Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:04:58 -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: my first cooling system scare
In-Reply-To: <d81c42190801201714l108323bfu58f19d85b01abfa1@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Oh man, never drive a car with a squealing alternator belt.
It could even be seized up, the alternator.
Or the water pump.
Or, if those are fine, it glazes the belt.
Whew.....
How to precede : Open the engine cover.
check that the pressure coolant bottle is pretty full.
Check that the overflow license plate bottle has 'some' coolant in it,
should be about 2 inches. It is VERY NORMAL for coolant to disappear out of
there very gradually.
Check the alt. belt tension.
If you want to 'do it right'..............
Remove the alt belt, just get it off the two pulleys, and spin the w. pump
and alt. by hand.
Check for being seized, or rough turning, or excessive end play, or any
significant looseness.
If they're ok, install and tension the belt properly,
And start 'er up.
And see how it acts.
Hope you get 'er figured out just fine.
It's very rare for wbxr thermostat to fail in the direction of overheating.
They all fail toward running too cool, 90- % of the time.
There are hundreds of watercooled vanagons running too cool, wasting fuel,
and wearing out their engines faster this very moment. It's very common.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
'cooler is not better, warmer is."
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
John Meeks
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 5:14 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: my first cooling system scare
On Jan 20, 2008 6:52 PM, Jeffrey Lubin <visionwizard@verizon.net> wrote:
> Another rite of passage, I guess.
> This evening, after driving for about ten minutes in the bitter cold
> here in NJ, my temperature gauge started going up pretty quickly, until
> the red light started flickering. So I slowed down, and then, almost
> immediately, it went back down to normal. I had a van-load of screaming
> five-year-old girls inside (it was my daughter's fifth birthday), so I
> couldn't hear whether then fan had turned on and/or off.
> After I got home, from what I could tell in the dark, everything seemed
> fine.
> Any thoughts on what might have happened? I can't do any diagnosis
> right now, but I'd appreciate guidance on how to proceed. Thermostat?
> Only other symptom during this fateful voyage is that the alternator
> belt, which has been squealing a bit on start-up, was squealing pretty
> much the whole ride instead.
> Thanks,
> Jeff
> '86 wolfsburg westfalia weekender
>
Jeff,
Loosen or remove the belt and check for wear. While the belt is
loose/off try to rock the water pump pulley. If there's much movement,
the bearings are worn and you will want to replace the pump. Loose
pump bearings can seize under load and squeal the belt. This would
raise your coolant temp.
It's a good time to replace the belt unless it looks really good, but
that squealing you heard was friction on the belt.
Bitter cold can sure bring out weaknesses in mechanical systems.
--
John Meeks
'91 Multivan, '85 GL bits
Northern Michigan
KC8ZFN
Vanagon Rescue Squad
http://www.vanagonauts.com/Vanagon_Rescue_Squad74.htm
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