Date:         Sat, 14 Jan 95 22:30:47 AST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smitht@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca (Tim Smith)
Subject:      Re: Purging Cooling System

>Well, I got some air out of mine earlier, as I said, and now the heater 
>is running cool again and there is no fluid coming out of the radiator 
>even though I've run it with the nose in the air for 15 minutes.  Is this 
>not enough?


If you're letting it idle, then NO, not enough at all. I have to keep the 
revs up to a high level to prevent the coolant from simply flowing back out 
the filler neck in the rear. It burps and farts for about 5 minutes. Then, 
when the fluid belching into the Coke bottle tied to the wiper is free of 
bubbles, close the rear bleeder (really a cross-bleeder), then put on the 
cap before dropping the RPM. I usually try to push a lot of coolant into the 
Coke bottle, then suck it back in by dropping the RPM. Do this a few times, 
but watch for hot coolant on your toes. Bentley tells you to go for a drive, 
then do it again. 
        My gaskets were in shreds, and this would only last a week or so 
before the front heater started blowing cold/warm at the windshield, while 
still hot at my toes. If you can't blow coolant out the front bleed hole by 
revving the engine, the pump may be past its prime (haha, pun) or your bleed 
hole is bunged up. BTW, those radiator sealants didn't work for me, but I 
think another poster had some luck?  Sounds like it's gasket time!   tim s.