Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:13:08 -0700
Reply-To: Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Botched Coolant Flush Implications?
In-Reply-To: <5340953913991748690@unknownmsgid>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Since your temp gauge stayed in the normal range and the warning light
didn't come on you're engine
is most likely fine. To be safe you should bleed your cooling system (see
archives) to make sure all of the
air is out of the system. I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Just do the
bleeding procedure and stay on top
of it anytime you have the cooling system opened for any reason. I find
that most mechanics don't completely
purge the system after any work done on the cooling system after which I'm
always topping of the system
and purging it to make sure it's fine....
Steven
91 Westy
On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 10:57 AM, Wes Neuenschwander <
wes.neuenschwander@comcast.net> wrote:
> I recently had the coolant system flushed and coolant replaced in my '91
> Westy at a local independent VW service place. I have about 15,000 miles
> on
> my rebuilt (GoWesty 2.3 liter) engine. When I got the vehicle back, the
> coolant in the reservoir (non-pressurized tank) was at the 'full' line.
> After driving the vehicle about 100 miles, I noticed the heater didn't seem
> to be heating fully. After I opened the heater valve 100% for a few miles,
> the heater function seemed to be restored, providing well modulated heating
> over the full range of the heater valve settings. Engine temperature - or
> rather coolant temperature - was normal the entire trip (consistently
> mid-point on the coolant temp gauge, just as before the coolant flush).
>
> However when I got home from the trip (about 500 miles, including some NW
> Washington mountain passes, I noticed that the reservoir was empty (didn't
> check the pressurized tank, alas). I refilled the reservoir and after
> running the engine a few times during short day trips around town, both the
> reservoir and pressurized tank levels are normal (pressurized tank is full
> and the reservoir is at the mid-full mark).
>
> There is no evidence of leaking coolant - anywhere. My guess is that the
> air was not fully purged from the coolant system following the flush/refill
> operation (perhaps, at least in part, due to air trapped in the heater
> lines
> and/or heater core).
>
> Two questions:
>
> 1) What do I need to do (if anything) to ensure the system is fully
> purged now?
> 2) What possible adverse effects might there have been from having an
> incompletely purged coolant system on a drive like this (including some
> full-throttle periods over the mountain passes)? In particular, of course,
> is it likely that I might have damaged or otherwise compromised those
> infamous waterboxer cylinder heads??
>
> Also, a corollary question: I clearly specified that the replacement
> antifreeze must be Volkswagen brand only (in the past, I've had shops use
> 'house brand' coolants - i.e. whatever the local tech/guru thought was
> best). How can I verify that the antifreeze used was genuine VW and not
> some off-brand?
>
> -Wes
>
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