Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 22:12:35 +0100
Reply-To: Justin Pentecost <justin@KRASS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Justin Pentecost <justin@KRASS.COM>
Subject: Cooling System 86 Transporter
In-Reply-To: <020601be9595$b36ec780$6f6f6f6f@aptiva>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi guys :)
When I was in Paris last week I had a bit of a wobbly one with the cooling
system on my 86 Transporter. As I was desparatly trying to park the bus
it overheated. I drove back to London and about 100 miles from Paris it
happened again on the motorway. When the bus was cool again I drove to the
filling station and let it cool again. The expansion bottle (NOT the
overflow resovoir the one inside the bus)was empty and I filled it with tap
water, ran the bus and kept filling untill it would take no more then half
filled the overflow resovoir). It was fine all the way back to London.
On the back of the thermostat housing there is "missing" hose. This was
explained to me by my mechanic as associated with the fact that my bus is
an 86 but the engine is a very early watercooled one for which the parts
are not availiable. It all works fine except that the "Missing" hose is
about 4in long and had what looks like a bit of dowel pushed into it and
then sealed with a jubillie clip. This is leaking slightly onto one of
the plugs (which explains the missfireing problems I have had on startup).
So I know what the problem is !! but what to do about it !! :)
Can anyone tell me ...
1. Has the engine overheating caused any permenent damage.
2. what I would really like to do is to totally drain the cooling system
and flush it out then recharge it with the VW aproved coolant (I had a
totally recon engine last year mostly due to studs which is not a financial
experience I am unlikely to forget !!) Given that I have no service data
how do I do this and what is the best coolant to use ?
3. While it is down I will have to block this pipe what is the best way ?
I used to get a guy to service the bus for me but I am thinking of doing
this myself now. I use the 5000 mile service interval for oil, filter
etc it's 3,000 since the oil was done and 8 since the plugs should I do the
whole lot while I am getting dirty ? What should I look out for if I do ?
Thanks :)
Justin Pentecost
Email:-jpentecost@easynet.co.uk Tel:- +44 (0)171 837 8470
Fax:- +44 (0)171 278 7838 Mobile:- +44 (0)973 317 241
Snail Mail:- The Red Door, The Old Motorail Terminal, Cheney Rd, Kings
Cross, London, NW1 2TF,United Kingdom
