In a message dated 98-07-11 18:22:43 EDT, maddie@INTERLOG.COM writes:

<< i went to my mechanic about it the other day. He went
 on this big speech that it could be that or anything and that why waste my
 money on it if the van is running fine...etc. Well..It is disconcerning
 for me at the very least. Should i try to get the part,replace it and
 see..or is he right? I don't really have the money to have him check for
 hours about it. Help help..please? >>

Karen,

Replace your mechanic. He may be a nice guy and all, but is not interested in
your Vanagon, or in fixing it. Find a totally anal-retentive Vanagon driver in
your area, and find out where they get their Van worked on. Go there.

The assortment of things (broken parts) that can cause problems in a vehicle
is VERY limited, to systems displaying the symptoms, and the circumstances
during which those symptoms appear. Usually, a simple test will point a good
technician DIRECTLY to the problem. This guy is nuts: "could be anything".

If this van is stalling, it is a safety hazard. You could be transporting
seven young orphans to the Catholic School and accidently pull out in front of
a logging truck driven by a guy with an eye-patch on one eye and some dust in
the other, and who is missing his right leg, but forgot his prosthesis back at
the loggin camp, who drank five beers and some Sleep-eaze for breakfast, in a
truck that has faulty brakes, bald tires, and a broken 8-track radio, on a
rain-slicked highway, at sunrise. And then what?

Replace your mechanic.

gmbulley
cary, nc