Thermostat housing

[Bluebell65]

Thanks Cruz i have been in touch with Michael at Brickwerks. Cant recommend them highly enough they have been brilliant with me. (being a total beginner). Best thing i ever did was joining this club and using brickwerks both have helped me keep my sanity (just )
Worst thing i ever did was go to this mechanic. He was recommended to me as he has restored his own vehicles (not T25s or even vws) and is used to old engines!! He has had the van for a month now and the latest is there is oil leaking out the engine because the recon had a plug missing????? As they say where i come from "AYE RIGHT". Seriously thinking of getting a transporter to bring her home and give me some thinking time.
I hope one day in the far future to be able to contribute something to the forum other than moans lol.

Anything worth having is worth fighting for
Thanks again everyone
Pauline

[itchyfeet]

Yeh whs^^^ this is not rocket science
Maybe time to find another more sympathetic mechanic

[Cruz]

Its a learning curve Pauline. I now know what pipes etc make up the early pre-85 watercooled coolant system inside out. lol

[Bluebell65]

I am certainly learning loads just now Cruz lol. Itchyfeet that sounds like a great plan to me Know what im doing tomorrow now

[pionte]

I saw that thermostat housing on ebay too, and was considering buying it as a spare. But I wont bid now incase you need it Pauline, dont want the price to be pushed up.

I have just spent 5 weeks ( or more ) sorting out my early type water pump and thermostat so i sympathise with you... These really are hens teeth rare in serviceable condition, The one I bought from ebay was nearly as bad as the one I had to crowbar off my engine, but after hours of drilling and re tapping threads it is all back together and I am hoping to refit the engine this weekend to test it all.

Without pictures it is nearly impossible to diagnose accurately, but I would start by inspecting the rubber pipes, looking for damage , even a pin prick hole would cause a leak, the pipes are all still available, I didnt use the VW one that is pictured in your post, I used a silicon replacement cut to size at half the price.

The seal that goes in wuth the thermostat could cause the leak... these can be bought from brickwerks for a couple of quid , it is possible that the one fitted is damaged , maybe a manufacturing defect or by human error... again any one of the gaskets could be leaking, also if the previous owner did take of the housing to remove a stuck thermostat , it is perfectly possible that they had to be very heavy handed to remove it and damaged one of the mating faces, they are only made from alloy .

It sounds like your mechanic doesnt want the job.... to be fair to him i doubt he knew what he was getting into, he needs to earn a living and maybe has spent too long on the job and cant see a way out .

A T25 friendly mechanic needs to be found near to you, once you have the van in friendly hands this can be sorted out, good luck !

Just a quick note on that part on Ebay... it is still bolted to the water pump, that worries me slightly as getting it away from the pump is usually the issue... the 2 long bolts ( M8 80 mm ) tend to corrode in the alley casing , shear of their heads and stick fast , although the one pictured has orange instant gasket showing so it looks like it has been apart at least once in its life. If you did buy it then for the sake of £50 replace the water pump anyhow... you really dont want to be doing this job again for a while.

This is fixable, so dont worry too much.

[Cruz]

One of the first things I did when I found out I had an early system was to find replacement 2nd hand hoses, pipes, junctions, bleed valves etc. This was before classic and others started making parts again. I had what I thought was everything, including a thermostat housing in really good condition that I wouldn't part (sorry), and lo and behold the expansion tank springs a leak in the Highlands and I find that I have one of the first watercooled vans and an early early cooling system. VW changed some of the pipes and the expansion tank (mine was an 068 number which is usually diesel) after a year at the backend of 1983 and the tank I had is obsolete and the replacement has ports inline rather than offset because VW changed the pipes that come out of the tank and enter the engine.............luckily a temporary repair was done and has so far held and I now have to replace those pipes and the the tank with new which thankfully are still available............also the long hoses that go round the back of the engine bay were changed from two hoses with small moulded pipes running off them to a small bleed valve in the middle to four hoses with a larger bleed valve in the middle.

Here's some pics of the early early obsolete bits I mean

Expansion bottle (note pipes are offset)


Two moulded pipes coming from expansion bottle that connect together with a plastic pipe connecting piece


Long pipes and small bleed valve


And here's a diagram of what they were changed to which are all available except for the redesigned expansion bottle retaining bracket (2nd hand) (note: one last image the two short pipes are not available from VW but they are only 58mm lengths of standard 25mm and 32mm hose which is available from ebay)

Pipes along back of engine with larger bleed valve in the middle


Pipes from expansion tank. 2 pipes are now 4 pipes with a H connecting piece


Sorry to bore you

[Bluebell65]

