Roger,
I forgot to say before.
I discovered soon after I bought my syncro that I had the corrosion damage to the end of one of the plastic coolant pipes, I would imagine it was the hot feed line, can't remember, it's been a few years now since I tackled the problem. Typically it's the end lip or ridge that comes away due to metal corrosion, making it difficult to then keep the adjoining front coolant hose attached ... without the lip, the hose clip can pretty much just slide off as well as the hose .... bye bye coolant and you have a major problem. Also begs the question, how come they used ordinary steel in the pipe ends?
Anyway I saw that GoWesty repair kit and bought it, I mean, what other option did I have? Anyway, using bits out of the kit and double clipping the rubber hose/plastic pipe connection ... to this day I've never had a problem with it. Changing to the correct G12 plus coolant is probably helping as well, the previous coolant was green and there was a lot of metal corrosion particles in the pipes ...... bit of a worry at the time thinking about corroded head studs too.
Maybe you should revisit this option, be a lot cheaper.
Ken
To: Syncro_T3_Australia@yahoogroups.com
From: Gullyraker@aol.com
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:11:59 -0500
Subject: Re: [Syncro_T3_Australia] Re: Coolant rubber hoses
Ken,
I started collecting all the coolant hoses about eighteen months ago to go with the engine and transmission rebuild [a work in progress]. I got most of them from Tooley Imports in Sydney, and the rest from Van Cafe, who have excellent photographs of the components on their website. I could have saved a few dollars buy buying the straight lengths of hose locally.
The rationale is that most wasserboxer engine catastrophes [that I have seen] are caused by coolant system failures, so there was no point fitting an expensive new engine without overhauling the cooling system.
The first thing I ever replace on a T3 is the pressure cap on the coolant reservoir - it's cheap insurance.
A part that is often overlooked is the 'oil cooler' which is connected to the water pump, and often corrodes. All of the metal pipes and fittings should be checked for corrosion [especially if the correct coolant has not been used] - Van cafe even sells some of them with ceramic coating.
Radiators should be cleaned and pressure-tested. I wouldn't even think about doing a big trip with a twenty-year- old radiator.
You are correct in saying that the hoses that fail the most are those closest to the engine.
I've include a few of the prices below; the hoses alone set me back over $500. Next time I probably wouldn't bother about the hoses that attach to the radiator, as they generally seem to last for ever. The Australian prices include GST, and the U.S. prices reflect what I paid in $AU at the time, but don't include freight - which would be difficult to compute because I bought a lot of other stuff as well. I didn't include the price of a water pump.
14/01/03 - Tooley's - 068 121 253D - Radiator T3 vanagon 1.9 - 2.1 1984-92 $313.50
14/01/03 - Tooley's - 025 121 321A - Radiator cap T3 vanagon 10.45
14/01/03 - Tooley's - freight on above [to Goulburn] 29.00
05/06/03 - Tom Hunt Spares - Triton TTG33Thermostat gasket 3.85
05/06/03 - Tom Hunt Spares - Triton TT273-180 Thermostat 59.55
26/05/05 - Tooley's - 6- 1.5 litre bottles G11 coolant 86.80
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 058D oil cooler 4.20
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 058E oil cooler to thermostat housing 8.30
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 058G oil cooler 6.20
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 058H to expansion tank 21.95
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 058J at water pump 7.10
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 058M cyl. head to plastic pipe 59.40
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose N 901 287 03 elbow to water pump pipe 14.85
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 072A 4WD pl. junction pipe to motor 74.80
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 073H pipe to thermostat housing 24.20
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 081G 133.20
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 251 121 083H radiator to main pipe 43.05
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 251 121 102 plastic junction to main pipe 59.85
25/09/08 - Tooley's - coolant hose 025 121 108E to expansion tank 25.30
20/5/09 - Clark Rubber - 1.5 m. 5/16 [8mm] heater hose 15.50
31/7/09 - Van Café - 025 121 058 B Thermostat housing to pipe hose 30.00
31/7/09 - Van Café - 251 121 082 coolant pipe to radiator feed hose 27.00
31/7/09 - Van Café - 068 117 021 B Oil Cooler 80.00
28/8/09 - GoWesty! - Syncro coolant pipe repair kit [useless waste of money] 54.50
28/8/09 - GoWesty! - freight on above 30.00
By the way, has anybody out there found a local manufacturer for stainless steel coolant pipes?
Cheers, Roger [Beetle] Bayley.
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