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Mon Mar 05, 2012 7:19 pm

I remember this happening to us about 12 years ago in my girlfriends van and the water was boiling bubbles in the expansion tank as we were pulling a steep grade. Ended up being the radiator. New Rad and hasn't happened since.
Have fun, David C

Thu Mar 08, 2012 6:11 pm

removing/replacing the thermostat is a pretty serious chore isn't it (at least if you have air conditioning)?

Fri Mar 09, 2012 7:38 am

jwallis wrote: removing/replacing the thermostat is a pretty serious chore isn't it (at least if you have air conditioning)?

The OP (from years back) was asking about a Vanagon, the post that brought this back to light was an EV but I'm thinking you have a Vanagon (do not know what year).

So, FWIW -- tstat R&R not a serious chore on an 84 w/ AC. You're working from underneath with long extensions -- just have to be careful not to break something.

Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:42 am

Ahwahnee wrote: I'm thinking you have a Vanagon (do not know what year).

So, FWIW -- tstat R&R not a serious chore on an 84 w/ AC. You're working from underneath with long extensions -- just have to be careful not to break something.

you are correct, and it's also an 84. i thought it sat on top of the engine and had to be pulled from the top. hopefully i'd have figured that out : )

Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:54 pm

I didn't see any kind of reply for the Island champ. Here's my 2 cents, and I'm no mechanic.
As you may have noticed earlier in this thread, a guy was talking about his head having a crack and the compression causing too much pressure.
I think that Island Champ should check out that aspect. It's fairly common with Vanagons. But could be doing this on his Euro...
Do a compression check and see if there is a weak cylinder.
Good luck.

Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:16 pm

Hello, my '91 carat with 250k miles isn't staying cool at idle sitting still. The head gaskets and valves were done just 6k miles ago. The other day I was watching the temp go up to trouble shoot in driveway and a rush of coolant started to come out of the expansion tank accompanied by a suction noise.

I shut it down. The temp had not reached flashing red light but was about 3/4 up the gauge. I researched the samba and thought it might be a expansion tank cap gone bad. I bought a new one. Before I called it good I attempted to bleed the system. I used a 3 foot long 1" ID plastic tube shoved in to the expansion tank and filled it up with about 6" of air space at the top.

I started the van and set rpm around 2500 w/ screw driver. I cracked the radiator bleeder bolt and a bit of coolant and air was draping out. It was warm. As the engine heated the coolant in hose rose and began to slowly overflow. It's clear plastic and has no air bubbles.

I shut engine down and plugged coolant hose end. Pressure eventually built up and launched tube out of expansion tank along with a geyser of coolant.

Is this a thermo state issue? Please help.