On Wednesday, October 9, 2002, at 08:26 AM, Marla Stelk wrote:

> Thank you everyone who sent me diagrams, etc. regarding the cooling
> system as I set out to change all my hoses.  I came across some
> oddities with my van, however, that has thrown the guys at Bus Depot
> for a loop as well.  The mysterious #9 hose (according to their
> diagram) has been found.  However, mine is 38" while the standard for
> VW is evidently 26".  Instead of going from the pipe on the drivers
> side to the driver's side of the rear heater, it passes over the
> transmission to the passenger's side.  At that point, it connects to a
> "T" where a second hose goes from the top of the "T" disappears into
> the heater.  Another hose connects to the opposite side of the "T"
> from the "9" hose and follows along with the cooling pipes up toward
> the radiator.  They do not go into the radiator, however, from what I
> can see under the van.  They seem to just go up and
> disappear....beyond the spare tire cavity.

Sounds just like the plumbing on my 86 Syncro. The line going to the
front goes to your front heat exchanger. My #9 hose came in contact
with the drive shaft in the rear, requiring me to replace it. I used
regular heater hose since I never could find the VW part. The regular
heater hose doesn't have the nice curves (so it tends to be a bit
restrictive in the flow of the coolant) but it does the job.