Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:31:23 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Botched Coolant Flush Implications?
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re
Alas, not like the good old days."
I can't say I'm convinced 'they' used to do really good car work.
and about current times -
I'll tell you boys and girls....
it appears that you 'can not' really get *very, very careful good work* done
on vanagons.
I am talking about the Details.
I'm changine shocks right now on a fine 88 westy with a Subaru 2.2 engine ..
a 12,000 dollar van , at least.
whoever installed the KYB junk shocks on it ..installed the rusty bolts with
no anti-seize compound on them or anythiing at all to prevent the bolt from
rusting the metal insert in the shock busings.
If those rust in place badly ..
it's not easy or fun to get apart.
Like car tehcnicians don't know about rust ?
or maybe the home hobbiest didn't ..
but 'rust happens'
and rust IS very preventable, and very treatable.
same on the brake drums ..
evidently 'the standard' is all rear brake drums and front hubs go on the
vans 'bare metal' ..
which makes them very free to rust nicely.
It doesn't occur to anyone to paint these parts with high temp flat black
stove paint ?
they stay unrusted for quite a while that way.
in particular,
I see no attention at all to the details, particularlily where the potential
for corrosion is involved.
just like that guy that specified 'use only genuine VW coolant' ..
and doesn't know that he really got that.
And the regular shop system where you don't get to interact directly with
the techinician..,
you're just taking a chance there. You 'get what you get' .......and don't
even get to talk to the person with your life in their hands, working on
your van, sometimes .
sorry to say ..
in 'regular car shops' ...you're not going to get over about what I consider
about 75 % ..
sure, they'll get the parts on ..
but they will not give these fine 25 year old vans the careful attention
they deserive.
In my shop ..
I have about 50 cans of paint of all types...
to help keep vanagons happy and nicely alive, and easy to work on.
I doubt you'll find much of that in regular shops.
I hope I'm very wrong ..
but really ...most regular car repair work leaves a LOT to be desired, sad
to say.
you know, if rust wasn't so silly easy to treat and prevent, I could
understand.
But normal surface rust ..
can be fixed forever in seconds, and that is not exagerating that much at
all.
scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wes Neuenschwander" <wes.neuenschwander@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 8:42 PM
Subject: Re: Botched Coolant Flush Implications?
> Thanks, Ken. A concise and informed assessment and reply - as always. You
> rock.
>
> The pressurized vessel is - and has remained - full, and the
> atmospherically
> vented reservoir is holding at half full, so I suspect everything is fine.
>
> Just wish the 'local shop' had done a proper job (including opening the
> heater valve when purging the air). Alas, not like the good old days.
>
> -Wes
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ken Wilford [mailto:kenwilfy@comcast.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 11:28 AM
> To: Wes Neuenschwander
> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Botched Coolant Flush Implications?
>
> Wes, if you weren't seeing any high temperatures on your trip then the
> engine is fine. The nice part about the 2.1l coolant system is that it
> will self bleed over the course of a few days. Probably there was some
> air trapped in the system that the shop didn't get out but if your
> heater was working the heads were never uncovered so no damage could
> occur (front heater core is higher than the heads so if it has coolant
> then the head definitely did.
>
> I would just top off the bottle with the pressure cap on it (to the left
> in the engine bay). Fill it all the way to the top. Then fill the one
> behind the license plate door to full and keep an eye on it over the
> course of the next couple of days. If they both stay full then you are
> fine and no further bleeding is required. It may still burp a few more
> times but as long as the pressure bottle is full, just top off the non
> pressure tank until the system level stabilizes. I would check the
> level when everything is cold first thing in the morning just so your
> readings are consistent and you can top things off without worrying
> about getting burnt by hot coolant.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
> Phone: 856-327-4936
> Fax: 856-327-2242
>
>
>
> On 6/15/2011 1:57 PM, Wes Neuenschwander 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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