Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 02:59:58 +0000
Reply-To: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: Erratic temp LED and gauge needle......Followup
In-Reply-To: <F006EF52-5411-49FD-9815-766FA5ADDECF@mac.com>
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Thanks, Kim for this insight; just what I was looking for. Will do tomorrow. Easy.
On Wednesday, October 30, 2019, 7:07:17 PM PDT, KIM BRENNAN <kimbrennan@mac.com> wrote:
The coolant pressure tank should be filled up to the top. The overflow tank has a minimum level as well.
> On Oct 30, 2019, at 7:47 PM, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET> wrote:
>
> I think Dennis was right....a little low on the coolant. Today, I explored. I removed Blue Cap on pressure tank, and also the hexagonal fitting to unscrew the sensor. The sensor seemed fine, nice and bright metal protrusion...I wiped it a bit, looks super duper. I noticed on the pressure bottle, there was a MIN line, I could not discern a MAX line. Anyway, I added some 50/50 coolant directly into pressure bottle. Bring it up a little. Like an inch above the MIN mark. I did not fill it to the top.
>
> Sidenote here: NOTHING has been done to coolant levels since the Subie conversion 60K miles ago. So, I'm assuming it's OK for some steam to leak out here and there, tiny amounts, over the 60K miles.
> Took it for a test drive of 20 miles on freeway. All good. No blinky lights, needle strong and steady at halfway between bottom and LED.
>
> The "gurgling" I mentioned yesterday, after shutting down motor....did not hear it today. I will monitor.
> Thanks folks! I don't think I have major worries here. But wanted to add a followup for those in interest.
> Rich
> San Diego
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 5:35:37 PM PDT, Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> I got back home safely. Now..to address this. Yesterday, after washing van after trip, I definitely heard some "gurgling" after I shut down motor. Kind of in the heater in the front dashboard area. Yes, this is indicative of maybe some air in my coolant system, not good. But, it's been 60K miles since looked at.
>
> So...I know how to undo the Upper Grill....I know where the Radiator bleed screw is, to vent out air. (good time to wash off moths and butterflies on cooling surfaces.) It is a brand new radiator, brand new stainless steel coolant pipes, all done at Subie conversion 60K miles ago. Baffled again by all the advice: leave van on level surface, raise front end, raise rear end? Man, all of these are recommended.
>
> How FULL is the pressure vessel supposed to be? Also, how Full is the overboard vessel behind the license plate supposed to be? I've got a proper bottle of 50/50 coolant ready to go. And a funnel...ha-ha! I hope it is as simple as that....just add some 50/50 coolant.
> More info: when in the cold climate of the Southern Oregon area, this is when I noticed the problem. When I crossed southward into California, including the LA Basin into San Diego...no problem. Either at startup or running.
>
> Also...I will shiny up the contacts on the sensor that dip into the pressure vessel. Honestly, I haven't explored the whole situation yet. But hoping you can keep me from going down some rabbitholes.
> Rich
> San Diego
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, 4:04:33 PM PDT, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Did you check the coolant level? What you descibe is indicative of low coolant or a system that is air bound. When you start the cold engine the pump s pulling the coolant out of the bottle activating the low coolant warning. As the engine warms the coolant expansion may satisfy the sensor.
>
>
>
> The later vans used a different low coolant controller. They pulse the gauge to activate the light without raising the needle so you can distinguish low coolant or overheating.
>
>
>
> Dennis
>
>
>
> Sent from my Windows 10 device
>
>
>
> From: Richard Koerner<mailto:rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2019 5:18 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM<mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Subject: Erratic temp LED and gauge needle
>
>
>
> I'm on a roadtrip with my 85 Vanagon, 280K miles on chassis, 60K miles on a Subie EJ22 Kennedy conversion. Everything fine....until I turned the key at a campground on the south Oregon coastline yesterday. With key turned to "on", normal flashing of temperature LED for 3 seconds. With key turned to "start", motor fired up just fine; but immediately the LED started flashing, and within 15 seconds the gauge needle was pegged at max. Shut down motor. Tried again.....same thing. Went back to motor; tried unplugging and replugging the 2-wire connector on top of blue cap for the coolant reservoir. Tried again....same. Now, this is with a cold motor (ambient temperature around 50 F).
> I presumed it was an electrical issue of some kind; not a plumbing issue. So left the campround, with temp LED flashing away. After about 5 miles, the temp gauge needle started dropping; after about more 5 minutes right about where needle crossed LED, the LED stopped flashing. The needle continued dropping....to about halfway between the LED and the MIN position. And pretty much stayed there the rest of the day.
>
> This morning, in chilly campground, same scenario. But this time, even though the LED was flashing, the needle did not rise to max; instead, it rose to between LED and MIN position; LED stopped flashing after about 5 minutes. Once warmed up, the gauge needle seems to work normally....slightly rising in stop and go traffic, slightly lowering when cruising on highway down a grade for instance.
>
> A little baffled. Do you think it's something back in the motor, or perhaps something in the dash instrument cluster? (I cross-posted this email to the subaravanagon group on Yahoo.)
>
> Rich
> San Diego
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