fwd over from the quattro list....

In a message dated 5/17/00 3:39:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Peterl@Warn.com
writes:

<< I just thought I'd share this little anecdote with the group...
 Those of you who have worked on the cooling system of a VW vanagon have
 probably already done this.
 My friend drives a '90 Vanagon with the "Wasserboxer" engine.  He started
 having overheating problems so he came to me.  (he must think I know
 something about cars)
 The first thing we did was to check if the fan was coming on (it wasn't), I
 stuck my hand through the grill to feel the radiator (ice cold), so I'm
 thinking water pump or thermostat.  The water pump is less than a year old,
 the belt is good and tight, so we replaced the thermostat (checked the new
 one in hot water before install), and topped up the coolant.  Still
 overheating...
 He did notice that the engine runs cooler if he ran both heaters at full
 blast.  So I start to think the radiator core is plugged and/ or fouled.  He
 was a bit hesitant to spend $200 bucks on one of my hunches, but I convinced
 him.  He bought it online from www.busdepot.com <http://www.busdepot.com>
 (fast service, good price for a GERMAN part, and it was the right part
 number!).
 We put the new radiator in, now for the wackiness.  The Vanagons have these
 hard plastic tubes under the floor to get the coolant up to the radiator and
 back.  In order to get the air out of this system, you have to raise the
 front of the vehicle about 18 inches so that the air bleed screw on the
 radiator is at the highest point, and where you add the coolant at the back
 is the lowest point!  The next trick is to make the water flow uphill.  To
 do this, you open the air bleed on the radiator, start the engine and run it
 at 2500 rpm to get good water pump output, then start adding coolant.
 Coolant is added until it starts spraying steady out of the air bleed and no
 more bubbles come out.  This makes a lovely mess on the driveway.  You have
 to hold the engine at speed until the thermostat opens, and which point the
 resevoir burps a big air bubble and then you add more coolant.  Then close
 everything up and she's done.  This all gets rather exciting with the engine
 racing, and hot water spraying everywhere.  Also, if you let the engine
 speed drop before you cap it up, all the hot water runs back downhill and
 sprays the guy standing by to fill the resevoir.  What fun!  Just make sure
 you have the burn cream handy and no small animals nearby :-)

 Oh, by the way, the van runs nice and coooool.

 Peter Lines
 Design Engineer, Powertrain Research and Development
 WARN Industries
 p: 503.659.8750 x4116
 f: 503.786.4405
 peterl@warn.com <mailto:peterl@warn.com>
  >>

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