Stuck thermostat.

Mike

> From: swamps <matthiask@MINDSPRING.COM>
> Reply-To: swamps <matthiask@MINDSPRING.COM>
> Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 16:56:05 -0800
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: After 3000 mi trip: 84h2o overheating, grinding gears(manual trans)
>
> Hi, all!!
>
> I wonder if anybody can help me with my loaf: I just returned a week ago
> from a lenghty ski trip from L.A. To Seattle, Vancouver. All went fine
> during my trip, knock on wood, except my coolant temp indicator would
> randomly start flashing and quickly rise, then suddenly stop flashing and
> drop back down to normal. Normal in my case means: Never past the indicator
> light, mostly 1/4 past zero point. I thought that was just a shorted out
> sensor wire. No biggie, but definitely needed fixing as soon as I got back
> home, keeping a firm eye on coolant  level and my radiator fan operation.
>
> Now she overheated yesterday, going uphill for about 20 min and this time
> she's serious, it seems. My temp gauge would rise almost all the way to the
> top, but the light would not start flashing. I could sense a loss in engine
> power, though. I pulled over right away. The weird thing was that my
> radiator fan would not come on(I verified the functionality of the fan and
> switch), the radiator wasn't even hot, and the radiator hoses weren't
> either. So I let her cool down, check for leaks, nada, except for a crack in
> the plastic connector that sits between the two hoses(not the little vent
> one) that clamp to the coolant reservoir. What's that for, anyway?
> So I go about removing the thermostat, bleed her, or try to, but my radiator
> still doesn't get warm, as do the hoses, and there doesn't seem to be any
> pressure when I pinch the hoses coming from the thermostat housing.
> My guesses are: water pump (I replaced this a year ago (10000mi)), or worse:
> something blocking the coolant passages. I can't tell for sure whether or
> not there's coolant returning to the coolant reservoir, but it sure spews
> once it gets hot. The drive belts are on tight, and so are the h2o pump
> pulley, too, it seems.
> How can I surely tell whether my h2o pump is working or not?? Disconnect
> some hoses and see if water spews? If my passages are blocked or corroded,
> possibly in the block, how would or could I at my house go about flushing it
> out? Anybody willing to sell me their working Vanagon. Dou, hope she didn't
> hear that.
> Also, since the overheating, I can't shift into first or reverse while
> idling, clutch released, off course. I can only shift into those gears with
> engine off. Dunno about the other gears. Can overheating smoke the synchros?
> I am going to do a compression test on the engine, see how that reads. I
> don't seem to have a gasket (head) leak either.
> Would love to get her running again, but don't want to spend $2000-$3000 at
> my mechanic for it, necessarily.
> I used to be a member off this list for almost a year, but had to quit due
> to email overload. Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.
>
> Cheers
>
>
> Matthias
>