Date:         Wed, 6 Jan 2010 13:19:35 -0500
Reply-To:     David Prendergast <dprendergast@TRIAD.RR.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Prendergast <dprendergast@TRIAD.RR.COM>
Subject:      Re: No heat at stoplights.
In-Reply-To:  <71d9cdf91001060816s2d644135xff991cc51b21e10d@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

The coolant bottle is full with no leaks anywhere, someone earlier
said it may be the thermostat and the symptoms do match (thermo is
about 4 years old).  It blows hot out of both rear and front heaters
until I stop at a light then it blows cold.  Not really a big deal
since the weather is relatively mild here in central North Carolina.
On Jan 6, 2010, at 11:16 AM, Jake de Villiers wrote:

> Your van is low on coolant.  The most accessible and reliable winter
> time
> coolant level sensor is your right ankle.  When it starts getting
> cooled
> rather than heated, you're down on coolant.
>
> You'll want to do the Bentley procedure to purge the air from the
> the rad
> bleeder screw, then enjoy better heating in the front!
>
> On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Jeff Palmer <jpalmer@mts.net> wrote:
>
>> David where do you live?  My van has always been like this, for ten
>> years
>> or so, so I just can't believe it's because of an ailment that I
>> haven't
>> sorted out during that time.  If you live somewhere particularly
>> frosty you
>> might notice this more than someone in a more temperate climate.
>>
>> I live in Winnipeg, where it  gets super cold, and I just always
>> assumed
>> that when the engine is turning slower the coolant is circulating
>> more
>> slowly, and cools down by the time it reaches the front of the van.
>>
>> Sometimes ignorance is bliss, sometimes it isn't ...
>>
>> Jeff
>> 85 Westfalia GL
>> Winnipeg
>>
>> On 2010-01-05, at 11:26 AM, David Prendergast wrote:
>>
>>> Did a search on this but didn't find much.  84 Westy, heat seems
>>> to be
>>> working fine (although not as hot as I remember, although it could
>>> be
>>> my imagination) Whenever I come to a stoplight and reach down to
>>> feel
>>> the heat (front, havent checked the rear) its blowing cold until I
>>> start moving again.  Weird and wacky to me.  No coolant leaks and
>>> bottle is full.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
>
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
>
> Crescent Beach, BC
>
> www.thebassspa.com
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27