Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2013 14:35:41 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Fw: melting lower thermostat housing
In-Reply-To: <CANEuo0ie2aTuWs6+r4xdwwo3KN7Tn_rQPXGQSNHW2KU-BMH1cA@mail.gmail.com>
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Hi Ken,
just couldn't resist teasing you a little.
I think it's awesome you provide the service you do.
'False sense of security' ...hmmmmm........I would say more like
Blissful Ignorance.
I tell people that they need to look at the coolant temp gauge about
once every minute or two while driving a water-cooled Vanagon ..
that there are many dozens of cooling system parts throughout the entire
vehicle....and that many of those parts are 20+ years old .
- to always sniff in the upper left air inteake vent when they park and
get out of the van.
- to always look for drips under it, front and back, when they park, and
when the return to the van.
They're not idiot proof that's for sure . They can be just great and
super reliable , and it takes some work to get them there, and regular
vigilance after that.
A guy just forwarded me someones post from somewhere..the guy was saying
if the Charge warning light comes on ..
pay attention to it, like it could be the belt came off that drives the
water pump ...
I sure would hope that people don't have to even think at all to know
that about driving a vanagon.
And the computer age has generally helped to make people less aware and
savvy about old fashioned things that can leak fluids and so forth
..like older vehicles like our beloved vanagons.
Bit of a 'teaching to the choir' factor on this group. Most people on
this group *are* paying attention to what vanagons need to be decent and
reliable. There's a huge huge group of Vanagon owners not on these
groups I think. In my area I estimate there are at least 150 vanagons ,
yet those owners can be counted on one hand, that are on these lists.
No problem ...keep warning people, the Vanagons themselves need that !
I tend more toward the 'awareness' end of the spectrum than the 'all
parts need to be new' end of the spectrum.
Watch things, check things, service things on a regular basis etc.
Unfortunately ....people *still* think if it's running right ..or 'seems
to' it must be OK. This is left over from the days when cars go out of
tune ..needing valve adjustments, new points, timing and carb adjust etc...
so when it didn't seem like it did, it's due for something.
our vanagons being very self-tuning ...there is the perception that if
it's working right , it must not need much . Meanwhile...trans mission
gear oil is not getting changed, or even level checked...CV joints are
getting dry ...
brake fluid is absorbing moisture out of the air etc etc.
one of my sayings ..Fixiing a Vanagon when it breaks is just an awful
way to take care of it."
Once in a while I'll see a van for sale with say a new rebuilt engine ..
yet every other system on it is near failure, because all they did was
drive it ..
and when one system broke ..they had that system repaired. Doing that
will result in many systems on their wayto failure, expensive failure.
But if they're serviced, if fluids ..all fluids, are replaced on a
regular basis ...
and things generally kept up with ...they hardly wear at all.
Shift linkage not being ever lubed..
half the vanagons I see have terribly stiff shift linkage..all for lack
of a two second spray shot of grease once or twice a year.
I've seen vans with entire 6,000 dollar rebuilt engine jobs but the
sliding door was screatching and bone dry and had been for decades...and
the owner said he was going to keep that van forever too.
Don't get me started !
they are so easy to take care of really .
The vans...thevans are just whatever they are ..whatever is tired in
them is just 'what it is'..
it's The People Involved..that's the tricky part.
The owners taking or not taking care of them.
the people who work on them really taking care of details ..rather than
doing what a typical shop does ..
a typical carrepair shop ........"Sells repairs that they can justify,
that are profitablefor them."
Has nothing to do with really taking care of the van or car. It has only
to do with their financial gain.
Find someone who willfuss over every part that moves , and advise you on
how best to invest your money this visit ..
and so on - someone who has a real eye for the bigger picture of really
caring for your Fine Machine.
it's not even really 'in the parts' .
it's in the loving care of adjusting, lubricating, and yes , replacing
parts that have served out their life ..
but it's really more in the workmanship than it is in the parts.
another one of my sayings..
last line here ..
Putting the new parts on the van is incidental to the actual practice of
*really* taking care of one.it's all the fine tuning, the lubing of
things that move, the keeping the fluids fresh and so forth, with really
good solid workmanship in the work.
there is the old saying of course......mechanic to customer ..you can
pay me now ( for service ) or you can pay me later ( expensive repairs
when things are ruined or blown up. ).
have fun !
Scott
turbovans
On 3/8/2013 1:11 PM, kenneth wilford (Van-Again) wrote:
> Scott, do you think it is fine that people are driving around with
> decades old coolant hoses? Of course you don't.
> Did I tell them that they must buy the hoses from me? No, I did not.
