Date:         Wed, 24 Jan 2001 21:06:37 EST
Reply-To:     kenneth d lewis <kdlewis@JUNO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         kenneth d lewis <kdlewis@JUNO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Coolant air, overflow, fried head gasket,
              "burping" out air (long)
Comments: To: vw@EMRIVER.COM

Steve;
        From the clues you have given, the problem may have exsisted
before you purchased. Why else did he replace the radiator but to attempt
a cure for overheating?
        Just ask him if this problem exsisted. What do you got to lose?


Drive Safely & Good Luck
Ken Lewis    <Kernersville,NC>
86 VW crewcab;60 356B Coupe

P.S. Reply in text only please, not HTML
--------------------------------------------------

On Wed, 24 Jan 2001 16:58:53 -0600 Steve Gough <vw@EMRIVER.COM> writes:
>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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>Great list.  Your advice (and patience with my first post) please:
>
>I'm now the proud owner of an '86 Westy, bought from a guy who'll
>remain =
>anonymous.  He lives 950 miles away and I drove that newly purchased
>van =
>all the way back to my home in St. Louis fighting coolant overflows
>and =
>the blinking red light.
>
>Before I bought it, PO did flush and fill, then later a radiator =
>replacement.  He worried that not all the air was out yet and advised
>I =
>stop and "burp" the expansion tank if the blinking light showed low =
>coolant.
>
>The engine ran (still runs) great, plenty of power.  But after only a
>=
>few miles, she spit a lot of coolant out of the fill (license plate) =
>tank.  (I trailed a nice steam cloud as it hit the muffler).
>Following =
>PO's advice, I would "burp" the expansion (with pressure cap) tank.  =
>Lots of "air" would come out.  This went on for many, many miles:  =
>coolant overflow and/or blinking red light, find a place to stop,
>"burp" =
>tank, sometimes add coolant.  The intermittently overflowing fill tank
>=
>would leave a nice mist of coolant on the back window at interstate =
>speeds.
>
>Maybe you are laughing now.  At about mile 600, I realized that =
>"burping" the expansion tank of a hot engine was just flashing a lot
>of =
>the coolant to steam (as it went from 14psi or whatever to zero) and
>the =
>"bad air" I was letting out was steam and that I was probably forming
>=
>steam voids elsewhere in the system as well.  Very stupid of me.  If =
>anything, stopping every 15 miles to make the problem worse.  Perhaps
>I =
>define "knowing enough to be dangerous."
>
>Engine runs great still, but now I get intermittent white smoke from
>the =
>tailpipe and water dripping from it.  Even after I stoped my dumb "hot
>=
>burping," still got a lot of air coming out of the expansion tank =
>(replaced the pressure cap about halfway through the trip, hoping that
>=
>was the problem).  Evidenced by a train of little bubbles entering the
>=
>fill tank when the engine was hot.
>
>I am fearing that my hot-engine-burping, or maybe the flush and fill
>or =
>radiator replacement led to overheating and a bad head gasket.  I =
>believe the PO's statement that the recently redone heads were fine =
>before.  I checked the temp gage every 10 seconds, I swear, and it
>never =
>got over 3/4 scale (stopping, slowing) and usually (on the highway)
>sat =
>right over the little light.
>
>Something I learned that may help you:  The low coolant light is a =
>"latch" circuit:  It stays on until the ignition is cycled off no
>matter =
>what--I could often just pull over, turn off the ignition, restart,
>and =
>no blinking light.  I attributed these transients to steam slowly =
>venting out of the expansion tank (that little valve is very small).
>
>Please advise:  Have I fried a head gasket?  How can I tell if =
>combustion gases are getting into the coolant and forcing it out?  I =
>checked the archives:  Nobody has warned of "hot burping."  Is it so =
>obvious (or am I that dumb)?  Can these engines really run so well
>when =
>blowing/sucking coolant into/out of the cylinders?!
>
>BTW, I'm not looking to blame the PO or anybody but myself.  Just =
>looking for advice on cause/diagnosis, and perhaps to warn others.
>Feel =
>free to highlight, make fun of, or discuss in detail my ignorance.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Steve Gough
>
>'86 Westy
>gone but not forgotten:  '69, '72 Beetles
>
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