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Date:         Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:04:54 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Tranny Whinning in 84 Westy?
Comments: To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
In-Reply-To:  <081001cc77f6$b4113af0$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I'll take the other side of this discussion....

I've found that in a statistically significant number of instances, the warning systems on German vehicles are either too sensitive or faulty, and indicate a problem that is not there...or a problem that only exists with the warning system itself. The flashing LED coolant level indicator in the Vanagon dash...that seems to be frequently mentioned here as behaving oddly or incorrectly.

I probably would not even own my vanagon now if I'd heeded that LED warning light, which was flashing when I bought the van near Tacoma and drove a few hundred miles home. In fact, it may *still* be flashing, over 65k miles later...I just taped it over, after about 3 frustrating attempts to make it work consistently and correctly.

"Too careful"...there's that. When the consequences of a wrong decision are 'probably fatal', like when your airplane motor might quit or you could encounter a White-out over the Brooks Range...that type of decision...the "Go/No Go" there, that's a bit more crucial than driving around in a VW with something arguably not working 'exactly right'..

.If I had delayed every trip I have embarked upon during my lifetime until I was "100& sure" nothing bad or inconvenient was going to happen, I would have missed some really fine adventures. "I do not intend to tip-toe carefully through Life...Only to arrive safely at Death"....that is one of +my+ guiding T-shirt quotes...I believe in T-shirt wisdoms like that.... "Dog is my Co-pilot"...that one, too. (bumper sticker, not a T-shirt, but just as valid as a T-shirt)

Yes, many times I have been 'caught out' when doing 'dumb' things....thinking I could get away with it. So far, it's been more fun 'living a little dangerously' than holing-up and avoiding the chance that something 'bad' might happen to me...Sometimes these 'mistakes' have been unpleasant and had negative consequences...But over all, trying NOTHING, because I'm scared, that'd be really bad...IMHO.

Now if I were a really careful guy...a "belt AND suspenders" kind of guy, I would have a fancy safety tow bar on my Vanagon with a Smart-Car or a Suzuki Samuri in tow....."just in case"...Of course, I would have to put off going anywhere for a few years while I worked long enough to buy the 'back-up' car and the fancy safety tow bar....but then...If I were working to be safe...I wouldn't be in danger out on the road......

On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 5:37 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans < scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> right on John.. > same thing applies to vanagons when there's a known issue of course. > > I was a little surprised to get a call from a vanagon owner about > overheating .. > flashing LED ..the usual cooling system weirdness .. > only to hear that after thinking there may not be a 'real problem' he took > off for McKenzie Pass in Oregon .. > which is very steep and unforgiving from the west side.. > rather than just head home , which was about 3 hours by freeway.. > > but he made it ... > but I though that was 'too bold' heading away from shops and safety and > home, and up into the mountains, when he didn't find a clear simple > problem > that he knew was fixed. > > but he made it home at least. > > y >


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