Received in the Administrator's account (probably because I've been
camping with WetWesties @ Leavenworth and didn't approve his
subscription request until about 2 minutes ago.):

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Calwolfie@aol.com
> Date: October 3, 2008 6:39:50 PM PDT
> To: vanagon-request@gerry.vanagon.com
> Subject: Please advise: great trip but engine melt down
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> We live in So. Calif. The summer before last, my wife got accepted
> to a 2 week seminar at Columbia University.  So, she flew ahead and
> I later loaded the kids into our 87' westy and drove 4 straight
> days to meet her at the end of the seminar.  It was a brutal drive
> east as I was the only driver/navigator/cook, etc. We did have
> Harry Potter on CD to help keep the mental peace. It was a true
> relief to find my wife after 4000 mile of driving.  We had a great
> time exploring NYC.  We even ran into the Dalai Lama at the foot of
> the Statute of Liberty. He is short in person and wears chiffon
> colored new balance running shoes.  After a couple of days in NYC,
> we meandered down through D.C., Amish country, Shenandoah Valley,
> then west to relatives in MO. The trip was great until we were
> passing Gallup, NM.  Apparently, the water pump failed, leaking all
> the coolant. The WP shaft/bearings were blown out. My wife was
> driving and didn't notice anything until the oil pressure warning
> buzzer came on. I guess when you are used to driving a Honda, you
> get use to not looking at gages. We pulled over to the side of the
> highway with steam blowing out so heavy that for a minute I thought
> the engine was on fire. We had the van towed into town. There are
> no VW shops in Gallup!  This is truck country. I was able to order
> a WP and get it the next AM. I installed it in the hope we would be
> able to drive home. By noon I had it in, poured in some water, no
> joy.  Leaked at both heads.  Rented the last U-haul flat trailer
> and truck in town and towed the van 600 miles back to home.  Not
> the best thing to happen on a vacation but at least it happened on
> the tail end and we had AAA plus insurance that covered the cost of
> getting the van home.  So now, the question, what must I do with
> the engine?  Replace the head seals or full re-build?  It had 124K
> miles. Would extreme heat damage the rings, bearings, case, rods?
> If I re-build, is there any special items to inspect due to the
> heat?  Any ideas for avoiding this in future? A coolant low
> pressure warning buzzer? I've been putting off dealing with this
> but we miss having the van for camping. I'll have to say, the kids
> will never forget that trip ;)  I did check the van out for the
> trip and every morning.  But I didn't see it coming.  Thanks for
> advice, Kevin in Riverside
>
>
>
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