I was loosing coolant to I knew not where.  Checked every place I could
access, and couldn't find it.  Good mechanic found a bad cap on the
pressure tank, though to my eye there was no crack and the seal looked
good.  But, that was it.  No more lost coolant.  mcneely

BTW, the good mechanic is "Obie" at European Auto Haus, Spokane.  He is
German trained, worked at a VW dealer for a couple of decades including
before Vanagons were "obsolete" according to dealers.  Had multiple
Vanagons in shop when I was there.  He not only does regular mechanical
things, but renovated my Dometic and installed my new propane tank.  All
work was done at a fair price (hourly rate and appropriate hours for the
job).

He is also currently restoring a sixties model Beetle.

Obie told me that my beast is in "excellent" condition, and that he would
not hesitate to send a family member on a cross country trip in it.

For those in this part of the world and who might want to use European Auto
Haus, front man and owner is Greg. Obie will speak directly with the
customer about any matters mechanical, though.  He advised me to buy the
propane tank and any other expensive parts needed (none were) myself and
avoid the shop markup, as they would get parts from the same vendors at the
same prices.

I will add the shop to roadhaus.com, just haven't gotten "a round tuit"
yet.  I used to carry one in my pocket, but lost it.

 mcneely

On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 9:52 PM, John Rodgers <jrodgers113@gmail.com> wrote:

> I haven't run a pressure test yet. But the engine is dry as a bone, and it
> has a brand new rear heater core. Thanks for thr link to the pressure
> testor.
>
> John
>
> On Dec 8, 2016 22:43, "KI4TLF" <ki4tlf@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> If you're lucky, you just have a bad expansion tank cap or the hose that
> goes between it and the overflow tank.  It allows the fluid to expand out,
> but not draw back in.
> I just replaced one on a '90 Carat that was doing that.
>
> GregM
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> John Rodgers
> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2016 9:49 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Coolant light 2.1L WBX
>
> Driving down the road, all needles where they should be, red coolant light
> comes on. Stop the car, check the fill/overflow tank. It's up to the top
> mark. Next , empty the baggage area, raise the engine hatch lid. Removed
> the expansion tank top, found coolant to be below the sensing prongs on the
> sensor, thus the flashing red light. Topped off the tank to get home. No
> more red light. It was dark, so must wait to tomorrow when it cools off to
> see where the coolant  went. But I could see there were no coolant leaks.
> So the question is - where did the coolant go.
>
> Ideas??
>
> John
>