Funny you forgot about the bleed bolt-it happens to the best of us?
When my 84 westy got to 45K after 19 years, I took it to the local VW
dealer for a 45k service! LOL!  They said they didn't know what to
service at that point, since it was slightly over the warranty
period!  I should have taken that clue, but didn't.

In any event, there was a young mechanic there who loved vanagons, &
took my westy under his wing for the service. I got it back w/ a
broken off OG propane tank mud flap, & on a subsequent trip, my
coolant temp gauge kept registering high until later on I discovered
the radiator bleed bolt broken off which was causing the radiator to
loose coolant & overheat when the engine was operating at high speed.

So, I assumed that the dealer mechanic, who had good intentions, also
didn't replace the bolt properly, not to mention broke my mud flap
which the service rep denied & left moi hanging.  After another dealer
FUBAR after that, I decided that the dealer was not competent to work
on my vanagon anymore, & we both agreed that I would get my service
work done elsewhere.

YMMV,

Mr. BZ-ixney on the dealerbay

On Jul 29, 2010, at 9:57 AM, neil n wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 11:20 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>  Did my regular procedure: Remove grill.  Remove air bleed bolt at
>> the top
>> of the rad.
> ....
>
>>  Lots of action(distraction) around my shop though today..
> ...
>
>> But I find
>> the bleed bolt sitting there, right where I put it on a cross
>> member behind
>> the grill,  before I got distracted and left it out.....
>
>> .Note to self...do not be so easily distracted when doing important
>
>
>
> I saw that one coming.   <grin>  Glad you caught it. Are you
> installing the 1.8 head currently installed, onto your new ABA?
> Would've been a shame to harm it.
>
> Thinking about it now, I would be wise to make a list of what work
> I've done, and actually physically check off each item to make sure
> they're done. Up til now, I've found that simply standing there and
> pointing to each item and mumbling "yup. done" to myself suffices.
>
> Speaking of missing bolts (image):
>
> http://www.photostorage.nelson.geek.nz/sports/motorsport/mybikes/DR650/slides/20090828-134741.jpg
>
> ;)
>
> Neil.
>
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"
>
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines