Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2003 02:51:58 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Dorm <mark_hb@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mark Dorm <mark_hb@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: double thermostats
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Well, see this is interesting what you say... it gives you the power to
anticipate... something your vanagon can't do. And to make adjustments in
advance to this anticipation, something. Adding intelligence really.
Another point to consider.. is we all carry spare tires. Why? Aren't our
tires good enough? Is something flawed about the design of our tires? Are we
faulting the manufacture by carrying a spare.
Its because there might be a problem. Thats why we carry spares. And what
about insurance. What are you saying when you buy insurance? That you think
you're a lousy driver? The other driver? Well, then hes the one who needs
insurance, not you.
And what about radiators. What happens when they don't do their job? Do you
just stop driving? If its bad enough yes. But what if its only a defiency?
Like air leaking slowly from a tire. Do you need to change it right then and
there, or can you add air and go on your way, and deal with it later?
So wouldn't it be nice to have a back up radiator just in case.. not a full
size one, but just a spare.
Like the rear heater compartment, but with a scoop so fresh air enters it,
and a rear vent for release of this air, compartment is now seperate from
the interior... and there is a thermostat just for this mini radiator, that
helps the big out whenever he might need help. If headgaskets are a well
known problem with the vanagon, then doesn't this mean that as the
headgasket goes bad, in graduations across the spectrum, that the coolant
system will have a harder time doing its job to spec.
Or maybe you're driving though death valley, and there is just a bit of
seepage at one of the hoses at where it clamps, so now it doesn't cool as
well, the needle rides just a hair higher, but the head temps are even
higher, a little help from a second mini radiator wouldn't hurt, esp w/out
cooking the guy already driving through a hot area.
I had a bit of seepage at where the hose joins to the radiator. You could
see where a bit of coolant had dried under the hose turn. Mechanic said,
well you need a new radiator. And the temp guage rode just a bit higher than
usual. When I drained the system, I took this hose off the radiator. The
mechanic said the plastic of the radiator would be cracked. It wasn't. I put
the hose back on, and used a hose clamp you screw on, instead of the factor
one. It worked just fine. Temp back to where I usually saw it. No seepage
anymore. A second radiator sure would have been nice in the interm. I would
drive up the hill over to santa cruz in heavy traffic on a hotday, from san
jose, and would have to turn on the heater and cook myself to keep the guage
where it belonged.
>From: Geo Hahn <ahwahnee@CYBERTRAILS.COM>
>
>David Brodbeck wrote:
>
>>Have you had this problem yet? I haven't driven my van in very hot
>>weather much, but the cooling system seems adequate for stop-and-go
>>traffic.
>>
>Living where we do we often drive up a mountain in temps well above 100,
>also see stop 'n go in 100+ weather. I used a VW switch (think it was
>for fog lights) in the empty slot right below the hazard switch to have
>an override for the radiator fan. I can run the fan at either low or
>high speed when I know things are going to get hot (uphill or long
>stops) before the needle rises much.
>
>Turning on the heater briefly (30 seconds or so) also helps in extreme
>cases, dumping cool coolant into the system w/o throwing a lot more heat
>into the interior. Obviously you have the A/C off at this point so
>assume you are getting warm anyway.
>
>Geo Hahn
>84 Westy
>Mt Lemmon, AZ
_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
