Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2015 11:22:41 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Problem with customer van that is driving me crazy
In-Reply-To: <CANEuo0i42-cQ=7ATUxwe=3ykefi82UOJQ3GHdWYretuzQEd-Mg@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
I don't know your customer's fiscal circumstances, but if it were me, I'd get a DIFFERENT reliable van.
---- "kenneth wilford (Van-Again)" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET> wrote:
> Dear List,
>
> Last year I rebuilt a 2.1l engine and installed it in a customer's beat up
> but functional 85 Westy Weekender. The engine ran great and there were
> really no problems until almost at the end of the 12 month warranty. The
> customer only had 5k miles on the engine and it started having oil leaks at
> the push rod tubes. I repaired this, then it started leaking at the front
> and rear main seals and the leaks seemed to get worse as she drive more.
>
> She brought it back again and I replaced the engine with another low
> mileage rebuilt engine that I had just bought from someone doing a Subaru
> conversion. That engine had just driven from New Jersey to Canada (Bens
> Place shop) to get the conversion done with no issues. I installed the 2nd
> engine and everything seemed fine. Test drove it 50 miles here before I
> would let her pick it up. She picked it up and drove around a few days and
> everything was fine. Went to drive to Michigan and got about 500 miles
> away before the next incident. She pulled off of the highway and got to a
> gas station when the coolant bottle in the rear released pressure and
> coolant went everywhere.
>
> Took it to a very reputable Vanagon shop in the area and they tested the
> radiator fan which is what I thought caused it, and said that it was
> working fine. Did some tests to see if the head gaskets had failed and
> none of those tests came back positive. They had a strange hypothesis that
> even though the tests came back negative, that when the van was driving
> down the road, under heavy load, there would be a very small combustion gas
> leak into the cooling system which would eventually lock up the system and
> cause the van to overheat. This theory was not confirmed by testing
> because all of the tests for combustion gases in the cooling system that
> the shop did and that I have done since then (4 altogether) have all come
> back negative.
>
> I got the van back here again and the coolant tank cap had failed (it was
> brand new German). I replaced that and then went to test the radiator fan
> myself. The fan worked at first then didn't work. I went to check the
> fuse and it was super old and crusty looking. I threw it away, cleaned up
> the contacts at the fuse panel and installed a brand new one. Now the fan
> was working every time.
>
> Jumped in the van and drove for 2 hours at 70-75 mph on the high way,
> stopping a few times to use the rest room, and check to see if the fan was
> working properly. Everything worked perfectly. Drove 100 miles no issues
> at all, van running great.
>
> At this point I am thinking that the radiator fan was occasionally not
> working. This would allow the van to overheat randomly. I even think that
> my oil leaks on the first motor could have been caused by the overheating,
> but I am not sure how to prove it.
>
> The customer has very little confidence in the van at this point. She
> thinks it needs heads and head gaskets. I would be glad to do that work,
> if I thought it was really the problem, or if there was a test I could do
> that would prove it to me. I would hate to go to all of the extra work and
> expense of doing the head gaskets and new heads only to have her get
> another 1000 miles down the road and have the same thing happen again.
>
> Any advice or help on this would be appreciated. I am just trying to do my
> best for this customer and get her a reliable van.
>
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
--
David McNeely
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