Ah , Eric, this is how the insanity begins - a little bit  here, a
little bit there, and little bit over there in that corner - and first
thing you know you are a Vanagon Mechanic!! I've seen it happen to many
times.

I started my Vanagon life with a lovely '85 GL. It had a leaky power
steering unit and all the locals were scared of it. Found someone to
tackle the job of fixing it - did a great job - and I got to see it al
the way through - I thought, but I found a leaking fitting after I had
paid for the work - but I stepped up myself and took care of it - but
that was just the beginning - then over time there came four other
Vanagons - and front brakes, and rotors, and wheel bearing changes, and
radiator replacements, and water pumps, and alternators and power
steering pumps and CV Joints, and rear bumpers and ignition switches and
lighting upgrades, and starter changeouts, and, and, and, and, and the
list goes on. It happens. And today - I don't even want to take my Van
to a garage as a rule. Lack of familiarity means I'm paying someone to
learn on my machine - always a costly proposition. And I may not get
back what I wanted in the first place. Plus there are a lot of garages
today they won't touch a Vanagon. You have to hunt one down. Plus, more
importantly - by you knowing your Vanagons mechanical innards intimately
- you know what you have and  how to fix it if you ever break down on
the road somewhere.

My 85 GL was sold long ago and I don't remember too much about the 1.9L
engine - so can't respond directly to your question. But I will say I
found it to be a very stout and reliable little engine.

Good luck,

John

On 1/11/2014 5:38 PM, Eric Caron wrote:
> Hi listers,
>
>          I recently got my van back from a extended mechanical tuneup.  So far I'm a bit concerned that the job may not have been done as well as I hoped.  One of my  requested repairs was missed completely.
>
>          Denis Haynes had recommended that the small coolant hose on the top left corner of my 1.9 engine be replaced as it was actually fuel line and not coolant hose. This is about a 5 inch long small diameter hose that you can reach easily.  Taking off the engine compartment lid it is right there on the top at the left corner coming off a metal pipe and connected to a plastic part headed toward the front of the van.  Instead of changing this they changed the hose from the expansion tank to the over fill tank.  I  guess my directions were not as clear as I thought.  I didn't mind them changing that hose but it would have been nice if they had placed the hose completely on the expansion tank nipple rather then barely on. And remembering  to put the hose clamp back on would have been a plus.
>
> My question is would it be a fairly straight forward task for  me to replace this hose?  I still have plenty of replacement hose purchased from the Bus Depot.  I would certainly introduce some air into the system and I have kno idea what happens when I remove that hose!  I don't want coolant spraying all over or something crazy like that.
>
> I was happy to leave these tasks to the mechanic but at this point I would almost prefer to take the risk of doing it myself. That is with list support!
>
> tips and  suggestions greatly appreciated.
>
> Eric Caron
> 85 GL Auto
>
>
>