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Date:         Fri, 7 Jun 2002 08:45:37 -0500
Reply-To:     "Terry K." <CTONLINE@WEBTV.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Terry K." <CTONLINE@WEBTV.NET>
Subject:      Re: bleeding coolant solution?
Comments: To: Ed Carroll <ecarroll@MAINE.RR.COM>
In-Reply-To:  Ed Carroll <ecarroll@MAINE.RR.COM>'s message of Fri, 7 Jun 2002
              09:10:57 -0400
Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=US-ASCII

Ed,

Just a quick question here---

Why is it that you just don't want to drive that van up onto some ramps, or Jack it up?

The pump sounds like a good idea, but it sure sounds like a lot of hand action to get the same results by simply lifting the front end up a bit---

I familar with those lower unit gear oil pumps--and it takes a lot of pumping to move any fluid------

Sounds like it's a "bound and determined " kind of thing, to do all you can do to avoid lifting up that front end---

Why?

Later,

Terry

E-mail message

I'm looking for someone to tell me why this shouldn't work, as I'm sure I'm not the first to have thought of it, yet I've never read of it. Our 87 was running a little hot, especially in traffic, with the radiator fan coming on if we spent much time in the city. The needle was well above its normal position. Since I had replaced some hoses this spring, and drained some coolant to do it, and also had pressure tested the system, I figured -- rightly -- that I had not gotten all the air out. Running the engine in the driveway with the radiator bleeder open, I could feel that the upper third of the radiator was not even getting warm, which I assume was indicating that there was no coolant up there. So I learned a lesson the hard way (despite reading Ben Huot's similar experience): I did not lift the front end, and I did not arrange for the assistance of a friend/spouse. The coolant in an idling van will get very hot indeed before it sprays violently from the bleeder at the top of the radiator, and it quickly becomes impossible to work there to get the damn thing closed. So came the solution. It was a combination of a couple of different lessons: trying to force gear oil into the lower end of my dad's outboard, and the invaluable pressure test set-up wherein you clamp a tire valve into the reservoir end of the expansion tank's overflow tube. I reasoned that if I could force fluid (coolant) into the system the same way the pressure test forces air, then I could pressurize, fill and bleed the system while cold. I went to my FLAPS and found a Sta-Lube pump meant to screw onto gear oil jugs ($6), tested it for a fit onto the threads of an anti-freeze jug (yes!), and back in the driveway I clamped the pump's output onto the overflow stem of the expansion tank cap. By pumping fluid into the system from the back end while the system is cold, I crammed another 2 quarts in while being able to casually walk to the front, loosen the bleeder and let the coolant fill the upper space. Long-winded description, I know, but I'm kinda proud of myself. But the question is this: How do I know the system is truly properly bled? Are there characteristics of this tangle of plumbing that I'm overlooking that would somehow not be reached by cold pressurization? I have opened the bleeder at the thermostat housing and always get coolant -- no air, but I have still not lifted the front end of the van for this process. Am I kidding myself here? Ed Carroll 87 Weekender


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