My Magic Minivan

I drive a 98 Ford Windstar minivan.  I've had it for about a year and a half and it's got over 173k miles.  Tuesday, it decided to spill coolant from one of the steel return lines.  It was basically a small pinhole leak, and it looked like when you drop a soda can and it starts to spray out its contents.  Unfortunately, it happened on my lunchbreak.  I started hearing a squeal, and when I pulled over to check it out, I could smell the coolant.  Oh crap, I thought.  It had gotten on the serpentine belt and was causing a squeal, but it hadn't lost enough coolant to cause the engine to get hot.  I called my wife, who works nearby and was going to lunch soon and arranged for her to meet me so I could get back to work and I'd try to repair the van later.

Considering I got the van for next to nothing, I've managed to put more miles on it than I expected.   It still sucks when you don't have a vehicle.  Rather than trying to replace the pipe, I picked up some quicksteel metal epoxy and attempted to patch it up.  It seems to have held, as I have driven it the past couple days with no leaks.  I must say, that stuff is magic in a tube.  It's like silly putty but can withstand 500 degrees and hardens like metal.  You can also apply the stuff underwater, if you ever need to.  Still, the van is getting old, so we're starting to look at cars again.  After the dealings with getting my wife a new car back in April, I'm really not looking forward to it.