Just to be clear. I was not discouraged at all by anyone.
I simply had to have this van on the road this week and I knew if
experienced mechanics here on the list take 2 -4 hours, it'll take me
10. I am usually quite slow and think at least twice before I do
something to not mess up too much. Even that I had this engine out last
year and assembled everything by myself would not help timewise that
much, as I assembled the water pump back then when everything was nicely
accessible. In addition I had the fear of breaking a stud because of the
limited space. And sure enough, the mechanics told me that they had to
drill out one stud, which is waaayyyyyy easier if the van is up in the
air instead me try to dig into the ground to get more room :-)
Thanks again and take it easy :-)
(Not sure though why they charged me the dealer price for the water pump
... 100 bucks, whereas at busdepot you can get them for 50)
Cheers
Thomas

Man, this van is now soooo quite with new tires and a new water pump!

David Kao wrote:
> --- Scott Daniel - Shazam  <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Re
>> " It would appear
>>
>>>>>> that some might be trying to discourage others from doing their
>>>>>> own water pump replacements."
>>>>>>
>> That's funny, such never occurred to me.
>> I sure encourage everyone to be very familiar, handy, and skilled at
>> maintaining and repairing their vanagon, most definitely.
>>
>
> I have destroyed 2 thermostat housing so far during the course of DIY
> in fixing my two Vanagons in recent years. Breaking things is likely
> for any DYIer. The cost of replacing destroyed parts wasn't very nice.
> I looked for used parts and waited for a while before I could get them.
> Each time the Vanagon had to be parked for a while.
>
> So I think it is reasonable for discouraging or warning DYIers in dealing
> with Vanagon water pump.
>
> David
>
>
>
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