Date:         Mon, 18 Mar 2002 20:09:54 -0500
Reply-To:     Greg <kessler@OHIO.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Greg <kessler@OHIO.EDU>
Subject:      Re: coolant leak success
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854";
              x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"

Vanagon Man,

It is always great to hear a success story in the world of  Coolant leaks--I know I have heard too many of the horror stories myself.

I would like to elaborate on this red light issue a bit since it can be a major issue  for we water reliant volks.

The red light does not necessarily mean that you are leaking coolant, but it does mean that the cooling system is overheating.

I have had two very distinct problems by relying on this red light as an indicator.

I recently went on a trip and had the red light coming on as I was climbing the blue ridge mountains.  This is a quite a climb, but I have had my westy up there many times with no problem so I was surprised.  Turned out that the fuse to the radiator fan had just burned out--no coolant
leak at all.

On the other hand, the first water cooled Vanagon I owned suffered the great death of coolant leak (rapid and regular flow) and the red light never came on--it was still cooling quite well, and leaking even better.

I think by the time you lose enough coolant for the red light to let you know you are way gone!  It is important to test the PH of your coolant regularly and change that stuff every two years and (yes, I may be a brand-name, Class A sucker) replace it with that extremely expensive VW
coolant.  I can tell you, once you've lost one of these engines, the 30$  every two years for coolant is nothing! Had I known about the coolant issues when I bought that van, I would have noticed the container of Prestone under the backseat containing the leftovers of the previous
coolant change. It cooled, but it also corroded the aluminum.

Just to help avoid hearing any more of those disasters in the future.

Greg

86 Westy
73 Thing

From:    Vanagon man <vgonman@MSN.COM>
Subject: Coolant leak success story(Glove save)

Volks,=20

Saturday, my wife wanted to drive the newly rebuilt 88 with me being a =
passenger ( I can see it becoming her daily driver over ol'yeller).  So, =
by the grace of God, I showed her the coolant temp gauge, where the =
needle should be when you are driving, where it should be if you are =
idling in traffic for a long time, etc.  And, most importantly, told her =
that if that red light starts flashing and/or you hear a buzzer, to stop =
right then, it did not matter where, for you have a coolant leak, and =
the smallest distance can fry the motor. =20

Well, she drops me off at the Barber shop, and on her way back to get =
me, she calls....."the light is on!" I pulled into a gas station and cut =
it off" PERFECT!  Turned out to be a leak in the hard pipe that comes =
off the right head and goes behind the crank pulley.  Pulled one off an =
old motor i had, and fixed in about one hour....bled the system, and all =
is well. =20

Be sure your family members know about that light, and you may get lucky =
as i just did.
Adam P

81 Vanagon Westy (The Brick)
70 Single Cab "Whitey"=20
74 Beetle "Ol Yeller"
73 Transporter (STILL at paint shop)
1988 Vanagon Wolfsburg=20
1984 Partsmobile (for sale)
Used Vanagon Parts for sale (mostly aircooled)