The heater cores can and do fail this way. Real fun when the front one lets
loose. No need or benefit to join the hoses, just cap them.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
ron johnson
Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2014 9:27 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: rear heater core failure

Last night steamy coolant began billowing out of the rear heater quickly
followed by spewing coolant. Pulled over and shut down engine. Thinking to
do enough to get home, I bought a union fitting and bypassed the rear
heater; topped up system with coolant. In just a few minutes of driving, the
union (plastic) failed - actually snapped in half - and again coolant
spewing.

Has anyone else experienced this?

What could be likely causes of so much pressure in this part of the cooling
system? Thermostat failure? Water pump failure?

Many Thanks
Ron Johnson
Portland, OR
Betsy '91 Weekender