Date:         Tue, 19 Aug 1997 23:52:51 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         loudesign@mindspring.com
Subject:      OVERHEATing questions please.....(was Nantaha trip)

overheating:

Radiator fan not coming on, but no fuses blown, except for one 15 amp one
mounted horizontally under the vertical bank of fuses. Bentley diagram in
no way matches the box I've got.. Any ideas???  Thought perhaps the first
or second stage relays had gone out or the resistor, but mo multimeter to
test that, and even if they were shot, nothing to do about that on a Sunday
afternoon up there....

Marv suggested the thermostat was my problem. We removed that...but it
looked ok, not rusted, and the stroke was about what the Bentley was
calling for. We needed the gasket to seal it, so Dave M dragged out a
hacksaw (!) and cut out the guts of the thermostat, and put it back in.
Didn't leak. David had put a bucket under to catch coolant to pour back
in.......

Ran distinctively cooler, but now idiot light came on, and still no
radiator fan........

Called George Jannini in Atlanta for a Vanagon owner's advice (was I lucky
he was there! Thanks, George!), since none of the rest of us had George's
vanagon experience.....George suggested that we had introduced air into the
system when we opened it, and explained how to bleed system. He also
mentioned that the idiot light was also an indicator from float valve of
low coolant. The expansion tank looked 3/4 full and the overfill was just
below the min. We topped it up with water. Light went back off, but still
no radiator fan.

James and David got up underneath, removed spare to get at radiator fan...
Apparently, when they hooked fan up to the horn, the fan started and then
of course, stopped when the fuse blew. They removed that jumper, and we
started it up, let it run for a while 10-15 minutes at 3000 rpm. Did not
overheat, radiator fan came on, started and stopped as usual, and no red
light. We decided not to bleed system then. Took off, got home ok, and am
now wondering what I should trust and what not to trust...Especially since
we are planning on going camping very soon!


Here's David's explanation:

Louise:    >> Only thing is, I'd really like to know what happened to the
                radiator fan business.  What exactly did you do to it?
Jumper it
                over to the hot lead on the horn? Then it started right away?

David:       >Well, taking out the thermostat is not recommended for daily
        driving,but it's a standard fix for getting home. I guess they are
prone
        to failure. I wasn't too worried about that. I was getting worried about
        the fan not coming on. James and I had talked about hooking the fan up
        so it stayed on all the time, just to get you home. I was looking around
        for a constant source, and decided to see if I could hook it up to the
        wire that goes to your horn. It stays on constantly as long as your
        ignition is on (you complete the circuit when you push your horn button,
        which provides the ground side of the circuit), the only thing is, the
        horn circuit is not heavy-duty enough to run the fan, so when I hooked
        up the jumper, the fan ran for just a second before the fuse for your
        horn blew (remember to replace it). I guess it's possible that it could
        have "unstuck" something, I don't really know. I did find a pair of grey
        and white wires on top of your fuse box, with complementary (male and
        female) connectors, not connected to each other, just hanging loose. I
        hooked them up, and then looked through your book to see if they went to
        the cooling system. I could not find anything. That's why I was worried
        about whether it would get you home. I still don't know what those wires
        are for...

Does anyone know what those grey and white wires are for?
Can any of you figure out what happened?


I would greatly appreciate any information/advice/next thing to do..../
that you Volks could give me regarding overheating problem.........I might
also mention that I did notice a noticeable power loss when going up
hills....like having to shift into third or lower.......with the splittie
pushing the Vanagon practically up the hills. I know it's tune up time...
but what caused what?

Thanks greatly in advance.


Louise
89 Westy
72 Westy