Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 21:48:55 -0800
Reply-To: Jere Hawn <jbrschawn@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jere Hawn <jbrschawn@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: Re: Purging Cooling System of Air
In-Reply-To: <003301c400d0$fe08e590$d9032a45@ttower17def>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi All,
I would like to keep it simple... I do not have a lift nor a jack that will
raise my vans that much so does anyone know how many degrees from "level"
the van has to be? I have plenty of hills around here to help me bleed the
system. If one was to use the rain gutter as a reference point how many
degrees?
TIA
Jere
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
vanagon
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 7:38 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Purging Cooling System of Air
Well, I really appreciate all who have responded and are responding to my
initial question about this topic. Great minds think alike. Please reference
the Bently book to 19.16 Filling the cooling system.
I believe that it is easy to miss-interpret the way this procedure reads.
Where it says to "raise vehicle approx. 40 cm (15 3/4 in.) at front under
cross-member with floor jack and wooden support or equivalent" I think
some folks tend to think this is only a height of 15 3/4 at the cross
member. I believe "raise vehicle" means to LIFT IT THAT MUCH. or it would
read "raise vehicle TO.......at the cross member. I am not sure some of us
realize how high in the air this puts your Vanagon. It is so high that the
bumper ends up almost 4 feet off the ground! My jackstands are all the way
at there ends and then some placed under the front jack ports on both sides.
Putting the front wheels on a curb ain't even close! not by a mile! nor
is just saying to do it level and it will be okay, its not ! . The factory
recommends this steep angle because the hoses leaving the engine go down
before they go level and it has a LONG way to go to get to the Radiator. I
sincerely doubt they would recommend such a steep angle with little regard.
I am thinking of using a large plastic (new) Hudson type sprayer so I can
put the pre-mix into the sprayer tank and pressurize the top of the fluid.
This makes kind of a large version of what a Power Brake Bleeder is. Hudson
sprayers pull from the bottom of the tank so if you keep it topped up you
will never put air in the system. then I can use an old cap with the spring
valve removed to connect to the system. As long as one can get past the
thermostat I should be able to make good progress. But I will definitely
have the vehicle raised to the prescribed height in the front as the factory
says.
By getting more fluid in the system, without having to start the engine it
will make things much easier, because until the fluid can circulate well, it
overheats, and the steam pressure pumps your new fluid back out all over
you, your engine, your hot exhaust, even while the darn thing is revving
along at 2200 rpms with the front 4 feet off the ground. It will splash
back out of the tank. You will definitely find yourself asking if you are
having fun yet.
Please keep the suggestions coming, there are allot of creative minds out
there and well all need a better way to do this.
If the Hudson sprayer idea works I will follow up.
My other idea is to run the water pump from an electric motor with a fan
belt or similar, again, to get more fluid in before running the engine.
I also considered drilling a small 1/8 hole in the metal of the thermostat
because I notice it seals absolutely shut. This would allow you to do a
slow fill past it.
Whatdoyathinkofthat
Cheers,
Doug
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