Date:         Sat, 5 May 2001 20:57:30 -0700
Reply-To:     The CiKaspers <mrlucky@scruz.net>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The CiKaspers <mrlucky@scruz.net>
Subject:      repost of message (replacing expansion tank,
              plus some wire questions) [long]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

i sent this last weekend, but i think i sent it from the wrong email alias.

thanks for reading.

bill

*****
i replaced our westy's leaking expansion tank today.  it was actually
dripping coolant from the crack onto the pavement...if i didn't know better
i would say a head leak, but no leaks there, yet.

we have air conditioning. vw didn't design the driver's side expansion tank
retaining screw location with air conditioning in mind. if anyone with air
conditioning ever needs to replace their expansion tank, i can tell you:
it's a treat to get the retaining screw out from below the padded
high-pressure refrigerant line.  getting it back in was not the world's
easiest task, either.  the combination extended from about thirty minutes
to over an hour to get the damn thing out and the new one in.  cleaned my
sender, too, it had a strange soft deposit on it, kind of greasy and grimy,
but washed off with clear water.

i also found a hank of wires leading off of some of the main harness on the
left side of the engine compartment.  they led to an unplugged plug, which
i now believe to be trailer lights (a flat, rectangular *something* had a
label which was pasted to its side showing the directions of hooking up the
lights).  now i have to figure (a) if they're still working, (b) if i can
easily strip them out, (c) if i can make them more solid, or (d) what they
are if not trailer lights, because the plug is plugged with dirt, good
north carolina red clay.

and i saw two other wiring oddities that i would like some advice on.
coming off of the crankcase breather stack is the hose to the lower of the
two connections into the air inlet hose.  plugged into this hose, about an
inch from the air inlet hose, is an electrical plug that leads about 2 feet
to a second electrical plug with a bell-shaped rubber gasket, connected to
nothing.  in fact, it is wrapped around the wires at the back (towards the
front of the car) of the engine compartment.  anyone know what this wire is
supposed to connect to, or what it would do if connected?  you can see the
connection that is plugged in to the hose on p. 1.10 of Haynes, fig. 8.14;
the positive (+) of the CO level adjustment in the illustration is right in
the wire.  this same illustration is in Bentley, but it's in my van right
now.

the second wiring oddity traces back out from the throttle valve switch.
the connector that comes out of this switch connects to a connector bolted
to the block, which comes out of a slit in a harness of wires on the right
side of the engine.  all is well and good with those connectors, and my
throttle valve switch.  what is curious is the two fine white wires that
*also* come out of that slit, which wires end in black plastic right-angled
connectors.  a pair of connectors not connected to anything.  anyone know
what they might be?  i can't find anything in either haynes or bentley
showing these connectors.