>
> I get so many calls from people who, because a small and rather
> inexpensive coolant hose blew out, lost their head gaskets, or even
> the whole motor. I want to bring people out of the false sense of
> security that they have. I highly agree the the plastic coolant parts
> should also be replaced at the same time with either new ones or metal
> replacements. Again, I am in business, so yes I would love people to
> buy things from me. However foremost I want people to prevent
> catastrophic failures on their vans. To protect their engines so they
> can get many more years of enjoyment out of them. This is not a cheap
> sales pitch. It is something vital that needs to be discussed since
> many people are ignoring this issue completely. They feel that
> ignorance is bliss. It isn't. It is sitting on the side of the road,
> with steam coming out from behind the license plate and feeling
> stupid. If I can prevent that by warning people, I will continue to
> do so.
>
> Sincerely,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com <http://www.vanagain.com>
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 3:20 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans
> <scottdaniel@turbovans.com <mailto:scottdaniel@turbovans.com>> wrote:
>
> the only thing missing here is 'Limited supply. Order yours now !'
>
> I suppose for 'regular people' it would be good to replace all or
> some of their hoses.
> I'm not finding them to be much of a problem.
> I have more problems with plastic cooling system parts breaking
> ......even just crumbling.
> I'd be more concerned with those than hoses.
> Hoses you can find or make up if you have too.
> But the one-application only plastic parts like a 2.1 Coolant
> Distrubution tower ..
> and the 2.1 t-stat housing ..
> those will fail for sure and there's no substitue for those.
> Thankfully they are being reproduced in metal ..
> as well as 1.9 plastic parts that break too easily when old.
>
> Same for the plastic main coolant pipes ....mid 85 and up.
> The metal insert ends of those slide out of place ...
> a most favorite spot is at the forward end , above the spare
> tire..probably on the feed-to-the-radiator pipe.
> Took me quite a few tries to repair one of those out on the road
> once good enough to continue over a big pass in the summer time.
>
> yeah ..the plastic is more of an issue than the rubber stuff in my
> experience. One can almost always come up with something for a
> hose if needed...but that plastic stuff .......
>
> have fun !
> scott
> www.turbovans.com <http://www.turbovans.com>
> On 3/8/2013 3:45 AM, kenneth wilford (Van-Again) wrote:
>> I agree with Frank. What I have seen is that the original hoses went a
>> good 15 years without needing replacement unless they were contaminated
>> with oil or overheated. However there are still folks out there that have
>> original hoses on their vans. If your van is a 91 that means your hoses
>> are 22 years old. They just graduated from college! Don't you think it is
>> time to let them go and live their own lives :-) If you have an 84 Vanagon
>> the hoses are 29 years old. They have already gotten divorced, lost their
>> jobs and are living in the basement. You need to kick them out! It is for
>> their own good. :-)
>>
>> Hoses get old, they wear out. Unless you like sitting on the side of the
>> road waiting for a tow truck on a cold, dark night, why don't you replace
>> your hoses this spring and have a fresh start. The aftermarket hoses are
>> good for at least 10 years so you won't have to worry about it for a long
>> time, if ever. And you can have the peace of mind that at least, you won't
>> be broken down waiting for me to ship you one of those special preformed
>> hoses express mail so you can continue on your trip this summer. :-)
>>
>> Ken Wilford
>> John 3:16
>> www.vanagain.com <http://www.vanagain.com>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 8, 2013 at 5:51 AM, Frank Condelli<RAlanen@aol.com> <mailto:RAlanen@aol.com> wrote:
>>
>>> That's a bit excessive. Cost of doing that is $500 ~ $600 IF you
>>> can get all the hoses ! As someone who works on these van all this time
>>> for the last 10 ~ 15 years I have not seen this as necessary. Yes, some of
>>> the hoses need replacing now and then but every 2~3 years ! Most folks
>>> would give up on these vans if that were true.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2013-03-07, at 9:21 PM, Automatic digest processor <
>>> LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <mailto:LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hoses, crack and deteriorate from the inside out. And should be replaced
>>>> every 2 to 3 years! They will look great on the outside, and be cracked
>>> to
>>>> pieces on the inside.
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Frank Condelli
>>> Almonte, Ontario, Canada
>>> '87 VW Westy, '00 Kawasaki 250 Sherpa, "98 Ducati 750 Monster & Lionel
>>> Trains (Collection for sale)
>>> Frank Condelli & Associates - Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the
>>> Ottawa Valley
>>> Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems
>>> BusFusion a VW Camper camping event, Almonte, ON, June 06 ~ 09, 2013
>>>
>
>
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