Date: Tue, 6 Sep 1994 22:28:17 -0500
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: jjc@bga.com (John Clavin)
Subject: To those '83-'85 Vanagon folks
> Every year before the winter comes, I flush/bleed the cooling system.
> I have done this for the last 70k+ miles since 1987 when the head gasket
> cracked due to overheating. The replacement of head gasket costed me
> a lot. To do the flush/bleed correct is very important.
I am about to attempt changing out my radiator fluid on my 85 Vanagon and
replacing it with approved VW coolant. Can anyone offer any guidance as
to the best way to drain/refill the system? Is it necessary to remove
the gravel shields, and drain it from the head plugs or is there an
easier way? (I don't want to remove the exhaust bolts from my nearly
striped out head). Any tricks to properly refilling and bleeding the
system? Thanks.
For Jim:
My 85 Vanagon has 165K miles and has had both heads replaced (right side
at 112K and left side at 135K) due to excessive leaking of coolant from
the head gasket.
Other significant problems I have encountered are:
- notoriously inferior water pumps (replaced at 60K, 64K, 110K,
and 137K). The first replacement at 60K was by a VW dealer using
an official VW water pump which lasted only a few thousand miles
before failing and being replaced by the dealer under the parts
warranty. Since then I have used third-party rebuilts. Seems like
the problem is a poorly designed or undersized bearing that develops
some wobble, causes the bearing seal to fail, and lets in coolant.
All the failures are preceeded by seepage of coolant from the
bearing weep hole. Some people attribute improper belt tension
to causing stress on the bearing.
- excessive engine vibration problems causing failure of exhaust system
mounting supports/brackets. Vibration on the exhaust system is
severe enough to cause the exhaust pipe mounting bolts/studs to strip
out of the head. VW has found this problem so common that they have
a special stud for dealers to use. The normal stud is 8mm on both
ends. The special stud is 9mm on one end, 8mm on the other, and is a
bit longer. This allows you to re-tap the striped head holes for 9mm
and make a repair without replacing the head. Also, the studs have a
narrow, unthreaded center shaft which (I think) lets them flex a bit
to absorb some vibration without causing thread damage to the head.
(I also had one of the two main coolant hoses rupture at the point
where it enters the engine on the left side. Parts man at VW said
it happens all the time due to bad engine vibration. Didn't really
appreciate it happening to me, however. Left me stranded at
El Segundo and Figueroa in LA - about 1 mile South of where the
Rodney King riots started just two weeks earlier.)
- steering rack seal failure at about 135K. This failure was sudden
and catastrophic. Fluid leaked out about as fast as I poored it in.
Don't know whether this is a recurring problem, but one VW service
manager I talked with seemed to imply it was.
- air conditioner, port or factory installed. In name only. Works
great only on cloudy days when it's not hot out. Everybody,
including VW has tried to fix it. It's just undersized and not
designed to cool anywhere except under the shade in the Black
Forest during cool German summers. Somebody should start a class-
action suit to get refunds for these things from VW.
- Lifter noise has been a problem, but so far it is only "cosmetic".
Really is only bad on start-ups after the car has been sitting
unused for about 2-3 days.
Other problems - brakes, batteries, tires, etc - seem to be what I
would consider normal wear and tear and not excessive.