Maybe you should think about getting your vehicles vaccinated so you
don't have to worry. Aloha, Ed

On Fri, 10 Aug 2001 08:54:09 -0700 David O'Shea <DOShea@GEOMATRIX.COM>
writes:
> Read the following and be warned:
>
> Last week I noticed some coolant dribbling to the ground under the
> rear of
> my diesel westfalia. Upon inspection, I discovered that the water
> pump was
> leaking at the shaft. Not a big deal. I got my self home with no
> problem and
> had the pump out by 10:00 am Saturday. I ziplocked the pump and
> gaskets (toe
> make sure of a match at the parts store) and I jumped into my other
> car (bmw
> 525i) and drove to the store. I bought the parts and, with new and
> old parts
> on the front seat beside me, I drove on home. About 2 miles from my
> house,
> the BMW started to overheat. Thinking what a weird coincidence this
> was, I
> pulled over, inspected, and decided that only a bad thermostat would
> create
> the set of symptoms I was observing (details available for any
> interested
> parties-no vanagon content). 3 cool-off stops and 30 minutes later I
> was
> home.
>
> The VW water pump replacement went quickly and successfully. I
> jumped into
> the VW to go back to the parts store for the BMW thermostat &
> gaskets.
> Halfway to the store it hit me. Had I inadvertently contaminated one
> car
> with the faulty parts of the other? -- Maybe a german coolant system
> virus
> of some sort? I looked over at the ziplocked bag on the passenger
> seat
> beside me. The same bag that had held the water pump before. If
> coolant
> system problems are contagious, maybe ziplock bags don't provide
> enough
> protection. Had I even sealed the bag when the VW water pump was in
> it? I
> wasn't sure.
>
> Home again I got to work on the BMW. This job also went easily and
> quickly,
> except, a test drive revealed that my roadside diagnosis was faulty
> -- the
> car still gets too hot on the open road. I'm sweating now. I limp
> home and
> park. At this point my wife enters the garage and asks: "How long
> before the
> car's fixed?" (This is my second favorite question, right after:
> "Are you
> sure you know what you're doing?")
>
> Well, at this point I figured I had either a blockage in the
> cooling
> system/radiator -- or A BAD WATER PUMP! I pulled the water pump
> first and
> indeed, it had failed -- the plastic fins that drive the coolant
> were
> shattered (new pump uses metal fins BTW).
>
> Two failed water pumps in two days? -- I think this is pretty
> conclusive
> evidence that some sort of contagion is on the loose and I thought I
> should
> alert you all to this potential danger.  If anyone out there has
> experienced
> this and has a cure, please let me know. I want to stop this before
> it
> spreads any farther.
>
> Dave O.
> SF, CA
> 83 Diesel Westfalia
>