Date:         Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:51:31 -0400
Reply-To:     Chris S <szpejankowski@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Chris S <szpejankowski@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Forensic Files: overheating cured on 2.1
Comments: To: Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <AANLkTinYaUHRiSMtmhxWx_FVi3sD0tSLrxs-RCOXA2EP@mail.gmail.com>
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Thanks for posting the solution, Jim. It good to know.

Chris.

Wysłane z iPhone'a

Dnia Mar 27, 2011 o godz. 13:50 Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>  
napisał(a):

> A few weeks ago I wrote about a persistent overheating problem on a  

> 91 2.1.
> Since Christmas, the van has been popping this and that, including a  

> couple
> of coolant tanks. I got the problem fixed shortly after with the  
> help of the
> advice of many and one listmember who sent me a replacement heater and
> valve. Here's how I figure what went wrong:
>
> I pulled up the rear seat to its raised position and saw coolant  
> dripping
> from the heater valve. Pulling the seat to get the heater covers off  

> is the
> difficult part of the job (not really, but getting the seat back in by
> yourself is) but replacing the valve is trivial. It was during this
> procedure that I came to appreciate Craftsman hose clamp pliers for  

> the
> great tool that they are. No junk here.
>
> The reason the valve was leaking was that the entire topmost surface  

> had
> been lifted off on one big chunk. I called my daughter, who had been  

> driving
> the car around Christmas time, and she confirmed that she had added  

> water to
> the tank, and then coolant the next morning. Either she was a day  
> too late
> with the coolant or she did not run the engine to mix it, as we had  

> some
> very cold nights around that time. It froze and popped the top off  
> the valve
> the size of a half stick of gum. Where it was parked, she didn't  
> notice the
> drips coming out the side of the car as coolant soaked the floor  
> under the
> seat.
>
> The car still ran hot after replacing the valve. I removed the  
> thermostat. I
> believe it was David B who said something to the effect that "you can
> consider a thermostat damaged after any overheating event." In all  
> my years
> of mechanicing, I had never thought about that. He was right. Upon
> examination, the wax pellet that operates the thermostat was visible  

> on the
> outside of the mechanism. Not good. A new thermostat and o-ring  
> completed
> the procedure and the car has run at the proper temperature ever  
> since.
>
> Jim