShea@GEOMATRIX.COM> writes: > Read the following and be warned: > > Last week I noticed some coolant dribbling to the ground under the > rear of > my diesel westfalia. Upon inspection, I discovered that the water > pump was > leaking at the shaft. Not a big deal. I got my self home with no > problem and > had the pump out by 10:00 am Saturday. I ziplocked the pump and > gaskets (toe > make sure of a match at the parts store) and I jumped into my other > car (bmw > 525i) and drove to the store. I bought the parts and, with new and > old parts > on the front seat beside me, I drove on home. About 2 miles from my > house, > the BMW started to overheat. Thinking what a weird coincidence this > was, I > pulled over, inspected, and decided that only a bad thermostat would > create > the set of symptoms I was observing (details available for any > interested > parties-no vanagon content). 3 cool-off stops and 30 minutes later I > was > home. > > The VW water pump replacement went quickly and successfully. I > jumped into > the VW to go back to the parts store for the BMW thermostat & > gaskets. > Halfway to the store it hit me. Had I inadvertently contaminated one > car > with the faulty parts of the other? -- Maybe a german coolant system > virus > of some sort? I looked over at the ziplocked bag on the passenger > seat > beside me. The same bag that had held the water pump before. If > coolant > system problems are contagious, maybe ziplock bags don't provide > enough > protection. Had I even sealed the bag when the VW water pump was in > it? I > wasn't sure. > > Home again I got to work on the BMW. This job also went easily and > quickly, > except, a test drive revealed that my roadside diagnosis was faulty > -- the > car still gets too hot on the open road. I'm sweating now. I limp > home and > park. At this point my wife enters the garage and asks: "How long > before the > car's fixed?" (This is my second favorite question, right after: > "Are you > sure you know what you're doing?") > > Well, at this point I figured I had either a blockage in the > cooling > system/radiator -- or A BAD WATER PUMP! I pulled the water pump > first and > indeed, it had failed -- the plastic fins that drive the coolant > were > shattered (new pump uses metal fins BTW). > > Two failed water pumps in two days? -- I think this is pretty > conclusive > evidence that some sort of contagion is on the loose and I thought I > should > alert you all to this potential danger. If anyone out there has > experienced > this and has a cure, please let me know. I want to stop this before > it > spreads any farther. > > Dave O. > SF, CA > 83 Diesel Westfalia > |
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