Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 15:25:18 EDT
Reply-To: Oxroad@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeff Oxroad <Oxroad@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Fresh from a Westfalia campout
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
In a message dated 5/31/2004 12:07:26 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
nobleman36@YAHOO.COM writes:
> Now on to my tech question... coolant, if ya can't see
> where it's dripping from odds are it's being consumed
> internally. Is that a valid deduction? I'm losing
> about a pint of coolant (as per my overflow) a month.
> My van doesn't run hot or poorly (as you would expect
> from bad compression or water introduced into the
> combustion process). Sooo... where could it be going?
>
>
I have had mysterious external coolant leaks that were virtually undetectable
for a time. A small hole, like a pinhole will spray a little coolant steadily
enough to reduce your coolant over a month or so. The spots I found
eventually and on different occasion (not all leaking at once--but over the years) are:
1.small pinhole in the expansion tank--the larger of the two coolant
tanks--not the overflow behind the licence plate. Finally it got big enough to where
it was leaking on the ground. Replaced the tank to fix leak.
2.that tiny little fuel line--maybe 7mm--that runs from the coolant crossover
pipe over the engine to the H bleeder valve on the firewall. It finally
started to leak enough that it dripped down onthe clutch causing the clutch to slip
a bit. The residue from it evaporating was the clue leaving deposits on the
trans where it leaked. Replaced the hose.
3. A plastic connection piece where the discontinued T piece would be on most
83.5 busses (mine has an early chassis # and a different--yet still
discontinued set up). This was a little weep that finally got big enough to see.
4. The plastic or aluminum Ts that service the rear heater core under the
rear seat. Same-- a small weep eventually became noticable by residue on the
connect. Repalced the T and hoses around it.
Those are the ones that come to mind. But all resulted in a loss of coolant
at the overflow tank behind the license plate and a fair amount of frustration.
I think with the engine running and hot after a bit of a drive the leaks can
be easier to find as they only stay wet for a short time before evaporation.
I've gotta say while this seems like a lot of leaks over the last 6 years
there are about 45 feet of cooling hoses and junctions in the damn bus that lend
themselves to problems. And I'm only exaggerating on the length slightly if at
all.
Best
Jeff
83.5 Westfalia
LA,CA
