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Date:         Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:36:11 -0400
Reply-To:     Damon Lowe <dlowe93@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Damon Lowe <dlowe93@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: coolant leak after long idle
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The replies I got from the list proved correct, changing the pressure cap worked. The family, including 2 little ones, drove 1600 miles round trip with little trouble. Twice the coolant light started flashing but after heart palpitations and pulling over to check nothing was leaking out. The level in the main coolant tank was at the min level and the overflow tank had coolant half way up the cap but everything seemed fine. I the light didn't blink again either time, and one was in town less than 5 minutes after starting for the day and the other incident was after 4 hours of cruising 70 mph through Virginia. Thanks again for all the help.

Damon

I took my new to me 91 westy in for an A/C service yesterday and had something odd happen. The tech let the van idle for about 20 minutes after I dropped it off while he was fiddling around with his equipment and when he was ready to hook everything up he noticed coolant leaking out of the rear part of the engine bay so he immediately shut it off and refused to do any more with it. I was alarmed to say the least when I called to check on things and they said my van had a "massive" coolant leak! In the two weeks I've had the van it hasn't leaked a drop of anything and my friend who sold it to me said it drips a drop or two of oil a month, but nothing more. So I go down to the shop and see a big wet spot underneath the van and my heart started beating faster. I checked the coolant level in both tanks, the main tank was full and the other was between min and max, the same level as earlier that morning. So I started it up and everything was fine, no leaking at all. I had the tech go ahead and do the service and everything was still okay after another 10 minutes at idle. Then I pulled around to the front and left the van running while I went in and paid. When I came out there was coolant flowing down the side of the second coolant tank, the one that you access from the license plate flap. Since I had to get the van home I decided to head out but had my father trailing behind me to keep an eye on things. I even stopped at BK to grab the kids lunch and no drips at all. I drove it home on the interstate at high speed (yeah right!) and the gauges were normal, and when I parked it there was no leak and when I checked the coolant levels both tanks were the same as earlier. This morning I started it up and let it idle for quite some time and still didn't reproduce the leak so now I'm baffled. The main coolant tank and cap were just replaced last fall along with a full flush. I'm a bit concerned because I will be taking the whole family on a fairly long trip in the near future and this has added to my stress level considerably because I'm worried if we get caught in a traffic jam I could lose all my coolant and screw up the fairly fresh engine. (11k on the rebuild from 5 years ago.)

Any advice on what/how to check into this further?

Thanks,

Damon


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