Wesley’s Wild World of Kayaking w/ the Jackson Action Wagon (J.A.W.)

My 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX Wagon, which is the 227 horsepower engine of the JAW, had developed a coolant leak over the last week and a half. My car is known as the Dragon Wagon when it is not connected to the JAW. Most of my paddling buddies compliment the Dragon Wagon on being the most pimp shuttle vehicle on the road. I really can’t complain about this problem considering the car is now 4 years old from when I bought in new and it already has over 100,000 miles on it from all of my adventures. This is the first problem I have ever had with the car other than general maintenance that my dad and I perform our-self.

Jeff (my super cool brother-in-law) and I discovered this problem on the way to the Little River last week, when we stopped to get a bite of breakfast before our river adventures. When we first spotted the area in which the leak was occurring we thought it was a bad radiator cap. But it turns out, through further diagnostics throughout the week, that the leak was actually occurring on the spout that the cap was connected too.

This morning, as I was leaving for work, I checked my coolant level and saw that I needed about 1/2 pint to fill up the coolant tank. I replaced the lost coolant and headed off to work. On the way to work I stopped at a stop sign and the Dragon Wagon began to smoke and steam badly from under the hood. When I got to work I discovered that the leak had got worse. I waited till later in the morning to call my dad to see if he would help me with the problem. He told me he had a plan to fix the leak that would not cost me a dime, so I left from work at lunch time in hopes that the problem would soon be remedied, but still somewhat skeptical.

Now before I continue with the story I must first give you a little background on my dad. My father’s name is Richard J. Bradley. He is 53 years old and works at Eastman as an Instrument Analysts/Calibrator. He is a jack of all trades, but master of none. His hobbies include fixing things, working on things, and tinkering with things. He has never had a car in the shop. He has never had a repairman in the house. He is, not Mr., but MASTER Fix-it! He never ceases to amaze me with his abilities to fix stuff. He is the Man in my book!

When I got home, before I could even change into some clothes that I didn’t mind to get dirty, dad had already disassembled that part from the car and had already began to inspect it for a solution. Dad found the hole and cleaned up the rest of the area that was corroded. We determined that the part could not be welded, because it was made of brass. Then dad indicated to me that the part could be soldiered. He soldiered up the hole and surrounding area and we assembled the part back on the Dragon Wagon. I took it for a test drive to pick up some lunch and when I returned home dad was waiting for me in the driveway to inspect his work. I popped the hood and to my surprise everything was good to go! No more coolant leak!

I am super stoked that I did not have to spend any money to fix my car and very thankful for my dad! He is a super genius!!

The Dragon Wagon and the JAW are rolling in style again thanks to my dad.

Thanks dad again for all your help. You are the man!!!