I was driving on the motorway when the temperature needle went to max and
the red light flashed. I pulled over as soon as I saw it, and I am now
praying that I saw it soon enough to have saved the engine.

I lost coolant from one of a pair of fat 'concertinaed' pipes going from the
engine to a very long metal pipe that goes towards the radiator. It is in
the area of the rear axle, and both pipes are on the right. They are made of
rubber and are about a metre in length.  I have a split in the leftmost of
the two.

My questions are:

1. Do I have to have the entire length of piping including the metal part
replaced as the local VW mechanic says? He says I should do both, and they
each cost �90, plus �90 labour because of dropping the petrol tank, total
about �300. Why can't I just have the rubber part of the pipeline replaced.
Both ends are obvious and end in jubilee clips.

2. Can I just cut the split part out and put in a metal pipe and secure the
two cut ends with jubilee clips?

Thanks
Lionel Tun
1984 Caravelle GL auto, 199k miles
ark@saqnet.co.uk