Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 13:35:21 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: air bleeding
In-Reply-To: <4d1b79350801031100h2f371a20n7e0235d0ec46e23d@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
How about for clarity we call the coolant bottle by the license plate the
'overflow bottle' ..........which is what it is, a bottle that holds what is
'overflow' from the Pressure Bottle.
And I think you're talking about the pressure cap on the Pressure
Bottle......( also Expansion Tank , is a pretty good descriptive term ) .
Regarding the first paragraph ...............the guy sounds like a newbie,
so let's not confuse him.
You wrote : " The first thing you need to do is replace the one-way valve on
top of your
overflow tank. That allows low pressure in the system, which lowers the
boiling point, and a shut-off engine can cook up enough steam to gurgle the
coolant loud enough to hear inside the van, standing in front of it or
behind it."'
You make it sound like there's a valve on the top of the Pressure Bottle.
There isn't. There's one in the cap. I'm sure you meant that valve. I call
that the 'suck back' valve. It goes two things.......maintains up to 14 psi
I think to increase the boiling point of the coolant, and sucks back coolant
from the overflow bottle by the license plate.
Coolant should not be boiling, or gurgling after the engine is shut
off. I can't think of any vanagon ever, even in 100 degrees F ambient that
did that when things were working correctly.. Boiling or gurgling
indicates a problem. Bleeding is the right thing to consider initially,
though usually a 'need to bleed' indicates the beginning of a bigger issue.
And those pressure caps are weak too. I always have a spare or two. It's
easy from them to not suck coolant back in from the Overflow (license plate
) bottle.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jim Felder
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 11:00 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: air bleeding
The first thing you need to do is replace the one-way valve on top of your
overflow tank. That allows low pressure in the system, which lowers the
boiling point, and a shut-off engine can cook up enough steam to gurgle the
coolant loud enough to hear inside the van, standing in front of it or
behind it.
If it's not that, you probably have a leak, maybe a very small one that you
just need to watch.
Popping the grill needs only a flat-bladed screwdriver. You'll find five
screw-head looking fasteners with the slots horizontal just below the upper
chrome from one headlight to the other at the top of the grill. Turn these
slots vertical and remove the grill. The bottom has four projections that
fit into slots in the body. Notice where they are so you get them all lined
up on reassembly.
Fill the overflow tank. Warm the engine up, open all the heaters (front and
back, if you have a back). When you think the engine is warmed up, (look at
the needle) feel the top of the radiator. Is it cool? If so, there's air in
it. Cool or not, put a wedge in the throttle and increase the RPM to about
2000 to get the water pump moving the coolant well.
Then take a 13mm box wrench and remove the radiator bleed screw. If solid
coolant comes out, replace immediately and put things back together. If air
comes out, wait until solid coolant appears.
Watch your coolant level in the back. If it gets low, refill per bentley.
This should all take about 20 minutes. Check your one-way overflow valve
first by blowing through it. It should only blow one way.
Jim
On Jan 3, 2008 12:12 PM, Matthew Snook <matt@snooksband.com> wrote:
> Hello all:
>
> I hear a gurgling sound when I turn the rig off, and I'd like to make sure
> things are up to par before I leave later today. On an '84 1.9, what is
> the
> best way to bleed air from the cooling system? This will be my first
> time.
> I've never even had the grill off. How many tools will I need to buy?
>
> Matt
>