Date:         Thu, 2 Oct 1997 08:16:54 -0700
Reply-To:     John Thomas <jthomas@CRUZIO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From:         John Thomas <jthomas@CRUZIO.COM>
Subject:      84 Cooling System Problem
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

A couple of weeks ago we drove our Westy down to San Diego. We stopped in LA for
dinner ( about an hour).  When we started back out, as we started to leave the
parking lot, the red temperature warning light started to blink and the
temperature gauge slowly went all the way to the right.  By this time it was
8:PM, dark and no place to call for help at that time, so I got out a flashlight
looking for an obvious problem.

The overflow/refill tank was Full! Not just at Max but completely full. I know
at the start of the trip it was half way between the Min and Max marks.  I
couldn't tell with a flashlight what the level in the expansion tank was because
it is so stained.  Anyway, I wiggled various wires, banged on things, and then
tried again.  It would immediately do the same thing (red blinking light,
temperature gauge to the max.)
I would do some more fiddling, try again, same thing.
One of the last things that I did was remove the cap on the expansion cap to see
what the level was. It appeared to be full.  The next time I tried it, the
blinking light did not come on and the temperature gauge started at cold and
slowly warmed up to normal.  After having a beer to celebrate, accepting a hug
from Audrey for having "fixed" the problem, we continued on to San Diego with
one eye fixed on the temperature gauge.

At this point,  I was not sure what part of my fiddling had fixed the problem,
but because both the blinking light had come on AND the temperature gauge had
gone to the max., I discounted the possibility of a low coolant problem and
decided it must have been a stuck thermostat that somehow had become unstuck.
QUESTION: Would a low coolant problem cause both the blinking light and the
temperature gauge to slowly rise to max.?

The next day in San Diego, I found a VW shop that could look at it that day and
described the problem and my thought that it was the thermostat.  He replaced
the thermostat (with an 80 degree model) but he said the old one appeared to be
relatively new (and also an 80 degree model).  He also replaced the cap on the
expansion tank because he found that it was not holding pressure.  QUESTION:
Would the expansion cap cause the problem we saw?

On the return trip, as we passed through LA again, we got trapped in stop and go
traffic on a hot day, and at one point somebody next to us honked and said we
were dripping coolant.  At this point the temperature gauge was only a little
bit above the normal mark, but fearing the worst, we pulled into a shopping
center.  Once more the overflow/refill tank was completely full and I could tell
it had overflowed.  This time I could see the coolant level in the expansion
tank was about 2 inches low.   So we let it cool for an hour, then I removed the
cap on the expansion tank and this released the air and it filled it self.
(probably what happened on the trip down)  We then continued on and everything
seemed normal.

I am watching the system now and I have not seen any further problems, the
expansion tank seems to be full, the refill tank is between min and max. and it
is not overheating.  But we have not been taking any trips of more than an hour
and the weather is cooling down.

So now I don't know if I really have a problem or not.  Is it normal for the
expansion tank to get air in it?  If not, what could cause it and what could I
do to find where the air is leaking into the system?

Thanks in advance for any advice or experience anyone can give me.