Date:         Wed, 21 Jul 1999 00:02:50 -0700
Reply-To:     "Tom L. Neal" <jneal@NETCOM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Tom L. Neal" <jneal@NETCOM.COM>
Subject:      Winning Water Wars-part II: the Ketchup lid fix (long)
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.SUN.3.91.990705094007.20136A-100000@netcom13>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Part II Summary:
-Back from loop through US and Canada.
 6000 miles/10,000 km  (246,000 miles on engine)
 19.6 mpg (but even with new MXT's, odometer/speedometer reads 4.3% high)
   so really about 18.8 mpg
-List information invaluable. Took along 6 inch thick stack of message files.
-Coolant distribution unit blew its lid, but fixed with ketchup bottle lid.
  This problem should be preventable somehow.
-Speedometer becomes screaming banshee when cold
------------------------------------------------------------------
Part I (previously posted)
> 3000 miles through 6000 mile loop in '87 weekender removed-driveshaft syncro
>   1.(previously reported) temp 2 coolant connector went intermittent
>     per digitool--excercised connector and applied contact grease
>   2.A/C evaporator hoses drip a lot of water in humid climates--how
>    to control where it goes?.
>   3.Rear heater core retired--temporary "L" fix employed
>   4."dashboard heat" not appreciated

Part 2
  -No more fuel injection problems.  Did have the privilege of
    meeting the Boehlers and exchanging digitool ideas with Darrell.
  -A/C evaporator hoses still dripped a lot.  Stuffed a fibrous piece
    of rope in the hose and tied the end to the next to bottom louver
    with a bunch of overhand knots following to avoid wind whipping.
    A vanagon with pigtails is cute.
  -"Dashboard heat" alive and well but not as big an issue in cooler Canada.
  After the Ruskins wonderful walking tour of Winnepeg we headed west,
    into....adventure time:
Red blinking light, quickly followed by temperature gauge rising,
quickly followed by the compelling oil temp (pressure?) buzzer.
Pulled into first available gravel lane which turned out fortunately to be a
long driveway.  Steam from right rear.  Look underneath and see water
all over right rear underside.  Make first aquaintence with the right
rear coolant distribution unit which seems to have an end cap missing.
Took it out and sure enough, the big end cap blew off.

My incredibly clever wife suggested that we go back up the road and find
the cap.  I figured this was a needle in a haystack proposition, although
a couple of days later realized that it should have been easy to find.
Just look right before the coolant was sprayed all over the road.  The
driveway owners offered us help (and water) and we could have probably
gotten a ride with them to the failure point.  Well, anyway, we looked for
other options.

Then my wife pulled a ketchup bottle out of the cooler, took off the lid,
and it was a PERFECT fit into the end of the coolant distribution unit.
Gave the five minute epoxy (JB Weld says four hours and we didn't want to
wait) a few extra minutes, wrapped duct tape around the end, put it back
together, filled with water from the friendly Manitoban family, and took
off to Brandon, Manitoba. 30 km away.  The VW dealer ordered the part.
While it was coming in I found Karl's posting of Mark's note about the
additional need for an O ring, cap, and clip because the design had
changed (VW has committed the unforgivable backward non-interchangeability
crime without changing part number).  Sure enough the part came in missing
one end.  The clever parts fellow looked at my copy of Karl's message and
said that the Jetta used those parts so he pulled them off a used Jetta
they had for sale.  Rained discouraged me from replacing the part immediately
and eventually we drove the whole way home with the ketchup lid fix.
I replaced the pressure cap with a spare "zero pressure" defective one
I had along to reduce the strain on the glue joint.

Sure met some nice folks in Canada who helped us tremendously.  Also,
except for gas, most items in Canada are noticeably less expensive than
the US.

Asking the prevention question, it seems there are several steps that
people could take to prevent this problem from occurring:
  1.replace coolant distribution unit every 180K miles or so
  2.try to punch out the cap and reglue it in every 180k miles or so
  3.wrap the unit in some heat resistant tape
  4.clamp the lid on somehow
  5.????
  6.I will put in a new one and carry the ketchup lid unit as a spare.
I recommend everyone do something after about 120K miles as this fix is not
very fun on the road.

One more "feature".  From day 1 the speedometer has clicked (I think it's
actually in the speedometer, not the cable).  One evening got chilly and
the speedometer made a sound like a screaming banshee until it warmed up
and made its normal racket.  But no water, no worries.  Should be easy
to troubleshoot--put in freezer.

Will also post some interesting events along the way, and yes, some
of them are in Texas, and no, we didn't stay at any KOA's.

Cheers, Tom Neal