Date:         Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:45:12 -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: No Coolant in Small Tank Behind License Plate
Comments: To: Donna Skarloken <dskarloken@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <CALGCdoXxFAeNfdBA2Ei7U==RRdfFaJWy9x2VF8dpLQfx38yR3Q@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hi Donna,
sounds good generally.
About filling it too much ..
since vanagons tend to use coolant a teeny tiny bit anyway,
I often fill to the bottom of the cap opening..
just two warnings on that..
if it's super hot ..this happened to me on a 105 F degree day, the
coolant will expand enough that it will get pushed out the vent on top
of the license plate bottle, but there's no real 'leak' or anything ..
but it can look or smell like one.  It's very rare for things to get
warm enough for the coolant to expand that much anyway.

also ..check the rubber gasket on your license plate bottle cap,
I find a lot of those worn now , or cracked..
and if it leaks slightly at the cap, that also will make a coolant smell
possibly.
And each time the level goes above the cap opening ..if the gasket is
leaking there ....a little coolant will escape, then when it cools back
down the level will be slightly lower ...making it 'look' like it's
using coolant, when it's not anywhere except at that one spot.

the 'usual' thing to add is your proper 50/50 coolant mix ..
with whatever type of anti-frz you are using.
It's easy for a shop to test the a-frz/water ratio. ( a simple device to
check that costs like $ 4 in a discount auto parts store )
  50/50 provides freezing protection to 32 below zero F .. - more than
most people will ever need.
  If you read what it says on a bottle of Water Wetter ....is shows that
a weaker mixture than 50/50 cools better.
So I might do them more like 45/55 these days ...a-frz to water.

It's best to have half a gallon or so, of whatever a-frz/water mix you
are using under the back seat, so adding a little is no big deal if you
need to.

Scott
www.turbovans.com



On 9/19/2012 9:00 AM, Donna Skarloken wrote:
> Update:  I could not find any coolant leaks.  I talked to my mechanic
> who told me to simply add distilled water to the license plate tank
> and keep an eye on it.  It seems fine (I overfilled last night like a
> dummy however).
> So far so good; I thank everyone for your help as I was in a bit of a
> panic.  My mechanic wants me to stop by and he'll take a look at
> everything so when I get a chance I'll do that.
>
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