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Date:         Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:42:24 -0800
Reply-To:     Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Damon Campbell <damoncampbellvw@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Overflow puking water
In-Reply-To:  <3FBA44CF.C1E3DCE1@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I had this same puking coolant problem at one time that was on-again, off-again for a couple years, actually. Unfortunately, i can't give you a definitive answer, because i apparently just felt like building an engine, anyway. But, i'll give you a theory of mine (after some tests i ran).

I fabricated a little pressure tester out of an old gutted blue cap, a bicycle pump, and the stuff needed to hook those up. One night, i pumped it up to about 16psi (about all the pressure cap is supposed to hold, right?), and let it sit for about 12 hours. No change... maybe 1psi. After that, i let it idle until it got up to temp (radiator fan cycling). Again, no change in pressure. So, no leak and no exhaust gasses?

So, what do i kind of think it was? A bum cloth braided hose. Cracked enough to let air in (maybe on cool down? maybe at some random low-pressure event?), but not cracked enough to let water out. That whole viscosity thing, you know.

Again, i don't know for sure, but that is all i could come up with given the symptoms (exactly what was described here!). Oh yeah, i also had my water pump replaced with no change in an effort to fix the problem (pissed me off, too, because i left the van at a reputable mechanic's for three weeks and, essentially, an open pocket book saying "i just want it fixed when i get back... do *whatever* it takes! Not something i usually do.)

Anyway... check for brittle hoses.

-Damon

--- mark drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote: > Here is a suggestion. Put a pressure gauge on the > cooling system and > verify that the pressure is still going up very fast > when the engine is > running at idle after full warmup. If it is, shut > off the engine and > relieve the pressure. Then remove one sparkplug > wire, ground it, and > start the engine. If the pressure builds again, shut > down, relieve the > pressure and move to another plug wire. When you get > the one with the > leak the pressure should not build or should build > much slower. > > Mark

===== '84 Westy (Sparky) w/2.3L WBX (wow... it actually works!)

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