Date:         Tue, 14 May 1996 12:39:30 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SyncroHead@aol.com
Subject:      Re: Oil cooler hose replacement

In a message dated 96-05-13 23:31:56 EDT, you write:

> 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.  

Rightly so!

>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.  

No way!  I've heard that the filling and bleeding on the 1.9L '83-'85
wasserboxers was quite an ordeal but I've done my 2.1L '87 & '88 several
times, and while it's a bit of a tricky procedure (compared to "normal" cars)
it takes me about 45-60 minutes total to change the coolant.

>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.  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.  

5 hours is way too high.  I can't think of any reason that the oil cooler
would need to be removed.  In my opinion the hoses should take about an hour.
 Allowing an hour for the coolant change is a 2 hour total.  I'd do it myself
or call a couple of independent shops if I were you.

Good lick,
Jim Davis
87 GL Syncro
88 GL Wolfsburg