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geo_tonz Samba Member
Joined: August 01, 2012 Posts: 1472 Location: Courtenay, BC, CANADA
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Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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You need to pay attention to the evidence and start with the basics.
No fluid coming out of the rad equals low coolant, air in the system. Either it was never bled properly to start after a po repair, or it's a limited number of things. Start cheap and easy and work from there
1. PROPERLY bleed and fill the system. Did the problem go away?
2.replace the pressure cap and PROPERLY bleed and fill the system. Did the problem go away?
3. Remove/test/replace the thermostat. PROPERLY bleed and fill. Did the problem go away?
4. Replace engine with Vanistan. PROPERLY bleed and fill. Problem gone. _________________ ---------------------------------------------------
"Ron Burgundy": 1991 Vanagon Multivan (Weekender) 2.1L Auto - Driver/Camper |
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IdahoDoug Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010 Posts: 10239 Location: N. Idaho
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Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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Wait - where do you have an "air hole"? _________________ 1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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ammoturtle Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2010 Posts: 26 Location: Lewisville, North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 1:15 am Post subject: 85 vanagon boiling over |
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The Air hole is on top of the reservoir it is a small flute like molded on top with 3 air holes in it. Also I may be wrong if it was my head gasket wouldn't there be water in my oil? Because my oil is clean. Now for the bleeding I've tried bleeding it the way I read it on this site still I can't get a flow out of the radiator bleed valve. I'll try it again after I get off work in the morning. It sucks working on my van in the winter outside. I'm hoping to have my garage up in the summer. It is a different animal working on vw's than early american cars. But I like vw's better.I'm really learning more about engines here than previous. I'm used to just take engine problems to a garage. Now money forces me to do my own engine work. |
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t3 kopf Samba Member
Joined: October 22, 2012 Posts: 1114 Location: over by 'der
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:26 am Post subject: Re: 85 vanagon boiling over |
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ammoturtle wrote: |
The Air hole is on top of the reservoir it is a small flute like molded on top with 3 air holes in it. |
ummm.....what? pictures? is your coolant level sensor installed? _________________ '90 Carat w/ '95 phase 1 EJ22 OBD2 conversion |
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morymob Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2007 Posts: 4683 Location: east-tn
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:24 am Post subject: |
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Remove rad bleed & make sure it's not a standard bolt, u could at this point rev eng & see if anything comes, should be a lot. U r setting idle about 3k when u r bleeding??? |
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ammoturtle Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2010 Posts: 26 Location: Lewisville, North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:08 am Post subject: 85 vanagon boiling over |
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I'm still at work. When I get home I'll take pix of what I'm talking about. As far as the idle speed i t is set at 1100 rpm. |
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ammoturtle Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2010 Posts: 26 Location: Lewisville, North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:12 am Post subject: 85 vanagon boiling over |
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Yes the bleed on the rad is a standard bolt. I am ordering a regular bleeder valve and coolant sys test equipment. I thought a regular bolt was cheesy that's why i'm ordering several. I'm going to change my plastic fittings with aluminum ones. These are factory ones and are stuck. |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16474 Location: Brookeville, MD
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atomatom Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2012 Posts: 1867 Location: in an 84 Westy or Bowen Island, BC
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:41 am Post subject: |
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i built a bong, but i had more fun with them in my youth than with my vanagon. i don't use it anymore and filled my van without it. too much hype on coolant filling on this board.
the fact that your hoses in the engine area are cold after the van warms up indicates that you have a stuck thermostat. all this talk of cooling bleeding stuff is moot.
the one thing you could/should buy is an IR thermometer. is the coolant actually at or near boiling temperature. if it is above 90oC/190oF then your thermostat should open. if it does not open, then you need to fix that before anything else.
if the coolant is less than 90oC the thermostat won't open and you probably have compression gasses coming in the van. you will not see coolant in the oil, because the leak goes into the top of the cylinder, where the boom happens and is blown out the pipe. you may see some evidence of steam cleaning on the spark plugs, but i don't know for sure if you can tell.
i know this because my van had a compression leak. it was intermittent as well, unlike yours, and would only happen under load (at the start). your symptoms so far could be either boiling because of the stuck thermostat, or gas blowing in. the lack of hot hoses indicates thermostat. _________________ 84 Vanagon Westy, 1.9L, California raised but defected to Canada. |
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morymob Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2007 Posts: 4683 Location: east-tn
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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Except 4 a cyl disaster comp leask start slowly and under load, best test is get on a long pull & if temp starts climbing but stays close to norm on fairly level ground. 3 of 5 owned had some level of comp leak this always showed it up. Thst was mentioned earlier as 1st choice. |
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ammoturtle Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2010 Posts: 26 Location: Lewisville, North Carolina
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:32 pm Post subject: 85 vanagon boiling over |
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I found that the bleeder above the engine is cracked and also I do see some light steam coming from around where the plugs are. I'm trying to post a pix of the air vent behind the plate
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Ahwahnee Samba Member
Joined: June 05, 2010 Posts: 9776 Location: Mt Lemmon, AZ
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: 85 vanagon boiling over |
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ammoturtle wrote: |
I found that the bleeder above the engine is cracked...] |
Mine broke at the nipple that connects to the small hose - was able to repair it with a bit of tubing and epoxy and it was fine for years - though a couple of years back I finally replaced it with the all-metal version available from the usuals. |
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