Date:         Sat, 26 Aug 2000 18:48:50 PDT
Reply-To:     Mark Dorm <mark_hb@hotmail.com>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Dorm <mark_hb@hotmail.com>
Subject:      Coolant change
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Down below you mention that you bleed the coolant with the tailend up???
What is that? And you state that you change the coolant once every two years
- I thought that we were supposed to be changing our coolant every year -
plus does changing the coolant do anything to help the life of our hoses??


>From: John Rodgers <inua@hiwaay.net>

>Doug, the flashing light in the temp gauge in the instrument panel is the
>low
>coolant level warning light. It connects to the coolant sensor in the top
>of the
>coolant expansion tank.
>
>On the sensor in the tank, there are two bare prongs that stick into the
>coolant. The sensor system operates on the resistance of the coolant
>between the
>two prongs. Several things can affect the resistance, and cause the llight
>to
>come on and blink.
>
>1) Obviously, low coolant will cause the light to turn on and blink. When
>the
>coolant drops to the point the sensor prongs are exposed, the resistance
>between
>the two will increase towards infinity, and the light will come on.
>Solution:
>add more coolant.
>
>2) If there is a crack in the sensor itself, that will affect the
>resistance,
>and the light will come on. I have had that happen to me twice. I just
>replaced
>the unit. Inexpensive, easy to do, available from Ron Salmon at The Bus
>Depot,
>Ken Wilford at Van-a-gain and others.
>
>3) Coolant to water ratio is out of balance. I can't say enough about this.
>You
>have to have the right amount of coolant in the water for the resistance
>between
>the contacts on the low water level sensor to be correct for proper
>operation of
>the sensor and warning light. Of the top of my head, I think I recall that
>it
>must be a 50-50 ratio. If the coolant is old, it can have it's effect.
>
>Coolant is no place to be chincy on the Vanagons. It's not THAT expensive,
>and
>good coolant helps keep the internal working of the cooling system free of
>corrosion and increases the life of the coolant pump. I now use
>bio-degradable
>DexCool (orange color) in mine - good for two years - , and I bleed the
>system
>with the tail end up. Procedure works great for me, and I don't have to
>hassle
>the bleeder valve up front.
>
>Hope this helps a bit.
>
>John Rodgers
>88GL Driver.
>
>

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