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Date:         Sun, 29 Dec 2002 19:22:41 -0600
Reply-To:     populuxe <populuxe@EXECPC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         populuxe <populuxe@EXECPC.COM>
Organization: ExecPC
Subject:      Re: coolant type--i give up
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

thanks for the suggestions everyone.... so, coolant types: blue: class action law suite by original owners. green: no good orange: eats solder in after market radiators sierra(green): no good either and the winner is.........

sounds like the best is the orange dex-cool type. could eat up certain after market radiators. now,dex-cool with silicates or w/o silicates(ha ha) still very confusing. anything someone says to use, someone else says its no good. i think zerex has a type(g-05?) that is compatable (with the green)w/o doing a real system flush. and then you can eventually move to the orange stuff.

because of not reaching a consensus, i topped off with what got the 90 wbx to where it is(145k)--green. had some work done(dealer) to replace the steel coolant tube in the engine bay that returns water from the htr cores etc.in september--probally a gallon of new coolant. and now my recent repair * (htr return hose must have gotten pushed/pulled and ended up in contact w/ cv boot (why is it literally every time i get a repair done it leads to something else getting screwed up?? day two after purchase: i needed a rush oil change because the van was sitting for about 2 years and of course i wanted to drive it 150 miles--yep the quick lube screwed it up. lost the special oil plug and carefully swapped in a full-size metric bolt w/o gasket. at least it was so big the only thing they could tighten it w/ was a needle nose plyers--true. sorry, i digress)) * another gal.+ of coolant (mixed 50/50) so i think i've got enough new stuff in it until my next unscheduled "top-off".

i did my research before buying and expected to do some "coolant related" repair. like i told the p.o.; i'm not buying your van, i'm just taking over the maintenance. he gave me a very good deal considering i could drive it away and dust off the cob webs--90 multivan westfalia. other than the cooling system misstep the vanagon is great. mini-van owners drool when they see the interior space. we have two little kids, its perfect for shuffling them in and out, dependable, has plenty of power, has great heat. i could go on and on.

as to "the dreaded head drip" and bar's leak: hey, what do you have to lose. maybe a year of a leaky worrysome wbx motor?? if your cooling system is so gunked up that one jar of bar's leak plugs something up you have got other issues. worked so far for me; 1 month and about 700 miles. i'd never add more, it's a one shot desperation measure.

the next step is sitting in a vw blue crate in my shed. as soon as i recover from the purchase of the new 2.1 i'll get it installed. but the present motor runs perfect, i hate to tear out what's known and satisfactory and go with the untried new motor. but i do want to skip the head r&r.

besides, i still don't know which coolant to fill up the new motor with(ha ha).

chris c


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