Date:         Tue, 18 Apr 2006 09:04:25 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Pry <moblique@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Pry <moblique@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Cooling system overhaul?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

I have a 90 GL that I purchased last summer in North Carolina and brought
home to hot, dry Arizona. After a couple of failures of plastic connectors
on my cooling system, my mechanic is now suggesting that I consider
replacing every plastic and rubber hose and pipe in the van, on the theory
that with continued exposure to the extreme conditions here (Tempe) I will
be nagged by annoying failures and possibly risk something more serious.
The engine was rebuilt just before I bought the van, and my mechanic (Perri
at German Auto Repair in Mesa, who's a straight-up guy) says he always
recommends cooling system overhauls at the same time as a rebuild on vans
as old as mine. As he puts it, if I end up doing it piece by piece, I'm
going to buy a lot of coolant and redundant labor.

Well, as you can imagine, my initial response to his suggestion was that
this would be too expensive and too speculative in its benefits. After all,
he really means every part (except, of course, those replaced since last
summer). But then I caught mention in some recent postings of other listees
doing this, and now I'm giving it more thought.

Is it a reasonable thing to do? How many of you folks have done this?

It might help to know that when we travel, we stay as far away from the
busy roads as we can, so we can be a long way from help when something goes
wrong -- and I'm not a mechanic.


Mark Pry
1990 GL