why don't you try it without a bleed valve there and tell us how it works
out.

I've been tempted to do that ...run without a bleed valve and hose there.
but then I can see that they wanted a way to get  air out of a high spot in
the main hoses, at least as part of the initial fill and  bleed process.

----- Original Message -----
From: "william greenamyer" <wgreenamyer@CISO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2010 7:10 PM
Subject: coolent bleed valve on 84GL 4 speed

> Haven't posted for a while.  Started working on the motor mounts and
> missed
> something when the engine dropped a little.  There is a bleed valve on the
> two big coolent hoses which go across the engine compartment.  There is a
> little hose that goes from the bleed valve to the pipe towards the rear of
> the engine.  The nipple on the bleed has broken on me before and I
> replaced
> the whole assembly.  Further looking at this old assembly seemed to show a
> possible way to fix the nipple piece by inserting a small aluminum tube
> into
> the plastic part.  This would allow attaching to the valve assembly with
> the
> same hose as before and it would be stronger and more resistant to
> vibration.  Just an idea.  My question is-- Is the bleed valve and
> connection hose to the other main pipe really required for proper coolent
> system operation?  I am guessing it is not and as long as you have another
> way to drain and fill the system, you can do without the bleed valve
> (which
> is prone to breakage due to fibration or stress).  For all of you experts,
> is this correct.  If so, I will just plug the hose and valve piece and let
> it go (never to break when driving again which lunched my first engine).
>
> William