Thanks pionte i appreciate that. I hope all goes well once your engine is back in. I wouldnt mind the van being off the road in winter but Summertime!!!! arghh!!. I luckily got the Thermostat housing ( which seller had seperated for me) from ebay and it is a mile better than my one. I also got a load of early pipes which are in good condition which i hope will now allow the mechanic to get her up and running. I will keep any unused pipes as spares and hope they will gather cobwebs in the shed and never need to be fitted. I will also be haveing a good look at the whole water system and hopefully learn whats what.
Should i dare to say i think we are getting there now

[Bluebell65]

Oh deary think i spoke too soon lol. Got her out on day release to give her a run but after about 1 1/2 miles she cut out soon as i took my foot off accelerator pedal. Put some petrol in her (fuel guage not working so bit of guess work) let her sit for 15 mins and she ran again for another mile or two then same thing happened. Battery warning light is flashing constantly though she starts with no problem. Oh and the brake lights which were working have stopped working. Ive read on here maybe a fuel supply problem but dont understand why she runs initially if not getting fuel. With the brake lights going out is it more likely to be an electrical issue. She also started getting a tad hot (over halfway point) but i dont think she has been bled down properly so maybe air locking??? Oh how i wish i was a mechanic right now lol. Any words of wisdom or ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks again.

[kevtherev]

red lights mean stop...
the battery is not charging and the engine is draining it even more

did you put the belt on?

never assume that problems are related.
Remote diagnosis is difficult at the best of times.
fuel problems should be tackled methodically
starting with the filter
then the pump
then the carb

[Bluebell65]

Thanks Kev Lesson learned one problem at a time The light which is flashing is mainly blue although it changes to a rainbow of colours occasionally. I have a new fuel tank sender unit filter and hoses ready to install so will attempt to tackle this bit first. (ruling out gunge and a filter prob hopefully). The belt and everything else was put on by the mechanic however i have a new one which i will change too. Would my next step be replacing the alternator if the battery is still not charging?

[kevtherev]

My bad
I just noticed the light was flashing

The only flashing red light is oil pressure warning light
The connector could have been disturbed or disconnected

[pionte]

doesnt the red temp light in the middle of the temperature gauge flash when you first tun the ignition on, while the carb heater is working ? then it will also flash when the coolant is low ??

check in the engine bay that there is coolant in the expansion bottle, not the one behind the number plate flap but the one with ( pictured by Cruz ) with the silver cap on his, yours may be blue .

You have just had the water system apart, and these vans are very tricky to bleed all the air out, later on when I have more time i will post a link by the Guru Mr Baxter at Brickwerks.... even he takes a while to get it right, just chucking in water and hoping wont work. Most modern day mechanics would not know this, or have the patience to do it correctly.

If its your ignition light that is flashing then as KTR says it will be your alternator not charging, again the mechanic has disturbed that area so worth checking that things are as they should be, possible loose belt or loose alternator connector.

Flashing blue light? the only blue light is the main beam indicator.... it sounds like you may have a bad earth problem, this would cause all sorts of funny goings on with the electrics.

All these faults are fixable, again as KTR says, one at a time.

lots of help available on here, pictures are always useful so that we are all talking about the same bits !

Martin.

[Bluebell65]

Thanks Martin, I think the light is definately an alternator/wiring/connection/earth issue as it is the one beside the battery on the panel. The red light on the temp guage only flashes briefly when i turn the key and then goes off. I will go round and check all the earth connections first. I will also take some photos today and post them later. I checked the expantion tank behind number plate and it was bone dry but the main header tank (its got a Black cap on mine) was full almost to the top. The fuel filter (clear inline plastic thing?) does look a bit mucky but i dont know if this is normal or not. (note to self photo of fuel filter lol). Thanks all again for being my lifeline to sanity.

[Ian Hulley]

The red light on the temp guage only flashes briefly when i turn the key and then goes off.

That is as it should be.

I checked the expantion tank behind number plate and it was bone dry

This MUST be on 'Max' when cold ... it may be above that mark when the system is hot.

but the main header tank (its got a Black cap on mine) was full almost to the top.

This MUST be full to the top at all times ... If I were you I would be replacing that cap immediately with this one .. http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php/t ... nuine.html accept no cheaper alternatives.

The fuel filter (clear inline plastic thing?) does look a bit mucky

Replace this filter as the first priority, also check the condition of all the fuel hoses and also check the cone filter inside the inlet spigot of the carb (IF it's a Pierburg carb ?)

Ian

[Bluebell65]

Thanks Ian got the header tank cap on order now.
Got some pictures of the pos problem areas.
This light (looks white in pic) flashes Blue green red and back to blue continuously. The mechanic has now told me there is no wiring to the oil light

Fuse box area


Front Earth point (bit mucky) Engine bay earth point i think
In light of all this and other bits im getting a car electrican to take a look at it. Owch!!