Date:         Sat, 15 Apr 2006 15:50:15 -0700
Reply-To:     Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Subject:      Re: What damage to expect when waterpump blows?
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=response

What kind of driving would you be using it for? My engine had been cooked by
the P.O- not well-done I don't think, but at least medium rare. I re-ringed
it and went through the heads (the machine shop did anyway) and it's running
fine- but I don't take it on long hard trips, it's mostly an in-town driver.
I don't know how well I trust it for long highway trips. I guess you could
argue that in-town driving might be harder on it than highway driving but
being it's a small town (about six miles square) it doesn't have much
opportunity to get overheated. I did take it over a tough pass into the
mountains a while back and it handled it well, if you call 36 mph up the
grade 'handling it well', but it never got much hotter than normal.
If you're not going to stress it in tough driving environments it might be
fine even for having been through that, but I think I'd get the owner to go
on a long drive with me before I bought it anyway, along with the coolant
pressure test, sniffing for exhaust gasses and all that.
The real question is, will this engine fall apart in less or more clicks
than that rust heap will? : )

Good luck,
Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jens Jakob Andersen" <jayjay@ZORCK.DK>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 3:11 PM
Subject: Re: What damage to expect when waterpump blows?


> Hi
>
> I do not know if it was badly overheated.
>
> Seller says it blew, water cooked, they pulled over, added a lot more
> water, drove home.
>
> Drove short tipes for a peirod, 8 km per. liter of water.
>
> Got it fixed eventually at a mechanic, a month ago, now they are
> selling the van, because they have bought a Citroen Berlingo instead.
>
> I am a bit worried of the waterpump issue, can imagine a lot of air
> in the system, if they needed to add 1 liter for each 8 km driven - a
> lot of local hotspots in the engine.
>
> As well as adding all that water, maybe corrosion inside the engine.
>
> How can the waterpump damage the engineblock when it goes?
>
> And how can a bad waterpump total a Vanagon .- if it isnt the blue
> rustagon?
>
> Happy driVWing
>
> Jayjay