TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Aug 08, 2025 8:30 pm

Hello Hive Mind!

I have a new to me 1990 multivan with 220K on it - I believe completely stock. I plan to drop the fuel tank to reseal tomorrow (slight fuel leak when tank is totally full). I also have the Go Westy SS coolant pipes to put in.

Looking at the white (or maybe gray) factory pipes, they look to be in excellent condition. My understanding is at each end there is a metal bit that the rubber hoses attach to that can blow off unexpectedly.. Thing is, I can't see any metal at either end on these pipes, just rubber over the plastic piping. Is this normal? I expected to see a bit of exposed metal. Nothing appears to be leaking at all, and looks in excellent shape.

I am wondering if it's worth the trouble to replace the pipes at this time. I do have a 1200 mile trip this van is going on in 2 weeks through the middle of nowhere (yukon and northern Alaska).

Should I just go ahead and bite the bullet and replace while I'm in there? Looks to be a pain, even when the tank is out..

Fri Aug 08, 2025 9:10 pm

You have to pull the hoses off to see if they are failing. Since you already have the parts, I would replace them. The cheapest place for you to have problems is at home.
If those plastic hose fail they spew coolant out fast and you need to stop immediately, do not pass go. I tried to help some guys in a westy that drove to the top of a local mountain pass with the coolant light flashing, that motor was done. If they had stopped when the hose burst they would only been out some time, coolant and ~$20 for a radiator hose.

Fri Aug 08, 2025 9:15 pm

Thank you. Found a picture of the stock pipes on Google, and now makes sense what I was looking at.

Is there a recommended drain point for draining the coolant?

Fri Aug 08, 2025 9:21 pm

Remove the radiator bleeder screw at the top and attach a shop-vac to the expansion tank, you can get most of the coolant out this way. The expansion tank has the (usually) blue cap on it.

Fri Aug 08, 2025 9:26 pm

Only a matter of time until this happens:

While the tank is out, I'd go ahead and replace the pipes. Perhaps flush the whole system while it's empty. Then there's the coolant distribution tower... up to you, but I'd replace it with a metal version while you're at it. I didn't and on the first road trip post-pipe replacement the stupid tower sprung a leak... royal PITA job when the pipes and hoses are in place (cursed myself for not replacing it at the same time as the pipes).

Fri Aug 08, 2025 10:18 pm

Id like an upvote feature so I can bump this one up a bit more.

When I finally got mine replaced, the metal inserts were no longer in the plastic, and PO had clamped further down the pipe to compensate. After replacement, my fluid level is pretty rock solid (give or take temperature), obvisouly it was leaking while revving, and not when parked.

FWIW: CIP1 has them in vancouver BC... dont know if that faster for you in Alaska or not,,..