Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2007 20:33:48 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Air in cooling system....or is this normal
In-Reply-To: <20071229012213.E17D4328664@mail.umassd.edu>
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Did you not check the Coolant Reservoir level just to the left of the
overflow tank? If the over flow tank is up, and the Coolant Reservoir
shows air in it at the same time, you have a problem. Most likely
scenario is leaking combustion gases itto the cooling system - ie head
gasket leak(s). Though there could be some other reasons I suppose. I
had a thermostat get flakey once that colluded with the pressure cap.
The cap refused to bleed off to the overflow tank, and the thermostat
refused to open. The expanding hot coolant had to go somewhere so it
blew the coolant level sensor right out of the coolant reservoir -
stripped the threads right out of the tank. So there are other
possibilities, but I would bet on a combustion gas leak.
Take it to a good garage and have the coolant system tested with a
sniffer for exhaust gases.
Good luck,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Richard Golen wrote:
> Hi,
>
> We just drove up to Fairport, NY to visit my 8 month old grandson
> (and of course his parents), a distance of 415 miles. We stopped for
> the usual "pit stop"about 150 miles out, and I noticed that the
> overflow coolant tank was almost full to the top and coolant was
> dripping out and leaving a puddle beneath our 87 Westy. I bled out
> some of the coolant, and drove out while keeping a watchful eye on
> the coolant gauge. The gauge stayed in the center for the next 250
> miles, with a little movement upward while going up hill, and
> dropping a bit below center while going down hill. We stopped about
> 300 miles out, and the coolant was just up to the cap on the overflow
> tank.
>
> Now that we've been at the hotel for 90 minutes, I checked the
> coolant level and it was now back to normal between the min and max
> lines. Now, I've owned the 87 for 8 years now and never noticed the
> overflow tank so full or spitting out coolant, so I'm a bit puzzled.
> Another interesting behavior was that the heater would run cool and
> then hot.
>
> Could there have been some latent air somewhere in the coolant lines
> that finally may have expanded and caused the coolant level to go
> nuts and to cause the hot/cold heater??
>
>
> Ric
>
>
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