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Date:         Tue, 2 Jan 1996 12:37:13 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SyncroHead@aol.com
Subject:      Vanagon coolant hoses!

Hi Vanagonauts,

While replacing the engine in my 87 Syncro, I thought it would be a good idea to replace the hoses in the engine compartment. A couple had been replaced in the last couple years, so I didn't plan on replacing them again. Note that more than you might suspect are Syncro specific hoses.

Here's what I replaced & the prices from the FLVWD & FLAPS:

251-121-102 42.90 Left/front port on plastic coolant manifold to right radiator pipe. Used a (D)70684 that cost $6.99.

251-121-072 37.00 Bottom/right of thermostat housing to lower crossover pipe. Used part of a (E)71228 that cost $15.99 Other part of (E)71228 used for 251-121-103

251-121-073 42.90 Top of thermostat housing to upper crossover pipe. Used a 71315 that cost $5.99

251-121-103 42.90 Lower crossover tube to rear/left port on plastic coolant manifold. Used part of a (E)71228 that cost $15.99 Other part of (E)71228 used for 251-121-072

251-121-072-A 42.90 Right/rear port on plastic coolant manifold to port on front of right head. Used a 70826 that cost $6.49

025-121-073-H 22.10 Left side of thermostat housing to big pipe on left side of engine. Used a (B)70541 that cost $7.49

025-121-058-H 16.00 Upper port on primary coolant reservoir to coolant tube that runs around the left perimeter of the engine compartment. Used a 80400 that cost $5.93

025-121-058-D $15.60 Oil cooler tube to tube leading to thermostat housing. No replacement looked for.

025-121-058-J $13.05 Water pump to metal tube. No replacement looked for.

025-121-058-G $15.60 Metal tube from water pump to oil cooler. No replacement looked for.

025-121-058-E $11.65 Small metal tube above left head to port on rear of thermostat housing. No suitable replacement found.

025-121-108-H $21.90 Lower port on primary coolant reservoir to metal tube on rear of left head. No suitable replacement found

251-121-062 $49.35 Upper crossover tube to left radiator pipe. No suitable replacement found

N-901-287-03 $5.45 >From flange on right head to tube under crankshaft pulley. No replacement looked for.

All of the replacement hoses were made in the USA by Road King (although the application guide doesn't have any brand identification on it). I bought them at TRAK Auto. I think that Pep Boys carries the same brand.

Since the application guide at the FLAPS didn't list anything for Vanagons, I found these replacement hoses by holding the old hose in my hand and walking up & down the hose aisle looking for hoses or parts of hoses that were close. I only used part of each of the replacement hoses & just cut off the parts that didn't match the VW hose.

Some of the lower priced hoses, I didn't bother searching for a FLAPS replacement for, partly because I was lazy & partly because I was running out of time. I suspect I could have saved quite a bit of money on those too.

Total VW price of hoses that I found a replacement for: $246.70 Total FLAPS price of replacement hoses: $48.88 (not much more than 1 VW hose) Price savings: $197.82 VW originals cost over 400% more! Total cost of hoses purchased at VW & FLAPS: $379.30 Total cost would have been $577.12 if I'd bought all VW hoses! $577 + one or two hose that I did not replace would easily be over $600. I bet you didn't know that you had over $600. worth of hoses in your engine compartment, did you? And I didn't even replace the radiator hoses up front or the hoses to the heaters......yet.

Those of you without Syncros might look into your engine compartment and say "crossover tubes! - what is he talking about?". These are Syncro specific beacuse the Syncro's gas tank placement gets in the way of the "normal" hose routing. In a Syncro the two radiator pipes have to come up to the engine compartment on the right side and the "crossover" through metal pipes to get to the thermostat area.

I'll definitely post a message to the list if I have any problems with these hoses, but I suspect that it will be years away if I do.

Jim Davis 87 Syncro 88 Wolfsburg


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