If the system is not leaking you will not loose much coolant. Make sure
the engine is stone cold when you do this. If all is well, bleeding
should be minimal. Open the t-stat bypass before starting the engine and
the hoses by the t-stat will bleed quickly into the expansion bottle.
Any air left will work out on its own if the cap is working properly.
Keep the second tank topped up for a few days until all the air is
worked out and coolant sucked in.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
Of John Meeks
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 8:33 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Drain Coolant to replace Thermostat (2.1 L)???

Esteemed List,

My Haynes manual sez:
1) disconnect battery
2) drain coolant
3) disconnect the wiring
then it goes into the difference between early and late models re:
disassembly
Can this be correct? The thermostat seems higher in relation to most of
the
rest if the coolant paths.
Am I in for a big surprise if I don't drain the system first? I'm not
replacing the housing, just the thermostat.

TIA
John Meeks
Top of Lower Michigan
'91 MultiWest