Date:         Wed, 21 Sep 94 20:35:47 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "J. Walker" <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Another Heating system Q.

On Wed, 21 Sep 94 18:33:59 CDT sstones said:
>I was wondering if it is possible to, instead of moving the lever which
>cuts off coolant flow from the heater block, to cross wire the fan so
>that it is in effect pulling air out of the cab (like the door vents  :)
>)  taking heat off of the coolant and releasing it to the outside.
>Which brings up another Q.  Where does that air come from anyway?

i don't think this would work too well ... from what i can tell, both the
dash-mounted fan and the rear-seat heater fan are squirrel-cage fans. and
that type of fan doesn't work very well in reverse at all. i'm pretty sure
in my mind that the rear-seat heater is (cause i had to take it apart to
try to fix a problem with it in my 86 bus). and the pictures in bentley
all seem to agree.

the air, i think, comes into the fan box from somewhere under the dash area
... but whether it is coming from the outside, i can't tell. i don't think
so.

one thing that you might try, which is very cheap, is to take off the grills
on the front and high-pressure spray-clean the little radiator fins ... get
all the bugs and crud and such off. use some soap. this should make the
radiator more efficient (than it is when it is dirty), and should help lower
the temp. also check your coolant-water ratio. if the anti-freeze is more
than 60-40 (coolant to water), you could also be causing overheating. i've
always heard that 50-50 was best, except for really cold climates (which
needed the 60-40 ratio).

but as for what you want to do, as long as you allow the coolant to circulate
through those heaters (and blow the air through them into the cab), you'll
be reducing the engine temp ... and raising your body temp. :)

joel