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Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:15 pm

another silly ? -- thanks ahead of time

which way do you move the valve to close the aux heater underneath the rear seat in a 85 westy?

specifically, towards the engine or the radiator?

doesn't seem to make a difference in my bus.

thx

tommy

Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:18 pm

LOL I dunno! I just don't use the fan in the summer... if the kids complain THEN I figure it out :P

I seem to recall that there are markings on the case, molded in. Hard to see down there but...

Sry.

Mike!

Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:21 pm

If you are in a warm part of the country, the best thing to do is to block it off and remove it before it starts to leak! They all will leak.

The operation of the heater is described in the fine owners manual. Since mine is removed, I never bothered to figure out how to use it!

Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:25 pm

Okay -- I live in Mesa, AZ. Also known as HOT.

I have the fan in the defroster position (Is this off?) No owner's manual.

I don't feel heat coming out the grill down by the seat, but underneath that rear seat is hot!!!!! Either position too!

How do you remove it? under the seat or back at the engine?

thx

Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:29 pm

Oh :o Crawl under the car and find the two "T" fittings where it is spliced into the system. Substitute barbed connectors ("I" fittings?) and let the heater hoses dangle. If you need to, you can hook it up later (like for that skiing trip this winter) :roll:

You could just run a smaller piece of hose between the two fittings but you run the risk of overheating the engine that way (poor circulation with a by-pass!),

Mike!

Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:37 pm

okay, will do that when back from our trip to Mt rushmore, taking me, the wife, 2 kids and 2 big dogs for a 3000 mile journey through the rockies.

Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:56 pm

was 114 yesterday -- the AC can't even come close to cooling that.

so I'm tinting the windows tomorrow. psst. even the front one!

Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:11 pm

A quick fix is to lift the rear seat.
Clamp the hoses with vice grips or something.
You can leave it like that or remove the hoses and put plugs in.
DO NOT LET *ANY* COOLENT OUT UNDER THERE.
IT WILL STINK.
THE HOTTER IT IS THE MORE IT STINKS.
SO FIX IT BEFORE IT BLOWS.
It makes an awful mess.
I had to take the floors out of my Westy and clean, clean, clean.
It took a few days for the disinfectant smell to go away.
Now I have a neutral smell in the van.

It is sorta hot out here too.
Humid too.
So our 90+ feels like a suana.
It's NOT a "Dry heat" here.
Thank G for A/C!

Thu Jul 14, 2005 2:17 pm

Anybody know what size barbed I fittings to use?? want to make the swap as fast as possible. cause I've bled the system 3 or 4 times now and curse every time!!!

Sat Jul 16, 2005 8:27 am

I JUST replaced my aux heater (pick-n-pull!) and if you push the lever towards engine = off, towards radiator = on. I find that it works great when the engine is getting hot - I leave the sucker on, open the big sunroof, and let it cool the engine with the heater fan on "HI". It gets HOT here in Northern CA - above 100 - and the Vanagon does not like to kee[ itself cool when sitting in traffic, even with a new radiator. Were Vanagons always such dogs - even when new? I love my Vanagon, but it's kind of lame in alot of ways, the stupid cooling system is my main pet peeve. Bye the way, there's always good Vanagons at Redding's Pick-n-pull, and they don't last very long there. There's a 2.1 '87 Multi with all the cool parts, cup holders, table, and the engine. Engines were on sale for 75 bucks this month. That's so cheap! Someone always beats me to the idle stabilizer box (that green thing in the engine). But I always find the parts that I need, for cheap, too. But they crush 'em within about 2 months or so.