Date:         Wed, 5 Sep 2001 11:20:21 -0700
Reply-To:     Chris Paquette <cp@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Chris Paquette <cp@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject:      Mechanic: "You're Gonna Need a New Motor"
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I have an '88 Westy with ~133k miles on it.  It's my only vehicle, and so
it's my daily driver.  Recently I've had a noticeable loss of power and a
rough-sounding engine.  I thought I simply needed new spark plugs, so I took
it into my regular mechanic (a good guy who's been servicing the bus since I
got it three years ago, and I trust him) and he told me that there was no
compression in the #4 cylinder.

He ran a "leak-down check" on it and found that the compression for #4 was
10lbs., where normal, he said, is around 150 lbs. (from the invoice I can
see that the pressures for the other cylinders was #1=125; #2=145; #3=100).
I don't know if I understood this next part properly, but from what I
gathered, the pressure that should have stayed in the #4 cylinder was being
passed out through the crankcase, which he referred to as belonging to the
"bottom of the engine."  With a  "bottom of the engine" problem like this,
he said, it's not worth it to do anything other than replace the entire
engine at a cost of $3,000.

The exact verbiage on the invoice says, "Low compression, #4 cylinder.
Performed leak-down test to determine source of leakage, found to be
crankcase.  Probable problem with piston rings or cylinder.  Repair is
engine replacement, approx. $3,000.  Customer advised.  No repair attempt
made."

Is this really my only option?  Does the price quoted for a rebuilt engine
(installed) sound right?

Chris
Los Angeles
'88 Westy, "Limpalong"
(ex-"Rocinante")