Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 11:49:27 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Why you stick your head in your engine now and again...
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a nice metal or plastic hose junction piece would be ideal for a quick
repair on this one. Even one of those FLAPS heater hose pieces that has a
garden hose connection on it for flushing.
there is a common hose connector piece on diesel vanagons ..
or, the T's for the rear heater on your waterboxer ....
those also make a fine quick hose connector, you just need to block off
the extra branch of it...the outlet you don't need on it.
good going that you found it.
it's actually very relaxing to the mind to lay under there, contemplating
all that's going on, all those parts spinning around flying back and forth
...the perfect time to notice ...hey, what is that 'whatever' ? - fluid
stain or drip, thing out of place, etc.
bleeding ....a quick simple repair to one heater hose will not really
require serious bleeding ..
or even any. Just top up the coolant if it'll take a little more, after
each cool-down cycle for a few times. That works.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Fisher" <garciasghostvw@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 12:57 AM
Subject: Why you stick your head in your engine now and again...
> So I'm underneath the van tonight looking at the engine with a 250w
> halogen
> light, trying to see if I have a broken motor mount (I'm pretty sure I
> do).
> I hear this thump thump from the rear now and again; I've listened to all
> parts of the engine with my "mechanic's stethoscope" and it all sounds as
> it
> should. The thump is intermittent, only happens when the engine is running
> and happens in any gear or park. I can actually lift the engine some on
> the
> driver's side and see a gap at the rubber block. (I remember one of the
> first things my local VW Jedi told me when he saw I had a Vanagon was that
> he's replaced a thousand of those mounts.) I hope it's the mount, because
> I
> can't really think of anything else that would sound like that that isn't
> really bad. Nothing is hitting anything else in any obvious way.
>
>
>
> Anyway... I'm looking around to see what else is to be seen and I notice
> that the inner driver's side CV boot has bright black rings on the edges
> of
> the two outer folds. Most of the bottom of my van is covered in dust, so
> I'm
> going "huh?"; I look over at the other boot and it looks uniformly dirty,
> so... one of the hoses (the thermostat bypass hose?) is lying on the CV
> boot
> and has a worn spot about the size of my fingertip. I can't push through
> the
> wall of the hose but I bet 50% of it's gone right there (the boot is all
> right). I have to drive to L.A. tomorrow, so I have to deal with both of
> these things in the morning. I'm trying figure out if I'm nifty enough to
> replace that hose without having to do a major bleed (I'd have to make my
> wife help me). Maybe I can pinch it off and put a splice in it, but I'd
> rather have a good new piece of hose.
>
>
>
> However I'm damn glad I noticed it or sure as I'm sitting here that SOB
> woulda let go on some empty stretch of the 14 tomorrow. I'm thinking the
> was
> zip-tied to something else at one point and whatever it was broke and it
> dropped. I don't even think it's been a month since I last stuck my head
> under there.
>
> The van is so casual to drive that when it's running well it's easy to
> just
> groove on and take it for granted despite the fact that you know that it
> (or
> any 23-yr-old vehicle with 350K+ on the clock) is something of a
> maintenance
> time bomb.
>
>
>
> So crawl under your van now and again. Even if nothing's going wrong you
> can
> relax in the shade and still look like you're doing something.
>
>
>
> Cya,
>
> Robert
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