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August 12, 2004
inability to use english rampant in vw world, and other interesting topics
this one's from the diesel vanagon list:
"I was told that when the diesel firers that it causes a precaution that move the coolant back from the cylinders walls. So it can not cool evenly. The diesel coolant is used to stop this & will maintain a better temp. It's all new to me."
sigh. i can interpret everything except that critical piece of information, "it causes a precaution." well, actually, the whole thing makes no damn sense. how can coolant be moved back from the cylinder walls? while it's true that there are many things i don't understand about a) the laws of physics and b) the exact ways they apply to diesel engines, i understand enough to suspect that there's something very wrong with that statement.
:|:
i changed out 9 westy's air filter today, checked her oil (which is almost certainly the wrong oil and i should change it... diesels require a special type of oil designed to isolate the soot that they always have floating around in the engine, and from what the PO said, he had no clue about this fact) and checked the coolant. the coolant is full but the oil is a little low-- not a surprise though really given that the engine was half taken apart and it had been leaking.
the air filter i got from bus depot is nicer than the one i replaced-- it's got a foam gasket around the edge that fits snugly into the top of the air box, creating a seal. not sure if this helps the engine, but it does help reduce noise.
:|:
finally paid the bill today (they hadn't had it ready for me). it was carefully itemized, and lonnie came around the counter and went through each line with me-- separate lines for each labor charge and each parts charge. i swear it was the clearest repair invoice i have ever seen! they barely charged me for all the extra stuff mark had done, so it came in just over the estimate i originally received. all in all, the best car repair experience i have ever had.
:|:
left work early, hit lonnie's then the biodiesel station (the price has skyrocketed to $1.79/gal), then still wasn't hungry when i got home so i used my new edging tool to cut edges around the beds in the front yard. took a good long look at my windows and awnings, which are hugely in need of painting. i'm thinking about actually spraying the awnings, since i've got this crazy compressor...
then i was just dying to drive the westy so i did those little maintenance items, and took her for a good long drive. i got very hungry but didn't want to stop driving! she did really well, got up over 55 a couple of times, everything sounded nice and smooth. i just love driving that crazy thang. can't wait to drive it to work next week.
Posted by lisa at August 12, 2004 08:52 PM | TrackBack
Comments
oh yay! i'm glad you get to drive it and have fun with it!!
Posted by: alicia on August 13, 2004 10:12 AM
ok, so a) your comment won't post right away because i have to approve it first and b) you might get a server error but your comment probably posted anyway and c) previewing doesn't work so i've removed the preview button.