Date:         Tue, 14 May 1996 08:14:35 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Mark McCulley <raven@halcyon.com>
Subject:      RE: Oil cooler hose replacement



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>From: 	SCurtis269@aol.com[SMTP:SCurtis269@aol.com]
Sent: 	Monday, May 13, 1996 8:21 PM

=========================================================================
Date:         
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         
Subject:      Oil cooler hose replacement

Then they proceeded to tell me that replacing hose(s), do
both while in there, and filling/bleeding the cooling system would be 5 
hours
in labor at $54.00/hr.  At this point I picked my jaw up off of the floor. 
 I
tried to have the service manager explain to me why it was soo much labor
when I can clearly see both ends of the hose and the hose clamps.  His
response was that the oil cooler had to be removed to replace the hoses 
that
run to it.  He went on to say that it was in a tight area, which I agreed,
and hard to work on.  He also said that filling and bleeding the coolant 
was
about 1 - 1 1/2 hours worth.

1 to 1.5 hours to fill and bleed coolant is about right.


So here is my question(s), Is 5 hours labor reasonable to do this repair or
did the dealer have $$ dancing in his head ?  Has anyone done this repair
themselves, and if so how complicated is it ?  I do have some basic tools
with me and could buy what I don't have.

I don't know what's involved in replacing these hoses. I wouldn't be 
suprised if the oil cooler does have to be removed.

  On bleeding the coolant system, How
difficult is this procedure ? I'm kind of paranoid about doing this.  Have
heard lots of horror story's about bleeding the coolant systems on these
engines.

I would not recommend taking this on yourself if you haven't done it 
before. You have to lift the front of the vehicle 16 inches (or is it 19?) 
to get the air bubbles to percolate to the radiator. It's best done with a 
helper as you have to rev the engine while bleeding.

Sounds like they have you by the short hairs. My advice is to be nice to 
them, see if you can wrangle a deal. Like maybe charge you for actual labor 
instead of book labor if it takes less than 5 hours. If the job is not done 
properly, you risk damaging your van.