Seeking review of my Ej22 coolant routing

[snorkelfork]

I worked up a diagram of my routing and I'd appreciate some input regarding its efficacy.

[alaskadan]

Looks like mine. You need a bypass restrictor in your rear heater loop though. I cut a pc of 5/8" round stock and drilled a 3/8" hole down the center and slid it into the loop.

[snorkelfork]

?

No rear heater in this set up.

I'm not clear where you mean?

Thanks for the feedback.

[davevickery]

That looks OK. I think the shiels thermostat housing is optional. Here is how mine looks. It works great. I can't see any reason to change it.

I also thought it was down and out for the radiator connections, do you have that backwards?

[snorkelfork]

I could have those wrong. I pulled it from another diagram.

[jeffsab]

I used a stock KEP setup in mine. But I am curious about these alternate methods: what do you do with the Subaru heater outputs? Just loop them together?

[alaskadan]

Duh, I just saw that you had a bypass and my mind wanted a heater there too.

[AZ Landshaper]

the bypass and tom sheils fitting do the same thing but Toms solution is better and doesnt have you mixing hot w cold and giving a mixed solution to the thermostat.

Looks about right to me. Id eliminate the bypass w the TS piece instead. Dunno if hes still in business. He had bigger priorities/ diff focus last I heard.

Id take one of those doohickeys right now for my upcoming project.
_________________
Support Small Business.

-------------------------------------------------------
85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.

[snorkelfork]

I was able to buy a fitting from Tom last month.

I've done this a bit backwards, I've already installed this cooling arrangment.

I had an overheating issue my first long drive and my radiator fan did not switch on so I thought I'd confirm this is an okay arrangment.

I'll eliminate the bypass from the system.

After some consideration, I am thinking that I may have had a large air pocket in the top of the radiator blocking the flow.

I'd love to see a diagram of the radiator flow to help me wrap my head around how it works if someone has one.

[wesitarz]

For the rad vertical would be down and out. That's OK. Agree a 1/2 inch OD (3/8 inch ID heater line bypass is all you need for a bypass. Is it close to the engine? You have flow through design for the expansion tank - the only thing I see is that you have to mix hot coolant with cold in the expansion tank before the hot gets to the Shiels housing and t'stat. Might not be as efficient as running a dedicated line direct from the coolant manifold to the Shiels housing at the t'stat. I would leave it as is until you are sure all the air is bled out of it. I drive mine a bit then park it nose down until coolant is cold and check for air in the expansion tank,then top it up along with the overflow to max line. I have a Shiels type housing connected to the manifold and my expansion tank is in the heater line. Adding a bypass (3/4--1/2-3/4 PEX x2) as well gives me flow through the expansion tank with heater off and seems to have stabilized my engine temp. I have a similar in-line VDO temp sender.

[wesitarz]

I have my in-line VDO temp sender in the same position as yours. I also have a Subaru temp sender in the middle of the coolant manifold. What I see on warm-up is the temp from the middle of the manifold rising first to about running temp (VW gauge needle at the LED) then the VDO temp rises afterwards to about 180 where it sits or just above that. My feed to the t'stat comes from the middle of the manifold near the Subaru temp sender early Smallcar design)
If you changed the small end of the manifold outlet to go directly to the Shiels housing and the expansion tank outlet to feed the heater hot line and kept the heater crossover (3/8 inch ID) you would have the same as me. With the crossover you will have continuous flow through the expansion tank with the heater off or hotfoot valve closed. The temp is pretty steady and the heat is OK for the Pacific northwest anyway.
My crossover is up near the gas tank so it's not critical to be close to the engine.In my experience the engine temp is more stable with flow out both ends of the manifold.

[snorkelfork]

I did this all a bit backwards, I’ve already installed this set up and I’m In the shakedown phase. I am going to stick with this arrangment and remove the heater crossover if an issue arrises.

Any chance someone can help to identify the dash temperature gauge wiring in the engine compartment? From what I’ve found I am looking for a Yellow/Red wire but haven’t narrowed down where in the engine bay to find it.

[crazyvwvanman]

What year and model is your van?

Mark

[davevickery]

[burleymotorsports]

This page has our cooling system diagram , has always worked great especially with our coolant pipes. Hope this helps.

https://burleymotorsports.net/product/subaru-conversion-coolant-perimeter-pipe-ej22-ej25/
_________________
Protect your investment !
Buy only genuine Burley Motorsports products

I will not see your PM.
Please email us directly through our website at http://www.burleymotorsports.net . Thank you.

Web: http://www.burleymotorsports.net
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/burleymotorsports
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/burleymotorsports

[wcdennis]

Getting the air out of the long pipes to the front is a challenge no matter what engine you have in the back. The same strategies for bleeding apply after the conversion.

[snorkelfork]

THank everyone for all of the info.

I've got my OEM gauge working now and I'll continue to work on bleeding the air from the system to see where that get's me.

[chompy]

Consider using a libby bong or a weed sprayer(my favorite) to fill your coolant and push out the air. They help a ton.
_________________
'81 Westfalia Subaru EJ22
Manual Transmission

[snorkelfork]

Weed Sprayer did the trick.

Pinched off the crossover so that the coolant couldn't take the path of least resistance and that pushed the remaining air out pretty quick.

I 've spent a couple of weeks driving it around ain different conditions and I feel confident in the set up and that it's well bled.

Thanks everyone for all the input.

For anyone who wants it i created a corrected version of the 87 Vanagon radiator wiring