Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:11:47 -0800
Reply-To: gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: gary hradek <hradek@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: mean greenie Coolant pouring from tail pipe
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Mike,
You have an exotic e-mail address.
Here is what I think happens. A van with green
antifreeze is a coolant leak waiting to happen. It
happens faster sitting around than if you would have
been running it each day.
It says on the back of my coolant tank something about
phosphate free coolant. There is a reason for this.
The green coolant in the liquid form is ok but it is
when it drys that it turns into the mean greenie. It
turns alkaline or strongly basic. When the gasket
begins to leak it will leak first just after you turn
it off as it cools. When you run the van it may seal
up but it will leak a bit each time you shut down.
It is the seaping coolant that drys and turns into a
mean greeny. When it sits it seaps more slowly but
it never gets purged by a push of coolant so the mean
greenie turns into a mighty mean greenie. I would
suggest the orange coolant if it sits around.
Gives us some feedback on the corrosion of the heads
when you do the job. good luck, gary
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:26:19 -0600
From: "Vanderzanden Michael (BetP/ESE1)"
<michael.vanderzanden@BOSCHREXROTH-US.COM>
Subject: Re: Coolant pouring from tail pipe - 1987 2.1
Thanks for the comments Jim.
Yes, it is coolant. It is green (Prestone...) and it
smells like
coolant. And it was literally pouring out of the tail
pipe. About the
rate that you might gently pour a beverage into your
glass.
I plan to remove the spark plugs and crank it over and
see what comes
out of where.=20
Progress will be slow and intermittent. The camper is
low on a long
priority list right now. But I will plug away at it
when I can. And
any other thoughts on this topic will be appreciated!
Thanks again,
Mike V.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Felder [mailto:felder@knology.net]=20
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 1:55 PM
To: Vanderzanden Michael (BetP/ESE1)
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Coolant pouring from tail pipe - 1987 2.1
Are you sure it's coolant? dumb question but thought
I'd ask it.
How much liquid is it leaking? can you loosen the
exhaust to find out
=20
which cylinder?
There are two ways I can think of. One is a crack in
the head, which
=20
makes little sense since the car was just sitting, but
it IS possible
=20
because of really poor torquing, material defects in
the metal
Or a pulled or broken head stud that filled a cylinder
up with liquid
=20
(but if it did this, it seems that with the first
turnover of the =20
engine, a piston would have encountered the water and
BANG it would =20
have all been over.
It seems more likely that if it's a head stud, it's a
slow leak only
=20
possible under pressure. If your bore sat there for
two years with =20
water in it, the internals would definitely show the
marks of the =20
rust. Your oil would have been full of water, too, by
that time. =20
Check the oil. If coolant has been in it for two
years, you're going
=20
to need more than a top end rebuild.
Jim
On Jan 29, 2007, at 12:34 PM, Vanderzanden Michael
(BetP/ESE1) wrote:
> I purchased this 1987 camper in Fall of 2005 and
only drove it =20
> about 200
> miles. It ran "fine" at that time. Parked it last
November (2005) =20
> and it
> sat
> until November 2006 at which time I decided to start
it up. Prior to
> doing so, I drained the gasoline from the tank, put
in fresh fuel and
> purgedthe fuel lines. Once I put in a new battery,
it started right
up
> however it immediately began pushing coolant out the
exhaust pipe.
> Probably not a good sign..... I will drop the motor
and overhaul the
> top ends and hope to not have to split the cases.
Anyway, my question
> at this time is is there a logical reason why this
would happen after
> the car sat idle for year or is this just a
coincidence and I was
just
> lucky on its last drive (one year previous)?
>
> Thanks for any comments related to my situation.
>
> Also, by way of introduction, I have owned my 1984
GL since 1990.
Have
> put alot of work into it over the years and it is my
daily driver to
> this day.
>
> Mike V.
> Lehigh Valley, PA
> '87 Westfalia
> '84 GL
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