when i bought my van it had pvc red letter from home depot...while the pipe run was ok, the heat had caused each end to soften and shrivel leading to regular dripping...addition of extra clamps merely slowed the drips, and the added clamp pressure distorted the ends even more.   as soon as i had the cash (about a year and a half) i put in the stainless from Bus Depot(hey ron--it would be great if you could translate the german on the pipes indicating direction of flow for non german speakers!) for , and the ends of the pvc were about half the original diameter.
if you  want to have the job done once, put in the  ss, they even pass through  the engine firewall.  it will cost a lot more, but it is better than dumping coolant in a brew pub parking lot 700 miles from home.  since bushy refuses to give us peace, at least you can buy some peace of mind for this area of your van.

slainte
don p
84 westy
carolina ri

Allan Streib <streib@CS.INDIANA.EDU> wrote: Doug Alcock  writes:

> [...] my mechanic suggested that if there was any doubt about the
> remaining staninless steel coolant lines that he would replace them
> with PVC plumbing pipe from Home Depot --- something he apparently
> does routinely.

Ordinary white PVC water pipe is meant for cold water, and the drain
pipe is not meant for pressure.  I don't know how well it would hold
up to to the heat of engine coolant over the long term.  You probably
want CPVC which is good for about 100 PSI at 180 degrees (F), though
automotive coolant can easily exceed that temperature as well.

Allan
--
1991 Vanagon GL

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