Date:         Fri, 07 Mar 1997 00:25:12
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         list@busdepot.com (The Bus Depot)
Subject:      Re: Fore warned is  fore armed.........


>Whilst under my truck last week changing a coolant sensor I noticed an
>ominous "rust bubble" on the elbow of the coolant pipe coming from the
>water pump to the Thermostat/coolant distribution housing....  I decided 
>that it was caused by  its location, leading surface in direction of 
>travel. Repeated exposure to road debris had worn away any protection and
>facilitated the formation of iron oxide. Solution; flick off those
>flakes with screw driver in yonder hand! (Insert nasty wrong answer
>buzzer sound from Jeopardy). The green liquid flowed like beer on
>St.Patty's Day...
>Check It Out!

Your experience is not isolated.  On the '89 Westy I have for sale, I 
noticed precisely the same thing.  Fearing exactly what has happened to 
you, I resisted the temptation to poke at it, and coughed up the bucks for 
that new "dealer only" pipe. (I had visions of somebody buying the camper 
and getting a mile down the road only to lose all their coolant and blow up 
the motor.)  Haven't replaced it yet, but I'm willing to bet that a 
screwdriver would go right through it.  Certainly a tow waiting to happen.

-Ron Salmon