> The moral of this story is clear.  If you break down tow it home or to a
> mechanic you know and trust.  NEVER let anyone else touch these engines,
> you can depend on the fact that anyone you find will have never seen one
> before!
> So Ron, how long has it been since you changed your coolant hoses? ;-)

Absolutely right.  I had to make a quick decision in the middle of the night
on the side of the road whether to have the van towed to my friend's house
or the garage.  Not knowing for sure exactly where the leak was, I thought I
was choosing the cautious route by sending it to a shop that might be able
to do more than I could if complications arose when it was checked in the
daylight.  Had I towed it to my friends house and changed the hose myself,
I'd have been on my way in no time.  Had I towed it 200 miles home to the
shop I trust, I still would have gotten off cheaper (including the cost of
the tow) than what this shop's incompetence will end up costing me.  Big
lesson learned.

When I replaced the engine a year ago, we replaced many but not all of the
hoses preventatively.  It was a big mistake not to have replaced them all.
The one that failed this weekend looked good a year ago and did not get
replaced.  I'm now buying one of my own Hose Kits and replacing every single
hose.  The peace of mind alone is well worth the few hundred bucks.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  http://www.busdepot.com