Date:         Fri, 11 Jun 2004 16:12:22 -0400
Reply-To:     Marc Perdue <marcperdue@ADELPHIA.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Marc Perdue <marcperdue@ADELPHIA.NET>
Subject:      Blown engine: Update
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Well, it's pretty much as I expected.  The dealership called me back and
said that the first thing they checked was to see if there was any oil
in it.  I had 6 people, here and elsewhere, ask me that very same
question when I told them what happened.  There was actually oil in the
engine.  They also said that, had there not been oil in it, the engine
would have more likely seized than thrown a rod.  They said that the
connecting rod bolts had sheered off and that had caused the thrown
rod.  He told me that their service manager had gone out and looked at
it and that's what he said to tell me.  He also said, and I was
expecting this, that it's not surprising that an engine with almost
148,000 miles would do this.  He was of course somewhat surprised when I
told him that this engine had been put in at 111,000 miles, but said
that whoever had done the engine before had probably not replaced the
connecting rod bolts.  I told him that I'd likely be talking to his
service manager about this but to go ahead and get prices for me.

I'm not through pursuing things on this end, but I'm not too optimistic
at this point.

Sigh . . .
Marc Perdue

PS--I'm in Crozet, near Charlottesville, Virginia, if you know of a
really great engine in the area . . . or a good lawyer . . .  ;^)