Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 18:14:25 -0600
Reply-To: Andrew Fox <afox@CNR.COLOSTATE.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Andrew Fox <afox@CNR.COLOSTATE.EDU>
Subject: Re: Overheating; I4 Jetta conv; water pump ( a bit long)
In-Reply-To: <430B80EDAA292242B986CCCC2E2084F60282ED@COBVS1.city.burnaby.bc.ca.proxy>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
I would recommend spending $50 on an IR thermometer from radioshack and
then taking temperature readings in different parts of the engine.
Follow the flow of the cooling system to see where hot water is flowing
and where it is'nt. You said that when you pulled the tstat you still got
cold rad/hot engine. How did you know the engine was hot? Becuase the
gauge read hot? Remember this: THE TEMP GAUGE SYSTEM IN THE VANAGON IS
CRAP AND SHOULD ONLY BE TRUSTED AS A RELATIVE INDICATOR. I spent $1000 on
parts and a hundred hours of frustration learning my lesson and im not the
only one. Very few of us can tell how hot an engine is running by "feel".
It is possible you never let the engine fully warm up with the t-stat out,
and that you never let the t-stat fully open when it was in because you
thought it was overheating when it really was'nt.
Best of luck to you,
Andrew Fox
86' Westy
On Wed, 16 Oct 2002, MacLachlan, Bill wrote:
> I'm in the throes of sorting out the cooling system, and some other
> opinions would be welcome....
>
> A friend ( who knows the vehicle) drove it across town for ten minutes
> or so Saturday, and it started to overheat. She turned on the heater to
> get some more cooling going, and pulled over at the earliest chance,
> parked. Well done I say!
> But odd. The system was working fine the day before. In downtown traffic
> too.
>
> I took the van back home next day, found a warm hose to the rad, cold
> one to the water pump. Replaced the thermostat with one I tested. No
> change. Hear hiss of air when warm engine is turned off. Noticed water
> coming from the water pump housing when engine running ( remember this
> is an I4 1800 jetta motor, with an I4 jetta one hose expansion tank).
> Pulled the pump and housing apart. Housing has
> corroded/worn/disintegrated from the inside and there is a pin hole in
> the housing allowing water out & air in.
>
> Replaced entire waterpump & housing with new one. Top up with water as
> test. Still hot engine/cold rad. Took out thermostat and ran engine with
> no thermostat. Hot engine cold rad and cold heater. Pulled rad hoses
> with engine running.
>
> Got very wet. Ick. Ick Ick Turned engine off.
>
> So there is water going to rad! Pulled radiator. Took to shop. Flow test
> shows water runs through, but because of the "baffled design" of the rad
> ( shop guys words) it is difficult to tell how good the rad is. But the
> suspicion is that radiator is working well enough. Conclusion: one huge
> vapour lock in the system somewhere........that is completely stopping
> water from circulating through radiator.
>
> Now, I've replaced the fluid/bled the system in this van before, (
> pulled the radiator; changed the expansion bottle; changed the heater
> core; dealt with leaky expansion tanks) and done it with the non
> standard expansion tank I'm using, but I have never had a problem like
> this one....
>
> Oh great and widely experienced list, any suggestions?
>
> Bill M.
> '82 Jetta powered GL ( in several pieces at the moment)
>
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