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Date:         Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:55:50 -0700
Reply-To:     Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET>
Subject:      Re: coolant overflow fears and thoughts
Comments: To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <BAY152-ds741F0090C82BCFF6C647BA0B00@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

@Bill - I've blown through that pipe, it is not blocked. In fact, I used it to drain the extra coolant out of the bottle. I wonder about it being air tight though, although I've seen no leaks.

@Dennis - Thanks. I've been tempted to build a cap tester just to confirm my theory on that cap holding too much pressure. I ended up replacing bleeder valve assembly, radiator, and at least one hose after that had happened. The only other thing I can think of that may have caused the pressure problems was a badly routed front heater bypass job (the heater hose may have been pinched behind spare tire).

I have done the combustion gas sniffer test, and it came out ok. I guess I should have a compression and/or leakdown test done again and see if that shows any signs. As you alluded, I suspect it may only be failing when driving/under load.

Any other ideas to confirm the issue before tearing the engine apart or replacing... :/

Tom

On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 3:49 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:

> Once the system is bled enough to work it should never need bleeding again. > Normal cycling (heating/cooling) will purge any remaining air out. Anytime > it has to be bled or topped off between servicing is an indication > something > is wrong. From my experience denial never fixes anything. Multiple failed > hoses are a symptom and I have yet to see a pressure cap fail to open at > some point. Unexplained coolant loss is often the result of the coolant > getting forced unseen while you are driving. This usually happens during > extended highway drives or periods of extended load. The heads are being > lifted off the cylinders or you have cracks and under these pressure > conditions the combustion gases are getting into the cooling system. Most > times the system can take this for some time and even bleed itself out but > too much for too long things go wrong. The worst is when enough gas gets > into the system and the water pump stops pumping. The gauge won't indicate > the lack of flow until thermal cycling gets something to flow, usually > steam. Coolant rising in the recovery tank with air space in the main > pressure tank says head problem all over. Coolant blowing out and both > tanks > going empty could be a bad pressure cap not holding pressure at all. > > Dennis > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of > Tom Carchrae > Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2013 11:21 AM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: coolant overflow fears and thoughts > > My van has been mostly dormant over the winter - although I have been > driving it every week or two, partly for fun, partly to ward off angry > lifter noises. It seems mostly happy. > > But... > > I drove for 2 hours on the highway/city traffic yesterday. Van was > generally awesome. I was trying to get somewhere in a hurry, so was > perhaps > a little heavy on the gas pedal - not that this helped too much, a racing > van it is not (an 84 - 1.9L). Temps were fine all during the day, (I have > an aftermarket temp gauge, which was stuck at about 190oC for most of the > trip) > > When I got home I noticed the overflow tank nearly, well, overflowing. I > thought, well, it is just hot, let it cool, then check it tomorrow. When I > checked the next day, the overflow level was the same (nearly overflowing > out the tiny air hole in the top). The pressurized expansion tank had > perhaps an inch or so of air in the top of it. > > I have a theory, yet to be checked, that the overflow to expansion tank > tube > has a leak/crack in it. I don't see any leaks, but I wonder if sends > coolant down and, instead of drawing coolant back, it sucks air in > somewhere. Or, rather, that this is happening somewhere on the cooling > system. The pressure tank is holding pressure (it releases it when I > unscrew it), so where else could this happen? > > Am I dreaming that a $5 hose could fix my problem? I'll certainly try it > as > a solution. Or is this a head gasket job. I had a lot of scares last > summer in that department (on a 4000km trip) with a few coolant pipe > explosions - but these seemed resolved when I switched to a new pressure > cap > on the expansion tank. decent mechanic in regina didn't think it was head > gaskets because no overheating. > > I should note that before this trip I blew nearly $2k on a mechanic who put > the previous new cap on it - sigh! > > So, I'll drain the overflow tank today, bleed the radiator (which I assume > must need bleeding unless my engine is shrinking) and pour it back into the > expansion tank. > > Also, how clean should your coolant look? I've done a CO2 sniff test on > it, > but it still looks a bit filthy to me. Granted, I did perform two coolant > pipe operations where I 'captured and recycled' the coolant - as you would > on the side of the road. > > So yeah, I guess it looks like I need to schedule some time to do my head > gaskets. Or new engine. Or I just keep creeping around and shuffling > fluid/bleeding air. > > What would you do? Time is a bit scarce for me at the moment. Never done > a > head gasket job - but I have some new fuel lines I'd like to install and > why > not take off a few more bolts and change the gaskets, huh?.. :) > > Thanks, > > Tom >


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