Hi Juha in Finland
Isn't the internet wonderful. Here we are =
exchanging
thoughts half way around the world.
At least your friend is lucky that the dealer agreed =
to fix
the van.
How about the VW company itself. How many vans =
are there
in the world which were produced with the wrong alloy in the heads, =
causing them
to leak eventually. Does VW assume any responsibility and =
compensate their
victims?
I am glad somebody created the Vanagon list. =
That
person/s should get some kind of medal from the membership. Would =
the List
exist if VW had the kind of customer service that some other companies
provide?
I still like my Vanagon though. I am fairly =
handy at
fixing things and so repairs are not too costly. But there must be =
thousands of
van owners who are not so lucky. What they will eventually do, is =
to buy
another brand van or car, and never buy VW again. But then, I also =
had a
MacIntosh computer, a Betamax and an 8 track tape player once, and =
nursed
them along for a long time.
Live and learn. =
Alfred
85 Vanagon
Edmonton, Canada
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, =
1999 9:35
PM
Subject: You could be fooled =
(story of
low oil pressure)
This happens here in TURKU =
(FINLAND) October
1999.
I tell this story to warn
buyers of used VW Vanagon even from authorised VW
dealer.
My friend bought -90 Synchro 1,6 =
TD ($8000
USD) from Airiston Auto Oy . Short =
after (few days) he noticed oil pressure warning buzzer and =
led starts
to alarm on the road. He drove car back =
and
complains this. They said 'ok, the =
pressure sensor
has gone, we'll change it'. The car was =
under
service two days and both sensors, regulator and the dynamic pressure =
sensing
pcb was changed. Then it suddenly is fixed. My friend =
asked if
they had loosen some wire to solve the problem (as for joke)... they =
said
'Absolutely not..now it is ok'. And
everything seems to be ok..until..
About month later my friend =
changes oil and
filter and noticed that there is some wire loose from alternator and =
wrapped
to harness. He asked me if I knew what it was..and I knew =
(thanks to the
list and Bentely manual I own). We connect the wire and..here we =
are
again..buzzer and led alarms.
Technical background: If =
this wire from
alternator is loose dynamic oil pressure sensor system does not know =
motor is
running above 2000 rpm and don't check the status of higher sensor =
while lower
pressure sensor is still active => everything seems to work =
fine.
My friend go back to the service and asks if they =
have fixed
the defect really. After long negotiations they admit fooling =
and say
that they know all time that the bearing surfaces of intermediate axle =
had
worn out and it has to be machined. This wearing causes loosing =
of oil
pressure. They promise to fix it (this time other way) and give =
him
other car meanwhile.
The thing that is still in my
mind...
How =
many cars have
been sold from this shop and others all round the world fixed lile =
this?
Is this common method (at VW) to fix it? Comments =
welcome!
Juha Koivisto
88 Vanagon (Caravelle) 1,6TD (old =
school bus
with 9 seats)
TURKU, FINLAND