Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:27:20 -0600
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Which coolant hoses to replace on an 85 1.9 L motor?
In-Reply-To: <491063.90950.qm@web83603.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>
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replace them all. The national vendors on here, like Bus Depot and Van Cafe, sell a complete replacement kit for a reasonable price. Yes, there are a couple of hoses that are not included, because no longer made. However, good fit alternatives have already been researched and are known to the list -- check the archives. Seriously, if you can afford to drive the van on long trips, you can afford to replace the hoses -- and you'll be more likely to complete the trip.
mcneely
---- Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
> All this talk about hoses is getting me worried. YES, when I take my car to the mechanic for something and if he recommends a hose need replacing, I do it without hesitation. (Only has happened twice.) My 85 Vanagon just turned 190,000 miles; I use it for extended road trips; reliability is most important. (I do carry some silicon rescue tape but still am nervous, starting to take the fun out of it).
>
> So..What to do? I think some of the hoses on a 1.9 L motor are NLA (per Van Again's diagram I saw a while back). Are there some hoses that are more likely to fail than others? I imagine so. Just replace them all? Seems like a monumental (expensive) task. Or, just take it to mechanic for "Hose inspection & replacement" and let him be the judge? I don't know if I have the experience to make a good judgment myself on whether a hose is safe and sound or not; as pointed out by David, sometimes things are not so obvious or may be "hidden" on the underside and so forth.
>
> Seriously, one of the main reasons I am leaning towards a Subie 2.2 conversion is for the coolant hose issue on my 26 year old motor. From what I've read, things are somewhat simplified, or at least available.
>
> And to me, rummaging around FLAPS to try to find a hose that's "close enough" to be able to make it work sounds like a nightmare. I just wouldn't feel confident (guess it's done all the time though).
>
> So looking for advice, insight, experience, recommendations on this issue. And it must be an issue for many of us who don't just like to "wait" until it breaks on some lonesome hiway bringing an abrupt end to an otherwise long-awaited road trip.
>
> Rich
> San Diego
>
>
> --- On Thu, 2/24/11, David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
>
> From: David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
> Subject: Re: Sealant necessary for coolant hoses?
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Thursday, February 24, 2011, 9:34 AM
>
> At 02:32 AM 2/24/2011, M. Jade wrote:
> >Thanks a lot for everyone's quick reply to the question. The coolant
> >hose is original. It was never replaced despite the thermostat has
> >been replaced twice and the hose was disconnected and reconnected
> >many times. I noticed that the hose is not as flexible as when it
> >was very new. But it is not hardened to a point to need replacement.
>
> You're talking about a twenty six year old hose here that's been
> subjected to innumerable pressure/heat cycles. VW hoses are of very
> high quality but they do have their limits, and the limits I've
> observed (n of approximately ten) have all but one involved a roughly
> 3/8" long slit in the longitudinal direction of an old but apparently
> healthy hose. No loss of flexibility apparent in any case. In the
> anomalous case the hose (still flexible) split transversely at the
> nipple. It was shortened a half inch and one week later split
> again. This was the odd hose on the 2.1l that has a skinny end going
> to the ring manifold surrounding the engine hatch and a very short
> fat right-angled end going to the engine. The failure was at the engine.
>
> My point is that these hoses are way past their intended service
> lives, no matter what they look like. I'm sensitive to this, since
> the '89 I got a couple years ago had four coolant blowouts in the
> first four months of driving, all in hoses that looked and felt perfectly good.
>
> Yours,
> David
--
David McNeely
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