November:
A friend, waving to me as she turned onto my street, forgot to look where 
she was going, failed to negotiate the turn and crunched the rear corner 
of the van. Repaired in December.

December:
Driving down the highway to work, water light blinked on and heat dropped 
to nil. Steam spewed out from rear of car. You guessed it: blown head 
gaskets. Repaired in December, both heads new.

January:
Oil spewing out from van on startup (at 20 degrees or less F). Strongly 
considered renaming the van "USS Valdez." Cause: oil cooler not bolted 
tightly enough to engine, big O ring seal loose. Repaired in January. 
Still haven't found out if I am responsible for scrubbing out huge oil 
stains in parking lot at work (more likely it will continue to be 
annoying source of conversation among coworkers).

January (One week later):
Driving down the highway to work, all lights went on, oil buzzer ripping 
a peaceful morning to shreds. Cause: bits of shredded fan belt in engine. 
Had new fan belt with me, took off other two belts to get to this one, 
repaired

At this point, I freaked out. HOW LONG CAN THIS GO ON?!?!? I cannot 
continue to have this kind of unreliability with my only daily driver, 
going 25 miles each way to work (and 75 miles each way to school 2X per 
week). I reached the agonizing solution that the van should be sold. For 
a week, I wrestled with this pain, praying to the computer gods (and 
talking to my friend Kevin) for a way out. Sell or not sell? Sell or not 
sell?

Well, to make a long story short (I know, much too late for that), I 
opted for the third solution, the Gordian Knot. I am now the proud owner 
of a 1980 Honda Prelude (180K miles, but garage kept by original owner), 
the best $500 I ever spent. The Honda shares the load with the van, so 
that I don't continue to put 600 miles each week on one vehicle. I still 
drive both vehicles regularly (and my wife's Jetta), so it's a bit 
strange to switch from the tall van and to the tiny car.

I just couldn't give up the van. Thanks to my understanding SO, I can 
have it all. Of course, she heard me whining for 4 years before we found 
the Westy, so she may have wanted to save herself aggravation.

At any rate, a (gulp) Honda question for people. Are there any mailing 
lists or Internet resources you know of to help me keep the little beast 
running?

(Camping time soon here!)
--Dave 

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Dave Mancuso
Mancuso@etown.k12.pa.us

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