Date:         Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:18:35 -0800
Reply-To:     Jim <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Can you run without coolant...
Comments: To: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <4d09210c.9c4de50a.0919.53ec@mx.google.com>
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Well... last winter I headed to work in the 1.9 wasserboxer. Temp was well
below zero.  21 degrees IIRC. 21 below. I made it about 6 miles before the
frozen coolant broke the H pipe.  Decided that I could either get my wife
out of bed to come get me at 0500 (and 21 below) or turn around and drive it
home. Drove it six miles home with no coolant. Waited a week for the temp to
come back above zero. Replaced H pipe. Put premixed 50:50 coolant into in
and haven't had any problem since.

I could tell another story similar.  Short version: Wife drove '83.5 that
needed a reseal and had a plugged with stop-leak radiator from Borrego
Springs, CA to Union, OR (~1000 miles) stopping every time the gauge pegged
for 20 minutes and refilling the header tank. Didn't blow it up. I'm quite
proud of her.

1.9s are tough. Up the driveway? Depends on how long the driveway is. But
probably.

Jim

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> At 11:25 AM 12/15/2010, John Rodgers wrote:
>>Just as an aside - my Alaska business partners kid drove an Isuzu diesel
>>from Anchorage to Kenai (about 150 miles) with no coolant in the engine
>>and it didn't destroy the thing. Didn't phase it in fact. He fixed the
>>problem - broken/burst coolant hose - and drove it another couple of
>>years. It was really cold when he did this stunt -(like -35F) - which
>>I'm sure made the difference in the survival of that engine.