Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2013 16:50:01 -0500
Reply-To: "kenneth wilford (Van-Again)" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "kenneth wilford (Van-Again)" <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Working on a Vanagon in Central America
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Just wanted to drop the list a note about my latest adventure in Belize.
As some of you know there is a Vanagon owner that has an 87 Wolfsburg
Vanagon that allows my wife and I to stay in his house every year, and in
exchange, I do whatever work is needed on his Vanagon. It is a great deal
for both of us as I get to spend some quality time with the wife at a
resort on the Carribean and he gets to have his van worked one by me.
Working on a Vanagon in Central America is not a big deal. However getting
parts down there is a big deal. This time I was tasked with bringing the
van back to life again after someone borrowed it (never a good idea), blew
a coolant hose and broke the alternator/water pump belt. I had no idea
going in what I was going to face. Worst case scenario I might have to
rebuild the engine. Got down there with a new alternator belt in my
luggage. I replaced the belt and then tried to fill the van back up with
coolant. It promptly ran out on to the ground. I thought it was a blown
head gasket, but on further inspection it was a split hose under the AC
compressor. Instead of trying to get a replacement hose and waiting for it
to arrive from the states, I decided to cut the end off of the hose, shove
what was left in place and see if that was the only leak. Thankfully it
was and I had the van back on the road again! However there was still a
problem. If I would drive it more than 30 minutes, the temps would climb
higher and higher until it would overheat. The trip between the village
and the house was almost exactly 30 mins so I could at least go there and
back without hurting anything but I wanted to get the van back in fully
functional condition for the owner. On the way back from town I turned on
the front and rear heaters (in 85 deg heat with 90% humidity I might add).
Immediately the temp started to drop. I knew at that point that the
culprit was the radiator. It was original and because of the overheat,
gunk from inside of the engine had liquefied and was pushed up into the
radiator. So we needed a new radiator and a new hose.
While I waited for these two parts to arrive the owner had been after me to
try to solve a major leak in the AC system. You could top the system off
and it would work but only for a few days and then it was completely flat
again. I managed to find a local mechanic that had some AC testing
equipment and we tracked down the leak. It was in the expansion valve in
the overhead unit in the rear of the van. I never noticed it before but
these valves look like aluminum blocks with a steel mushroom coming out of
the top. The mushroom part is actually epoxied to the steel since the two
can't be welded or soldiered and that is where the leak was coming from.
So if you have a mystery AC leak that has been stumping you, I would
recommend that you check the expansion valve out before throwing up your
hands in defeat.
The parts arrived the day after I left Belize. We only got to stay for two
weeks and shipping using the fastest method is at best a 5 business day
thing. However I was confident that the local mechanic could handle the AC
repair and the radiator replacement. I was right. The customer is happy
because now his van is back up to snuff along with his AC system which
hasn't worked in several years. I am happy because, hopefully next year, I
will be going down to Belize again, along with several coolant hoses, to
spend a few weeks in the sun, and drive a nice Vanagon with working AC. :-)
Hope you enjoyed my Vanagon related travel tale. We really love Belize.
If anyone is thinking about visiting that country, please feel free to
pmail me off list and I will be happy to give you any help I can.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
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