I've heard others say this can be caused by a leaking head gasket allowing
combustion gas (pressure) into the water jacket.

John McLean   87  Vanagon  GL

> Oh yeah...I forgot.  87 Vanagon 2.1.
>
> Thanks,
> Paul Impellizzeri
> 87 Weekender
> 82 Westfalia
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   Paul Impellizzeri
> Sent:   Thursday, December 20, 2001 8:41 PM
> To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Subject:        extremely high coolant pressure
>
> I got a quick question.  I have been having problems with hoses rupturing
> and most recently the end blowing out of the big plastic tee on the right
> hand side of the motor.  I am getting ready to order the replacement tee and
> want to get all the parts in one order if possible.
>
> Here is what I have going now.  I have gutted the thermostat so it is
> running wide open.  It was bad and had to cut it out on the side of the
> expressway...wasn't opening up.
>
> I am thinking that the problem (aside from the thermostat) is the pressure
> cap on the expansion tank not properly keeping the pressure.
>
> Am I on target with this assumption or is there more I should look at.  I
> have already blown 4 hoses and t-stat and a tee fitting and gallons of
> coolant.
>
>   All this just started happening in the last month.  The engine is a brand
> new 2.1 rebuild from VWoA.  I have 10 month/10,000 flawless miles on it.