Date:         Sun, 23 Apr 1995 22:19:54 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         sstones <sstones@io.org>
Subject:      Re: weakly stats ...

On Thu, 20 Apr 1995, Steve Jacksteit wrote:

> OK, take me off the Unknown section and place me in California with
> a 1987 Vanagon, Wolfsburg Edition.  I'm a new, first time owner and
> have a question or two since lurking here for a week and a half.
> My mechanical experience has been limited to oil changes, minor
> tune up type stuff, so it's marginal at best.

Welcome aboard.

>   
> There's been quite a lot of dicussion about coolant and it seems
> that the concensus is that non-phosphate coolant is desirable, if not
> a must.  Is this a correct assessment? 

Yes.  Blue Goo, not the real name, but made for the Vanagon.

> A mention was made of some blue 
> stuff from VW dealers.  Can color alone differentiate phosphate from 
> non-phosphate? I have what appears to be the usual green stuff in my 
> Vanagon now, I have no idea what brand it is.  Should I change this stuff out?  

Yes, get the Blue Goo from the Dealership. ($15 Cdn for 1.5 l. I bought 
it a month ago.)

> 
> Also, my "low coolant" idiot light started blinking last week.  

I have some bad news for you.

> I checked the coolant level and it was well above the "max" line.  Whoever 
> filled this up must have used another input than the usual filler tank
> behind the license plate since the level was way above the filler cap.

No, The head gasket(s) is leaking, Compression gasses are escaping the
cylinder, entering the water jacket and displacing coolant into your
overflow tank.

>  The 
> engine is running at normal temperature according to the temp guage and the
> electric fan doesn't start up.  Does the temp guage and the cooling fan
> work off of separate sensors?

Yes.

>  I downloaded the Service Bulletins and found
> two references to this coolant light problem so it must happen rather
> frequently.  I'll look into these bulletins further but I would like to ask 
> if anyone has experienced this problem and perhaps have a recommendation on 
> what I should try first.

Drain the overflow tank down to the max. line.  (You don't take the cap off)
Take the end of the overflow hose off of the expansion tank cap.
Put the end into a bottle, lower the bottle to below the coolant level...
when the coolant is at the appropriate level, raise the hose end again.
(however, if you've got the wrong coolant in you'll have to change it all
eventually.)
Pour the bottle into the expansion tank.

See how long it takes for the overflow tank to re-fill...
If you don't want to do this operation that often...
Sorry, you need to get your gaskets replaced and should probably get your
heads re-faced.

> 
> I've wanted a Vanagon for years and I love this thing!  I don't want
> to screw it up so any advice, recommendations, etc will be greatly 
> appreciated.

I love em too, but the cooling system sure sucks.

> 
> Thanks,


Best of luck Steve.

Cheers

<sstones@io.org>
SStones             Toronto,  Ontario.