I had a weird problem, related to this subject.

Parking lot at work I usually park on a slight incline, with front of van
higher than rear.  Two days in a row I came out to find coolant had leaked
out of the expansion tank, I discovered I had left it slightly loose and
therefore leaky.  The reason stuff flowed out so much though was that later
that week I discovered I had a small hole somewhere about halfway up on the
radiator.  By having my expansion tank loose not much pressure could build
up in the system to make the radiator leak much, thus I didn't notice it at
first.  Once I tightened up that cap it stopped leaking out the rear and
started leaking out the front.  My engine never overheated(I keep a watchful
eye on all my gauges temp/oil pressure etc..)  I've now replaced the
radiator and the hoses.  No more coolant leaks. :)   Funny thing was that
leaky radiator was only 4 years old... seems awful short life to me.....

This most certainly NOT what happened with your van, just sharing a similar
experience.  Good luck with your coolant leak issue.

-Ry
http://www.google.com/profiles/rylincoln

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 5:03 AM, J Stewart <fonman4277@comcast.net> wrote:

> So Sunday I take the family shopping in the '85, which I've owned now for 4
> months. On the way into town I look down a t the odometer and realize I've
> driven this Vanagon more than any other I've owned, I've already put 2K
> miles on it, and my other two I barely put 3K a year on. So I start thinking
> about how it's been pretty reliable (I know, one should never think about
> such things) So I drop the wife and daughter off at Kohls and head to
> another store a couple of miles away. When I come back out, I find a good
> size puddle (OK, maybe 3/4 of a cup) of coolant on the ground under the van.
> I start hoping that maybe it was from the car parked there before me, but
> soon realize thats wishful thinking. Pop the engine cover off to find
> coolant dripping from under the expansion tank. The top of the tank is dry,
> as are the two hose connections into it, but the bottom of the tank is wet.
> I head back over to pick up the wife and daughter and we head for home. The
> temp gauge never rose above normal. Once home I thoroughly clean the engine
> compartment around the tank. Can't find anything wrong but suspect a crack
> in the bottom of the tank. The van has been sitting in the same spot since
> Sunday afternoon and has not leaked a drop of coolant, so now I am
> suspecting a crack in the tank that only leaks under pressure-sound
> reasonable? Jeff
>
>
>
> Jeff Stewart
>