Date:         Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:27:44 -0500
Reply-To:     Edward Maglott <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Edward Maglott <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
Subject:      Coolant leak diagnosis tip
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

I reached my destination the other day to find a pretty good trickle
of coolant coming from the area of the coolant distributor on my
'86.  I drove back home and parked until I could work on it the next
day.  When I went to work on it, the engine was cold and not leaking
and I couldn't really tell exactly where the leak was from.  I
thought about running the engine until it leaked, but then it would
be too hot to work on.  I needed to pressurize the cooling system and
didn't have the gadget to do that.  Got the old noggin working and
realized I could push air into the expansion tank cap through the
tube that goes to the overflow.  I took out the little compressor I
carry which has some attachments (for inflating rafts and such) that
are cone shaped.  I put one on the pump and hooked a spare piece of
hose to the cap.  Now I ran the pump and put the cone gently into the
hose leading to the cap on the expansion tank.  You have to be
careful because the pump could put way too much pressure into the
system .  I just pushed it in briefly a couple times and let excess
pressure come back out of the cap.  Coolant immediately began
squirting from the leak.  So there's your tip and keep reading below
if you want to hear some FLAPS rambles.

I found that I needed a new hose "H" on
here:  http://www.loam.org/vw/Vanagon/VWtoNapaHoses/  and called my
local NAPA to see if they had a hose 7990.  They didn't, it would
have to come several hundred miles and I'd have to pay shipping and
it is 13 inches long.  The hose I need is only about 6" long.  Maybe
you lop the extra off the 7990 and it is what you need?  Anyway, I
decided to try  a FLAPS that is real old timey.  They have no
computer, to look things up they use the enormous horizontal stack of
mysterious books all combined in one big rack so that it is like a
single 6' thick book.  There are 2 dogs and a cat roaming
around.  Various stock that appears to date back a couple
decades.  Only one older woman has the key to the register, and only
opens it when there is a sale.  The younger woman looks through all
the books for a while then takes my hose and disappears.  While she
is gone, I notice all these cabinets of drawers in front of the
counter.  The drawers are about 18" square and 3 or 4" deep with
little dividers holding small parts.  They are labeled things
like:  brass fittings, fuel line fittings, wheel studs, snap rings,
cotter pins, etc.  While I'm waiting I count and do math and see that
there are 240 of these drawers.  The woman finally returns with a
hose that has a section that pretty much matches what I need.  I can
cut off the extra part.  I take it for about $10.

Edward