Sorry for the funky link, volks. I never registered with that site, so
I am a bit puzzled that you guys could not access it without
registering. My sincere apologies.

Anyway, for those who have the time to read this Vanagon story...

> Who fixes Vanagon after a fire? Depends on your ethics
> January 23, 2006
>
> DEAR TOM AND RAY: I have a 1984 VW Vanagon (yes, it does break down a
> lot!). Anyway, I recently had a rebuilt engine put in it.
>
> However, the mechanic loused it up, but tried to convince me that that
> was as good as those engines could get. Not believing this, I
> eventually had to have another mechanic fix the problems.
>
> The problem is that it was wired wrong and only running on three
> cylinders, not four. Since that time, it's been running great (for a
> week!). This morning, when starting the van, my husband looked in the
> rearview mirror and noticed large flames coming out of the tailpipe.
> He turned the engine off and had to use snow to put the fire out,
> which he was able to do.
>
> The problem: I don't want to take the van back to the original
> mechanic, even though the warranty is through him. What should I do? -
> Tracy
>
> RAY: You made a crucial mistake, Tracy. You should never have let your
> husband put out the fire. That was the perfect solution!
>
> TOM: You're in a bit of a pickle now. The first guy obviously did
> something wrong. Or he put in a badly rebuilt engine. But it's hard to
> know now.
>
> RAY: What you do next depends on how ethical you are.
>
> TOM: If it were me, I'd just go back to mechanic No. 1 and tell him
> the car caught fire. Don't even mention mechanic No. 2, because
> mechanic No. 1 will just try to blame him, and then you'll be out of
> luck.
>
> RAY: Like I said, Tracy, what you do depends on how ethical you are.
> If you're more ethical than my brother or George Costanza, then you
> have to be honest, even though it makes things a little messier.
> Here's what I'd suggest. Go back to mechanic No. 2 and ask him to undo
> whatever he did and explain what he did. Then bake some brownies, go
> back to mechanic No. 1 with the brownies, and confess.
>
> TOM: I'd fudge the story a little bit (I'd fudge the brownies, too).
> Tell him it was running terribly the other day, and you thought it was
> going to leave you stranded, so you stopped at the nearest garage,
> which happened to be mechanic No. 2. Explain to him what mechanic No.
> 2 did.
>
> RAY: Tell him that the Vanagon ran much better for a week, but then
> caught fire. And in a moment of confusion, you told your husband to
> put it out.
>
> TOM: Tell him that you had mechanic No. 2 undo his work, but now the
> Vanagon is running terribly again, and you need him to fix it - minus
> the flamethrower option.
>
> RAY: He may very well try to wash his hands of it. But if he's a
> decent guy, he'll go back and try to figure out what's wrong. He
> really owes it to you to make the thing run right. If there's a
> dispute about how well it should run, borrow another Vanagon and bring
> it to his shop so he can see the difference between that one and
> yours.
>
> TOM: And if all else fails, Tracy ... well ... start parking near big
> piles of leaves.
>
> DEAR TOM AND RAY: Last week my neighbor gave me an 11-page treatise on
> the benefits of putting a small amount of acetone in your gas tank: an
> increase of 25 percent to 35 percent in gas mileage with NO damage to
> the engine. The article tells how much acetone per number of gallons
> and gives the rationale for why it works. I am NOT knowledgeable in
> the workings of engines, nor do I have knowledge about fuels, so I can
> be snowed by people who may or may not know what they are talking
> about. I value your opinions. What do YOU think about this? - Wil
>
> TOM: It's bo-o-o-o-gus, Wil. With four "o's." Don't put acetone in
> your gas tank.
>
> RAY: It does absolutely nothing to increase your gas mileage. We spoke
> to a fuel-systems engineer who works for one of the major oil
> companies. He said that because of all these rumors floating around on
> the Web, his company tested acetone in its own labs and found no
> increase in mileage. None. And he said the equipment is precise enough
> to detect anything over a 1 percent difference.
>
> TOM: But it's worse than useless - it's also harmful. Acetone is the
> primary ingredient in nail-polish remover. And while it will burn and
> is a high-octane material, it's also a very powerful solvent. So while
> it's in your fuel system, it'll be eagerly dissolving all of your
> rubber components ... like gaskets and O-rings.
>
> RAY: In fact, some cars have a rubber hose in the fuel line that goes
> between the fuel-cap assembly and the tank. When you add your acetone,
> pouring 100 percent, undiluted rubber-eater right onto that tube,
> you'll be eating through it in no time.
>
> TOM: Here's our final reason not to use it: It dissolves paint. So if
> you slip and spill a little bit outside your fuel filler door, you'll
> have a nice, unpainted line running down to the bottom edge of your
> rear quarter panel. When we see you drive by, we'll know you didn't
> take our advice!