Date:         Sun, 27 Jun 1999 16:26:33 -0700
Reply-To:     Walter Gomes <wgomes@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Walter Gomes <wgomes@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      315,000 !?!?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Hi volks,
I just looked at a sweet '86 westy that was pristine. As we approached
the soon to be PO's home we chased
This beautiful gold vanagon up this incredibly steep hill and it left
us. It parked in front of the house we were
looking for and (what a surprise) that was the van. The owner was
sitting in the driveway in the never been used
jump seat with excellent upholstery that matched the excellent
upholstery in the van. Introductions were made
after which I proceeded to drool all other the van.

I always start an inspection with 20 minutes under the van because it
seems more sins are apparent there (and
it makes the soon to be PO think I'm knowledgeable or strange and helps
with negotiations). The tires look great, lottsa tread, clean michelin
MX somthing or other that the owner points out have reinforced sidewall
for the fat bus. The engine was clean but not bone-dry with a little
blue-green corrosion on one of the hoses leading into the oil filter.
For an motor that had just run up a steep hill it was surprisingly
cool.  The anti-freeze is blue.  A new fuel filter (clean), good brake
lining and the transmission looked like a transmission. The CV’s were
clean but not cleaned (Didn’t look new but they were fresh)   Lynn (the
names are the same to project the innocent) removes the engine cover and
it looks just like the bottom of the engine ( very clean, but not
cleaned) and again, surprisingly cool (Do water-cooled's get hot?) Back
under the van in the front, the disks feel new (smooth as my baby's butt
with no ridge on the edge) and everything is dry and tight. So I dust
off and go look inside.

Immaculate, clean Sheepskins cover new looking upholstery on the pilot
and copilots seats. The pump pumps, the stove stoves, and the fridge,
well, the soon to be PO says it never cooled enough for his taste
(sounds like it needs fan to me).

Let’s go for a ride. lights light and it starts immediately. Pulls well
through all the gears (downhill) [daaah]
Onto the freeway, up to speed smoothly and Lynn says he does not run it
outside of the green area on the tach.
Handles great. Turn on the AC {check} not even a bobble. engine didn't
seem to notice. Hmmmm, temps up to
half (ah oh) Lynn says he had the system flushed by VW and he suspects
that they didn’t bleed it properly.
Hmmm, temp goes a little higher and Lynn turns on the heater and the
temp drops immediately. The engine
seems oblivious to all this and we drive on back to his house. The
engine pulls just fine up that steep hill in
second. I make the obligatory "go around in a circle" three times to see
that it has a wonderful turning radius
and no untoward noises {check} Stop and the cooling system is making
untoward noises. Hmmm, we
take off the deck lid and coolant is coming out of the top of the fill
tank. {hearts sink all around} Lynn says
that’s never happened before. I nod reassuringly. Says he'll bring it to
VW on Monday and he'll have that fan
switch replaced (I hadn’t noticed it ) The engine feels really cool (I
can put my hand on everything but the catalytic converter. I restart the
van and it starts right off and idles smoothly. I turned on the AC and
it still idles smoothly if a bit higher. I shut off the AC and the
engine and check the coolant. That fill tank is empty and has some
grainy gook in it.(Barrs leak?)  Hmmmm,     He wants $5900 and it really
is pretty.
should I:
A) Whip out my checkbook and beg him to take whatever he wants
B) go into deep negotiation with a real "take it or leave it" attitude
C) runaway quickly, screaming "get thee behind me..."

Oh, did I forget to mention that is has 315,000 miles on it. 70,000
since the first and only rebuild and 240,000 on the transmission. i must
be mad.
sorry to be so long winded
Walter