It appears that the water pump on my '91 Westy is starting to fail - 
tell-tale puddles of water on the garage floor, just below the oil filter, 
every morning.  No noise yet, but I'm sure that's soon to come.  

I've checked with several local (Seattle) repair places, both dealer and
independent, and the prices for replacement range from $250 - $450, with
most  (dealers included!) clustered around $350.  Indeed, the major
difference between dealer and independent shops is in the pump they use:
Dealers (invariably) use re-built VW pumps;  independent shops use
various brands of (usually) new pumps, including SWF, GBA and LASO.  I've
not heard of **any** of these, even though all the shops assure me they're
'genuine VW OEM stuff' (seems pretty incredible that VW would buy from so
many manufacturers, especially when a couple of them are Japanese <g>).
The lines seem to be drawn along the "rebuilts are used parts and don't
last nearly as long as new" (indies) vs. "aftermarket parts are cheap
imitations and don't last nearly as long" (dealers) lines.  Since the 
major cost here is the labor (like in 4.0-4.5 hours!) and the shop rates 
don't vary *that* much (well, some, but the cheaper ones also seem pretty 
unfamiliar with vanagons/VW), I want to make sure I use the best available 
parts.  

So, fellow vanagoneers, what's been your experience with the various
brands of (new/rebuilt) water pumps?  Any suggestions for brands to look
for - or look *out* for?  

(And fellow Seattle vanagoneers, are there any independent shops out there 
that really know water cooled vanagons?  When I had my '82, I developed a 
real respect for Akers but, alas, they won't work on waterboxers.  
Since then I've had very good service from Carter VW (dealer), but this time they 
were just *way* too expensive, $450!)

-Wes

Wes Neuenschwander
Seattle, WA
wesn@eskimo.com