life on the wand

The back foot fell off the pool vacuum some time ago and we failed to notice. Oops! The poor little device dragged its tail off, so to speak. So, I spent a few hours this morning taking it apart, finding the part numbers on the Internet, and then looking for the best prices for the parts. Ebay to the rescue!


The after-run coolant pump on my van hasn't been working for several years, I guess, so because I had to have the coolant system drained to repair a leak I went ahead and replaced the pump. The most painful part was parting with the $100 for the pump!


The 1993 Eurovan uses plastic fittings on the engine that connect to the radiator hoses. Unfortunately, after about 14 years or so the plastic warps and starts leaking, so it was time to replace. These parts were relatively inexpensive and also simple to replace. The hardest part of this task was removing the upper bolt of the plastic flange.


My van started making a new noise that got louder when turning the steering wheel, and so I decided maybe the steering pump needed some help. I checked the fluid and it didn't seem real low, but when the engine was warm the fluid was all foamy and foul-smelling. So, I bought a couple of liters of the special VW steering fluid and drained the oil out and refilled it. The system holds 1.05 liters of fluid, and I managed to put most of a liter back in, so I guess I got the majority of the fluid out just by loosening the banjo bolts on the steering pump. So far the pump sounds better -- I hope it lasts. You can see where the coolant was leaking down the front of the engine in this picture.


When all the parts were back together and all the fluids back in, I started up the van to warm it up, check for leaks, and hopefully work any trapped air out of the power steering and cooling systems. I had read about opening the air-bleed valve in the top heater hose near the coolant reservoir. I didn't realize that it only needed to be open when putting liquid into the system, not when running. As soon as I started the engine coolant came shooting out the little hole and, well, made a pretty big mess! Don't do that!

I also spent a couple of hours sorting out Christmas lights. Amazing the number of bad bulbs and problems that accumulated since the last time we used the lights.
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