Date:         Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:32:52 -0700
Reply-To:     dylan friedman <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         dylan friedman <insyncro@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Coolant pipe *REPAIR* kit,
              was: Coolant pipe kit and distributor kit from GoWesty
In-Reply-To:  <49D23B55.7090009@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1



After parting many vans and switching to stainless on converted vans I have accumulated many of these plastic pipes.
I have only kept the ones in excellent condition.
I would be happy to sell them.
Shipping will be an issue due to lenght.
They could be cut and spliced like the stainless ones and for much less $.

86-91 2wd and Syncro specific available.

pmail me if you need them.

dylan
insyncro@hotmail.com


________________________________
From: Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:48:37 AM
Subject: Re: Coolant pipe *REPAIR* kit, was: Coolant pipe kit and distributor kit from GoWesty

I was away on vacation when this discussion was going on last week.  I
have replaced so many of the bad plastic coolant pipes over the years I
may have some insight into this problem.  Every time I have seen the end
of the plastic coolant pipes break up and the insert come out it was due
to corrosion of the inserts.  In other words the inserts are steel, they
rust, then they expand and break the plastic around where the insert
is.  This is why these fail in my opinion.  I am sure the heat/cooling
of the coolant and pipes helps this along after the things start to
expand due to corrosion and that helps this failure along.  However the
root cause is that the anti-corrosion properties of the coolant breaks
down, allowing the inserts to rust and expand and thereby breaking the
ends of the pipe.

That said I have no clue how the Go Westy "fix" is supposed to help
anything.  If the ends of your pipes are bad it will not fix this.  You
will still need to buy new pipes to get good ends for this "fix" to
clamp to.  If you have good pipes and keep your coolant in good shape
you should never have this problem.  Case in point my 90 Vanagon Carat
has over 300k miles on it.  I was going to replace the pipes as a matter
of course a couple of years ago at 300k miles.  I looked at the ends of
the pipes and they are like brand new on both ends.  The PO did an
awesome job keeping the coolant of the van in good shape by adding an
anti-corrosion additive every year like clockwork ever since the van was
brand new.  The head gaskets on this van were still holding up at 300k
miles as well and had never been replaced.  I am not saying that they
were perfect or not seeping but they were never replaced and still
functioning.

So if corrosion is the killer on these, which I think it is, then the Go
Westy fix does nothing except give folks a placebo.  I have asked them
to explain to me how this "fix" work in the past and they have never
gave me a satisfactory answer, just that they have installed them on
vans and that the pipes are still good.  However if you install these
you are also replacing the coolant at the same time, which is what is
helping, not the "fix" so people just assume that the fix is working
when it is just the fresh coolant.  In my opinion fresh coolant every
year or two is way cheaper and a better fix than these pipe deals.

This whole discussion is becoming moot since the "fix" needs good pipes
to work and the plastic pipes are now NLA.  So if you need new coolant
pipes with good ends you are going to have to buy the stainless ones out
there and they aren't going to need the "fix" since they don't have this
problem.

I use Go Westy products myself and I am not panning them as a company.
Just this product seems like nonsense to me.

Just my opinion.

Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com


David Beierl wrote:
> At 09:15 PM 3/24/2009, John Bange wrote:
>> Looking at that, I feel I must amend my theory slightly. I suspect
>> that it's not just cooling system pressure, but also that the clamp is
>> squeezing the soft tube, pushing the steel insert out, like toothpaste
>> out of a tube. That fits better with the nature of the GoWesty fix, I
>> think.
>
> There's thermal (hard/soft) and presssure (swell/shrink) cycling
> going on, too.  Somehow the insert has to travel even with the clamp
> squeezing on it, because at the start, the clamp is in the middle of
> the insert or even toward the outer end.  Maybe VW used special
> metal-repelling plastic left over from the flying saucer program.  :-)
>
> d
>
>
>  --
> David Beierl - Providence RI USA --
> http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
> '89 Po' White Star "Scamp"
>