Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2015 14:49:12 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Faint coolant smell
In-Reply-To: <5B9E7B0B-CF52-4532-B6E1-D203FB07D6D7@NBNet.nb.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
It will take you 15 minutes to pull the core and look at it. My experience
with these cores is they fail around 150k miles or 25 years, the sealant
between the core and the end caps fail. That's been my experience with my
old '84, my current '85, and my son's '87.
BTW, the valve does not fully shut off. There is a V-shaped profile on the
shaft, and the notch of the V isn't covered fully in the closed position, so
there is always some coolant flow and pressure in the core.
Logical troubleshooting order, easiest things first!
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Roy Nicholl
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 2:14 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Faint coolant smell
Bill:
Already put dye in the coolant when I started looking for leaks.
Neil, Stuart:
I'd be hard pressed to guess if the smell is stronger in the rear or front
of the cabin. The rear heater valve was replaced just before we acquired
the van a year ago, but the heater is original. Another coincidence that
the odour waited until I replaced the pump to surface? I'll pull the rear
core first as it appears to be the easiest to access.
I have a liquid pressure gauge / tester designed for another application,
however it only goes as low as 25 or 50 psi, which I am guessing is too much
for the coolant system?
On 08-Sep-2015, at 15:32, William Monk wrote:
> Get a coolant UV die kit from the auto parts store. Take the guess
> work out of it.
>
> Bill
> On Sep 8, 2015 2:15 PM, "Stuart MacMillan" <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Twice when I've had this problem it's been the rear heater core.
>> They can weep enough to smell, but not see until they blow. You need
>> to slide out the core. Just remove the screws holding the fan
>> assembly to the floor and raise it up a bit to get the clearance you
>> need to slide the core out for inspection. No need to disconnect
anything except maybe the wiring plug.
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
>> Behalf Of Roy Nicholl
>> Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 9:59 AM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Faint coolant smell
>>
>> All,
>>
>> A couple of weeks ago, I replaced the water pump in the Hyena ('88
>> Westy WBX). The past few days, I've thought I smelled a faint trace
>> of coolant in the van itself. I checked the hoses, the radiator, the
>> front and rear heaters (best I could using a camera probe and mirrors
>> without removing all
>> the plastic) and have found no leaks. I checked the bleeder on the
>> radiator, no leak. I have seen no noticeable drop in coolant level in
the
>> reservoir.
>>
>> Any ideas on where I should explore next?
>>
>> I have also noted that my temperature gauge is now running a little lower
>> (from top half to bottom half of LED ... about a needles width). I plan
>> to
>> open both heater cores wide (they are partially shutdown at the
>> moment), park with the nose in the air, run it for a few moments,
>> then open then bleed the system again just to ensure I do not have an air
bubble.
>>
>> Roy
>>
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