Date:         Mon, 13 May 1996 22:51:54 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SCurtis269@aol.com
Subject:      Oil cooler hose replacement

HELP !!
First time posting, long time subscriber to the vanagon list.

Sing this phrase to the Elton John tune, I’m still standing...   “I’m still
stranded   yeah, yeah, yeah”.  
While on a weekend trip to lovely Rochester NY, I blew one of the hoses that
runs to and from the oil cooler on my 90 Vanagon Westfalia.  Put enough duct
tape on to limp to the local VW dealership.  Dealer did not have parts on
hand (of course) had to overnite them for tomorrow.  A $20 charge to express
a $17.00 hose.  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.  

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.  

If anyone has some quick advice please post tonight, I'm stranded in Sunny
Rochester and need to get on the road back to work.  Boss is understanding,
but...

Oh by the way, I have a brand new Bentley manual at home, sitting on top of
the toilet.

Thanks in Advance,

Scott Curtis 
SCURTIS269@aol.com
Process Engineer, Tenneco Packaging
90 Westfalia
85 BMW 325E
85 Volvo 240 SW