Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (August 1999, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 18 Aug 1999 12:49:37 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Subject:      Re: bad mechanic???
Comments: To: Westy Woes <traveling@DOGS-LIFE.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <001401bee98e$1e7403a0$4f231ad8@default>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> Dropped off my 84 westy at the mechanic for a tune up and > because it was sometimes difficult to start when engine was warm. > He calls and says he left it idling in the shop for 30 minutes (to warm > it up good before checking for hot start problem), and the head > gaskets blew out on him. > All I know is it was running when I brought it in to him, now > I'm facing at least $1100 for head gaskets > I'll be calling my lawyer today just to see if there is any legal > recourse I can take against this guy.

While I can appreciate your frustration, there's no way that idling the van for 1/2 hour should have blown the head gaskets on an otherwise good engine. If so, the first time you got stuck in a traffic jam on a hot summer day the same thing would have happened. Now, if the cooling system sprung a leak, say, and he wasn't watching closely enough to notice that the engine was losing coolant and the temp gauge was pinned for twenty minutes, then that is perhaps another story. But if it there was coolant there and it overheated due to a head gasket problem, this problem definately was not caused by idling the van for half an hour. It's not like Vanagons never blow head gaskets and if yours did the mechanic must have done something wrong. This is a known and common problem. To blame the mechanic for the failure would, I think, be more than a little unfair.

- Ron Salmon The Bus Depot, Inc. http://www.busdepot.com (215) 234-VWVW


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.