Audrey’s Vanagon

[Andym]

#27978

Awesomeness!!!

So here’s a little of what’s gonna happen when you drive it.

the heater is going to get hot, then all of a sudden feel cold. Reason is because the thermostat opened up and mixed the hot water with the cold water then closes again.

The thermostat is like a gate, it holds all the warm water on one side. (170 degrees). That’s it’s job and it’s working correctly.

So on short drives you’ll notice it being one or the other. I bet from your place back to KCW, it will end up being nice a toasty. By then all of the water in the cooling system has been on both sides of the thermostat/gate.

Both your heaters use the same supply line of warm water, so if you wanna defrost the windshield or your toes, just run the front one. Once your semi comfortable, turn the back one on to warm up the van.

 

also a random fact!!! If your out driving and notice the red light on the dash blinking turn both heaters on full blast! You can do this anytime, winter, summer, uphill or down hill. I doubt you’ll have any heat related issues. I just figured I’d let you know.

[John Jones]

#27997

😎  Thanks Andy…

Been a wild ride, but it got me here 😎

[Audrey Jones]

#28022

Awesome! Yes, thank you! all good things to know!!

Last night I did notice the cycling of the hot and cold, but by the end of the drive it was pretty much hot the whole time! I could even feel some heat coming out the front vents when I only had the back heater on, which was nice 😁

We took it about a 30 minute drive away and back, and on the way back the airplane fan was on almost the entire time… the light never came on and it was running great, but I am guessing that means there is still more coolant to add? As suspected…

Never make somebody a priority who makes you an option.

[Willy]

#28031

Audrey you’re on your way to becoming the KCW Vanagon master

 

Happy belated birthday by the way 😬

[Andym]

#28043

Yeah possible it might, just check the tank behind the plate, it will suck more in. Just keep driving it. No light, keep going!

Here’s what I’m thinking, the light is hooked to  a sensor in the motor, on the “heater side” of the thermostat, so it’s getting a reading that the coolant is hot/time to turn the fans on. But the water on the radiator side of the thermostat isn’t hot.  The stock vanagon had its temp sensors in the radiator, maybe we gotta move one upthere??

Im not gonna worry too much about that, it’s good to keep tabs on it. If we need to address that issue down the road we can.

[Andym]

#28044

Next time you do a drive like that and you notice the airplane on.. pull over and go touch the radiator (with caution) and see if it’s hot. If it’s hot, that’s ok. If it’s cold, then it’s defianlty the sensor location.

 

Sorry for the long post!

[Audrey Jones]

#28055

Ok!! I will check that next time!

yesterday the tank behind the license plate was still full, but I was able to add some water to the front…

Glad to hear I can still be driving it, especially since I’ll be doing the big drive home in a couple days..!!

Willy wrote:

Audrey you’re on your way to becoming the KCW Vanagon master Happy belated birthday by the way

Thanks Will!!! 😁

Never make somebody a priority who makes you an option.

[Audrey Jones]

#28116

So last night I was out running a bunch of errands and the airplane fan came on… I pulled over and checked the radiator and it was blowing cold air. But, it turned off after about 5 minutes, and by the time I was home (only a couple minutes later) I could feel that the radiator was already getting warm again… I have been adding more coolant to that tank behind the lisense plate each day, so I feel like the coolant is almost all replaced at this point too!

Never make somebody a priority who makes you an option.

[Andym]

#28122

Well I think it’s sensor location, if the radiator was cold and the fan was on, that’s sensor location.

I have a few ideas on how to fix this, let me think about which option is best. Keep driving it, nothing to worry about. When you drive home to GJ, keep both heaters on full blast up the hills. That sensor is gonna give kinda a false reading. On the heater side of the thermostat it’s hot thinking it needs to turn the airplane on, but the radiator side it’s not really that hot.

[volksaddict]

#28124

It’s hard to follow this thread with all the sophisticated technical terms being thrown around 🙂

[Audrey Jones]

#28130

volksaddict wrote:

It’s hard to follow this thread with all the sophisticated technical terms being thrown around

right?! 😁

ok, sounds good Andy! Thanks!! Let us know what you come up with- if I/someone at the shop can do it while im home it would be nice to be able to work on it in the shop with all the tools!😁 going home today and will be there until the 26th. But back again on the 29th till the 2nd! Haha so we have a couple options….

Also- Dad!! can I request that we order some metal (if it’s not too late) so we can build my ladder?!?! 😁

Never make somebody a priority who makes you an option.

[John Jones]

#28138

Audrey Jones wrote:

Also- Dad!! can I request that we order some metal (if it’s not too late) so we can build my ladder?!?!

 

Franz already took care of it…  I think he got 100 foot….. that should do it…  😎

Lets do it!!! 😎  😎

Been a wild ride, but it got me here 😎

[Andym]

#28154

You make it back to KCW??

I have an idea… because it’s basically giving a false reading. So I’m thinking I could make a part and mail it to you or KCW and install it.

It would move be current coolant temp sensor from the “heater side” of the thermostat to the “radiator side” of the thermostat.  What id do is weld a fitting into that inline coolant filler in the back right side of the engine bay.

 

As it is, i can’t see any issues. Only thing it’s gonna do is make the airplane fan turn on more than it should, otherwise it shouldn’t have any negative affect.

[Pat K]

#28161

Father/Daughter ladder project happening this morning. 

We will build it if it comes.

[Rustabus]

#28164

Yeah!!!! Make it burly with side supports so it will double as a deer/elk guard!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

[Author]

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