Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 14:58:08 -0700
Reply-To: zolo <zolo@FOXINTERNET.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: zolo <zolo@FOXINTERNET.NET>
Subject: Coolant draining strategy? MY WAY ...
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I made a unit that I attach to the system and drain the whole thing without
spilling.
It is a valve that has a 4" piece of the large hose on it on one side. The
other side woud fit the system. There is a third outle on it where I put a
fitting with a little valve to fit a garden hose. I can do two ways of
getting the old coolant away. One is to have the garden hose directly go
into the toilet, the other is to fill up buckets that I will deliver there.
I bought all the parts in the Home Depot. Only the short piece of hose had
to be cut from an old one in a wrecking yard. That hose I also cut on the
inside rim in an angle to make the fitting later to be easier.
I lift the car a little in the front so I can work on it easier,
Take out the spare wheel and lift the tray back to its place,
I use a vice grip that has two long paralell faces to pinch one of the hoses
near the plastic pipe, about six inches away from it,
Place a bucket under the place where the system will be opened,
Undo the clamp and pull it off,
A little coolant will come out into a bucket from the plastic pipe,
Install the hose end of the unit onto the plastic pipe and on the other side
the hose of the car,
Make sure the valve on your unit is closed,
Attach the long hose pipe or a short one that goes into a bucket,
Now take off the cap of the coolant system at the engine,
Open the valve on your unit,
Start up the car,
Install a garden hose into the tank and have the water flow at a stady rate
to have it overflow just a little, (unless you make an watertight fitting
for it),
You will see the old coolant being pushed out by the water pump while new
clean water is going into the system,
Do it until you have clean water coming out only, you can taste it a little
to see if it still has that bitter taste of the coolant,
This way the engine will have no coolant in there, just clean water,
When you are finished, you can put the hose back as it was and you only need
to add undiluted coolant later when the engine was installed.
Any water coming out of the car later, will be clean water only.
Of course, the best is if all the old coolant directly goes into the toilet
with a long hose that has a valve too.
Also, you can use a coolant flush additive to get rid of some more of the
deposits inside. I don't know any that is great.
That's about all. You can let some water out of the system by just taking
off the hose again in front.
And don't forget to put the spare tire back...
Good luck,
Zoltan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rocket J Squirrel" <j.michael.elliott@ADELPHIA.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 9:04 AM
Subject: Coolant draining strategy?
> Mellow Yellow's 1.9 has the famous head gasket coolant leak, so I'll be
> pulling the engine. I need suggestions, tricks and techniques, for
> avoiding coolant spills.
>
> I can't do the work on my property because the driveway is very, very
> sloped. So the engine pull will be done on the street. The neighbors
> tolerated a couple months of the Wonderbus sitting in the street with no
> engine while I was replacing it, so I don't expect any trouble from them
> on that front. However, if I make a great big mess with coolant, and let
> that toxic stuff flow down the storm drain, someone may raise an
> objection.
>
> I can follow the Usual Procedures for draining the coolant before I
> start unhooking hoses. But from there . . . keep a bunch of buckets
> handy? Is that about it? How about some kind of absorbent blanket or
> something to catch the stuff I miss?
>
> What's the good, thoughtful way to go about this?
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westphalia: "Mellow Yellow (The Electrical Banana)"
> KG6RCR
>
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