Hi, one thing i have seen lately is bad threads on the blue cap or/and
bad thread on the tank itself! so by that i mean that the cap may come
loose!!!

What is different on after market cap is the 2 valves instead on the
kind of single one on OEM and to my knowledge, on the cheaper one, valve
seem to act completely  separately! i said seem! so that is just an
opinion and some observation...

Cheers, Ben

Jack R. wrote:

>Ben,
>
>Thanks for your post!
>
>I have a new tank in my 84 westy, which was installed along with new larger
>coolant lines, which are required for the 2.1L configuration and a new
>radiator as well.  Since the new motor, and cooling system install last
>year, my van always runs cooler then ever before, with the gage 2mm below
>the warning LED...
>
>Well, this weekend, I took it on a short camping trip, and after a 20 mile
>trip, I stopped the van when I walked around the rear, coolant was pouring
>out of it!!!  I through all the crap in the back to the center lifted the
>lid, but the coolant leak had stopped.  I feared that my water pump failed,
>but saw fresh coolant on the rim of the expansion tank. My overflow tank was
>full to the proper line, but the expansion tank was down 2 inches???  I
>tightened the cap on the expansion tank, and drove it another mile to the
>camp ground.  By the time I got to the camp ground the gage returned to the
>normal cooler position, and the overflow tank was almost empty, thus filling
>the expansion tank.  And, best of all, no more leaks!
>
>Strange, why would the cap seal leak at pressure instead of putting the
>extra coolant into the overflow tank?  The rest of the trip went without
>problems, and it ran cool once again.  I'll replace the coolant and monitor.
>I thought that the expansion tank coolant cap would relieve pressure to the
>overflow tank.  Should I look into getting a replacement cap?  Does the cap
>ever malfunction?
>
>Jack R.
>84 Westy
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>Benny boy
>Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 11:40 PM
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: The Expansion tank story
>
>I thought i should officially post this one, even if i just replied with
>that link on another post.
>
>That page was lost on my computer, like many other pages.
>
>My camera is my weapon.
>
>http://www.benplace.com/vw_expansion_tank.htm
>
>Not much to say on the subject, i hope pictures speak.
>
>Ben
>
>
>
>
>