Thanks, John, Scott, Keneth, Paul, and everyone else who responded.  I now
have three good alternative ways to drain coolant thanks to all of you.  If
I choose to remove the hoses near the front of the van as my short term
approach, and the original hoses still look ok should I replace hose
clamps?  And once I fill the pressure tank and fill tank with mix, am I
automatically stuck in that spot for bleeding the system.  I know of a good
spot a few miles away with a 15% slope I could park on for bleeding, but
don't know if it is safe to move very far.  My jack only goes up about 10
inches if I want to bleed at that location.

Also, I am thinking of using the nose down approach I have read about in
archives.  If I do that, do I need to bleed the rear heater core too?  Or
can I just get by with the radiator, and valve at the top of the thermostat?
thanks,

Jeff Hartman
Juneau, Alaska
86 vanagon

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 7:49 AM, Paul Guzyk <paullist08@guzyk.com> wrote:

> I usually take off one of the big hoses near the front of the van (under
> the spare tire area).
>
> Have cardboard on the ground and a couple of buckets/rags handy to catch
> coolant (it will still be messy so wear dirty clothes).
>
> After one hose has emptied, undo the other one, now drain it into a bucket.
>
> THEN insert a compressor air spray nozzle into one of the hoses with a rag
> to fill up the gap around the nozzle.  Give er some air and the rest of the
> coolant will puke out of the other hose....this way you get well over 90% of
> the coolant out of the system.
>
> And if you don't spill any coolant on the ground during the process you
> earn a gold star.
>