Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 10:44:01 -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: One Time Coolant Leak
In-Reply-To: <5069C6C7.6050307@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Hi Jack,
at least take a look at the rubber gasket on your license plate bottle ..
I've seen quite a few of those gaskets deteriorated lately. Some I am
able to repair a small crack with black silicone ..
( one handy little trick with a silicone repair like that is put
vaseline on the surface you want it to form to, but not adhere too
...that works nicely .)
another thing to be aware of is if the license plate bottle is
'overfilled' cold ...like above the max line ..
and things are really warm , like on a very hot day ......sometimes the
coolant can expand so much that it'll push coolant out the vent at the
top of the licnese plate bottle..which 'looks' like a leak, but it's not
really one of course.
anti-frz coolant mixture doesn't evaporate quickly like plain water does.
I have never seen a license plate bottle crack on the bottom or anything
like that.
oh right ..the cap on the pressure bottle. Always carry a spare. Those
things can be dodgey.
I've seen these failure modes on them ..
Failure to hold pressure property.
fairlure to 'suck back' properly from the license plate bottle
Not able to screw correctly onto a cheap or new cheap pressure bottle
Additionally, sometimes the pressure bottles get minute cracks and leak.
It almost never happens, but check that the hose from pressure cap to
license plate bottle isn't clogged ..like at the small hole where it
enters the license plate bottle.
the two most common failures I've seen related to your symptom here are
license plate bottle rubber gasket,
and pressure cap on the pressure bottle. Always carry a spare one of
those.
Lately I've been painting the license plate bottle cap with some really
excellent paint ..
it's called Zero Rust paint, in a spray can. Comes in a very nice
bright blue that's not glossy or flat ..
this paint just doesn't run, and it sticks to metal and plastic
perfectly and 'forever'. It's just nice seeing that color-coded ( blue
for coolant ) cap on the license plate bottle.
On 10/1/2012 9:37 AM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
> I'll keep this short. Scout's honor.
>
> On Friday my son and I drove to a trailhead for a weekend hike. The last
> 8 miles of road are washboardy, gravel, and steep uphill in places (rear
> wheels juddering on the gravel). When we arrived I noticed a small
> puddle under the rear of the van. I took a look at the refill tank
> (behind the licence plate) and the coolant level was up to the lower
> edge of the filler cap, and the outside of the tank was wet. It was a
> cool morning and at no time did the engine get hot. I've driven this
> road before, and rougher ones, with no incident.
>
> I didn't look any further into the situation, we wanted to hit the trail
> and whatever had happened could wait until we returned.
>
> On return I was not happy to see that the puddle was still visible, but
> maybe coolant doesn't evaporate clean like water. I worried
>
> The refill tank was bone dry. The expansion tank was completely full,
> and it looks like just plain coolant.
>
> We filled the refill tank to the "max" line with clean water (about a
> liter) and drove off.
>
> We stopped several times on the 130 mile trip home to check the level in
> the refill tank and due to the warm engine, it was higher, about 1/3rd
> up the filler cap. There were no leaks. When I got home, the level was
> still 1/3rd up the fill cap.
>
> This morning, the van cold, the coolant is back to the "max" line.
>
> I was worrying about a head gasket leak or something pressurizing the
> cooling system.
>
> But now I think that the more likely explanation might be that the cap
> was a little loose and when the coolant expanded it drooled out of the
> refill tank. I'm not convinced, though, since the last time I did
> anything with that cap was back in April and I've driven a couple
> thousand miles since then, on equally rough roads.
>
> Given this information, anyone care to offer another theory about what
> might have happened?
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
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