Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 11:46:42 -0700
Reply-To: YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject: Re: Coolant Leak INSIDE my Vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
The very first coolant leak I had with mine when it was only 2 years old was from the rear seat heater.. and you gave the exact senerio.. soaked carpet and padding.. etc. The leak it turned out is not the heater core but rather the valve. Check the valve assembly. The little plastic level and stem assembly cracked and coolant is weeping out from it.. and then when the coolant get hot, it squirts..
After you get it fixed, it's a good time to take the carpet out and shampoo it.. infact that was the last time my carpet was shampoo-ed..
I thought about removing the rear heater..but I decided against it when I realised that I do use the rear heater whenever I go up to Tahoe for winter skiing..
Yau-Man Chan
87 GL
>>> "Roy R. Johnson" <rrjohnson@MAIL.ARC.NASA.GOV> 10/19 12:17 PM >>>
On a recent trip from San Francisco to Vancouver Island, B.C. and
return, I developed a coolant leak. The overwhelming smell *inside*
lead me to look to the heater box under the rear seat. It didn't take
long to realize that it was leaking. Under the carpet I was horrified
to find lots of coolant getting soaked up into the floor padding.
Obviously I had a leak in that heater box so I turned the valve off,
assured my wife of two weeks that everything would be "just fine" (with
a false sense of confidence), said a few prayers, kept the front heater
off, and my degree of leakiness seamed to go to nothing.
Once home, I disassembled the heater but haven't determined exactly
where it's leaking. The hoses are fine so I'm guessing the heater core
has a small leak. Anyway, I don't plan on ever living where it's cold
enough to need that heater so I am considering removing all the plumbing
from where it junctions with the hoses and removing the heater
(potential bleeding point) all together. I could use the extra storage
more than the heat in the rear.
Am I missing anything obvious where the removal of this unit will cause
damage somewhere else? My instincts say yanking it will be okay but
I've been wrong before. The only evil ramification I can think of is
that under VERY hot engine conditions, I will be losing a potential
source for cooling some coolant.
If anyone else has had this problem before, I'd appreciate hearing how
you went about cleaning the floor padding and carpet. I'd like to
remove the possibility of my dog getting to the padding and licking the
toxic stuff. I'll probably just replace the carpet but the padding
doesn't look so easy (or cheap) to replace.
Thanks in advance for tips and suggestions.
Roy Johnson and
Glenda Guagua ('87 GL)
PS The VW Vanagonia I saw up in Canada was inspiring. I saw alot of
really well preserved Westies (Eurovan Westies too) and a very cool
Single Cab. I've see a few crew cabs but that single cab was the first
and it had me thinking maybe... That's probably why Glenda started
leaking. Just her way of venting a little jealousy.
