Date:         Thu, 2 Oct 2003 18:12:25 -0500
Reply-To:     Chuck Mathis <cmathis@HOUSTON.RR.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Chuck Mathis <cmathis@HOUSTON.RR.COM>
Subject:      Cooling System Strangemness
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Tuesday on the way home from work I jinxed myself.  Roland has been running
extremely well for several months and on that fateful day I made a mental
note of this as I was cruising home listening to Pink Floyd.  I even had the
gall to think that maybe the Vanagon has become a dependable vehicle.
"Comfortably Numb" seems terribly appropriate right now.  Wednesday morning
it started normally.  The coolant light went out (I usually wait until the
light goes out before I start the engine) and the engine started right up.
About half way through my 20 minute commute the light came back on and I
noticed the needle was a touch higher than normal -- just touching the led.
checked the overflow tank and the coolant was a little above midway between
the Max and Min lines so I filled it to the Max line.  On the way home from
the office the same thing.  This morning I switched the Digitool to check
the Temp 2 reading on the way in.  It started out at 0.81 and rose fairly
quickly to 0.20 and the light started flashing again.  As I continued to
work the Temp 2 reading continued to drop to 0.08 which is where the needle
touches the led.  On the way home same deal.  Grasping at straws I drove it
up on ramps and opened the bleeder screw -- got nothing but coolant.  Opened
the engine compartment bleeder and got nothing but coolant.  All the engine
hoses and pipes are hot and the rear most of the two large hoses near the
front wall of the engine compartment is hot and the front most is luke warm.

Technical stuff:  Coolant is Prestone orange mixed 50/50 with distilled
water.  Water pump is a German made Hepa I installed in July.  Thermostat is
an 80C unit purchased from Bus Depot and installed in August 2001.  Engine
is a bone stock 1.9L with a K&N filter, Bosch 3-prong plugs and the timing
set at 5 degrees BTDC.

History:  Coolant level sensor and Temp 2 sensors replaced in 1998.  Cooling
system last drained, flushed and refilled in January 2001.  Autohause of
Switzerland installed a cheesy no-name reman water pump in August 2001 along
with my thermostat and refilled the system with orange stuff.  I replaced
the cheesy reman in July with the Hepa and refilled with more fresh orange
stuff.  The only known variable between this week and last week is the
temperature has dropped some.  Instead of the highs being in the upper-mid
90s it has only made it into the mid 80s this week.

Roland is not marking his spot with either coolant or oil.  The coolant in
the tanks is very clean looking with no signs of oil or tranny fluid in the
coolant and no sign of coolant in either the tranny fluid or engine oil.  In
the previous three months (even before that with the failing reman pump) the
needle would hover midway between the led and the bottom of the guage all
day at 95+ degrees.

Could this be caused by a sticky thermostat?

Chuck
'85 Wolfsburg Westy - 'Roland the Road Buffalo'