Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 19:45:13 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@hiwaay.net>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@hiwaay.net>
Subject: Re: Cooling woes and the aborted trip to TBTT (somewhat
longish...)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Alan, take your rig to a mechanic with one of those space age heat sensors that
takes a temperature reading from whatever it is pointed at. All the mechanic
has to do is point the thing and pull the trigger to get the reading. Some
instruments may operate a little differently but the results is the same.
With the engine cold, the mechanic can start taking readings from various
points on the engine and the connecting plumbing. You should watch the process.
With the instrument you can actually watch the process of the engine warming
up. He will be able to tell exactly when the thermostat starts to open. He can
tell what is going on temperature-wise with each pat of the engine and should
be able to get a good insight as to what is happening with the cooling system
on the engine.
On my van my mechanic found an erratic thermostat and a faulty expansion cap.
Sometimes it would open, other times it would not.....and if it didn't open,
when the engine shut down, the heat would cause the coolant to expand to the
point it would blow the coolent level sensor completely out of the expansion
tank.
Hope this will work for you to help solve the problem.
John Rodgers
'88GL Driver in Birmingham, AL
Alan Bosch wrote:
> In preparation for this weekends Transporters by the Tunnel, I did a little
> prepping and primping on old Phred. Nothing severe - change the oil and
> filter, drain the coolant, install a new lower-temp thermostat, install a
> new temp II sensor, refill, and bleed. Took the bus out for a drive
> Thursday afternoon and noticed the temp needle settling about half way
> between the LED and the top of the guage. Not to worry, I told myself,
> just do another bleed tomorrow. And I did. Friday came, loaded the bus
> with my gear and 4 year old son, and headed East for a relaxing six hour
> drive. Well, never made it half way - turned around in Syracuse.
>
> About fifty or so miles in to the drive, the LED on the temp guage starts
> flashing and the needle shot up to just under the hot zone. Pulled over
> and let the bus cool down. Upon restarting, the needle went up to a
> needle-width over the LED and stayed there. After another thirty or so
> miles, the LED started to flash again and the needle shot up. With my son
> in the bus, I deceided I couldn't chance it and turned around and limped
> home, thirty miles at a time.
>
> This morning, I went over my bleeding check list and found that I missed
> nothing. I started up the bus and within a minute the LED flashed it's
> wicked little flicker. Pulled the bus up on the ramps and crawled under.
> Nothing. No leaks. I then removed the protective tin around the cylinder
> heads and found the drivers side has some dried orange coolant residue on
> it. But that could be from the coolant the spilled during the change.
>
> So here are some questions for the lists collective wisdom:
>
> (1) What, exactly, does the flashing coolant LED mean? I've heard it
> means low coolant, and I've heard it means it's over heated.
>
> (2) Presuming the worst, how does one go about establishing that the heads
> and/or head gaskets are shot? The presence of dried coolant - no visible
> leaks - can not be the only way. Never having experienced this failure -
> but perhaps due - I was under the impression "you'll know it when it
> happens". Catastrophic failure comes to mind.
>
> (3) Having done the fill and bleed routine twice on Thursday (and three
> times in the past) what are the chances that I've got an air bubble in the
> cooling system that is causing these problems?
>
> (4) Again, presuming the worst, do I go for gaskets and heads? Just
> gaskets? One side? Both? Or chuck the whole engine with 114K, and
> install one from Boston Engine?
>
> (5) What else is there to check? I've been over the cooling system with a
> fine tooth comb and I can't figuire this out.
>
> Any and all help appreciated. My son was so looking forward to his first
> camping trip. I feel terrible that I could not fix whatever's wrong so we
> could have gone. Please, volks, help me out here. I'm dreading the
> news...
>
> Alan Bosch
> & a lame Phred ('88 Wolfsburg)
> Rochester, NY
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