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KermitTheVan Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2018 Posts: 1 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 4:46 pm Post subject: 1993 Eurovan overheating |
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Hi friends
We are travelling since a month up and down the westcoast with an 1993 Eurovan (190K but good shape). We‘ve been facing two problems and I hope syou guys might have some tipps and tricks for some swiss newbies.
1) After a longer drive on hot days the car overheats and won‘t turn on until we give him some rest. Sometimes the engine fans keep cooling when the car is turned of sometimes not. We always check and refill the cooling fluid and so far we didn‘t had to be towed, the cooling fluid dows get boiling hot though - any thoughts what could be the problem and what we can do to avoid it.
2) the car starts ratteling, slowing down and loosing power when we reach a quarter of the fueltank - we avoid problems with carring some extra gas but still we d like to know the core of the problem and if it needs fixing.
Thanks for your help - we re happy to be part of the Eurovan Community and we do love our tiny home!
All the best - Claude & Sandy |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22639 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 6:40 pm Post subject: Re: 1993 Eurovan overheating |
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Your car should not use any cooling fluid other than a top off once a year or so. Get to the bottom of where your coolant is going, fast.
It’s one of four things:
Leaking heater core in dashboard
Leaking hose
Leaking water pump
Cylinder head problems _________________ .ssS! |
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Joshwa Samba Member
Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 810 Location: North Seattle WA
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 7:27 am Post subject: Re: 1993 Eurovan overheating |
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It would be worth checking to see if the vertical louvres on the back side of the radiator fans are opening when the coolant is hot. Sometimes that heat sensitive piston will die and keep them shut or opened very little, causing the coolant not really get cooled through the radiator. You can remove that piston, between the two fans, and rotate the ring around the fans that operate the louvres, to be set to always open for now.
I manually work mine, leaving them always open in months where temps are over 40 degrees. And closed, when less than.
Not to say this is your problem, but could be part of or add to the issue. _________________ 93 Weekender TDI conversion (AHU)
93 MV TDI conversion (1Z)
Weekender rear cot
Late model cabin air filter on 93
Euro spec bumper install on 93 |
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tds3pete Samba Member
Joined: April 04, 2004 Posts: 914 Location: Seattle, WA
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:23 pm Post subject: Re: 1993 Eurovan overheating |
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Joshwa wrote: |
It would be worth checking to see if the vertical louvres on the back side of the radiator fans are opening when the coolant is hot. Sometimes that heat sensitive piston will die and keep them shut or opened very little, causing the coolant not really get cooled through the radiator. You can remove that piston, between the two fans, and rotate the ring around the fans that operate the louvres, to be set to always open for now.
I manually work mine, leaving them always open in months where temps are over 40 degrees. And closed, when less than.
Not to say this is your problem, but could be part of or add to the issue. |
I opened the louvers permanently on my 95 then cleaned all the leaves, bugs etc from between the a/c condenser and the radiator, and my overheat issues were gone. I learned the trick from a local mechanic who did the same to a friend's 95. The car still warms up normally without the louvers thanks to the thermostat. _________________ '58 Westy camper-come and gone
'73 Westy-bought new in Holland,now gone
'86 Syncro weekender-come and gone
'79 Westy...Oscar
'95 Eurovan Camper/5 spd...Marsha Mellow |
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VAEV1993 Samba Member
Joined: January 17, 2014 Posts: 153 Location: Harrisonburg, VA
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 5:10 am Post subject: Re: 1993 Eurovan overheating |
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Abscate wrote: |
Your car should not use any cooling fluid other than a top off once a year or so. Get to the bottom of where your coolant is going, fast.
It’s one of four things:
Leaking heater core in dashboard
Leaking hose
Leaking water pump
Cylinder head problems |
To add to Abscate's list, not sure what you transmission is, but if you have an A/T, you might also want to check the transmission cooler for leaking coolant. It sits on top of the transmission, and if its leaking it is a little harder to notice....We had experienced this.
If you have a manual, then ignore my comment and good luck! _________________ 1993 Weekender - Hula
2002 Golf TDI
2017 Golf Alltrack |
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