Cooling System Diagrams

[jefswat]

Does anyone have a good diagram of the coolant system? I'm trying to track down where a coolant smell is coming from and so far dye hasn't helped, and in a year and a half the coolant level hasn't changed (it went down a bit in winter but is back up). So as near as I can tell the system is open somewhere but coolant isn't getting out. Does the system just vent off when pressure gets too high? I was under the impression it vented into the over flow tank and not the atmosphere. Any help is appreciated

[apstguy]

I only found my leak when I took off my front bumper. I have a tiny, tiny pinhole leak in the radiator. It was hidden by the cover. I have a little pink crusty where the leak is, but I only have to add an ounce every year or so. Look for ANY pink crusties anywhere.

[koko5869]

id start at the waterpump because the 0-ring is known to fail. i had to actually stick my head into the engine bay, then look upside down towards the front of the car to see the coolant sparrter on my AC lines.

unusually hot weather in nebraska?

the system maxs out and then fills up the coolant overflow, BUT if you look closely at the lid, that also has a breather hole in it.

you could find a way to pressure test it. (usually you hook right up to the rad cap, but since we...er most 24v's dont have them, you might have to get a little more creative)

i just did a coolant ball delete and inline filler neck. the coolant system is a DIS-A$$-TERRRRR. so many possibilities.

[Ld7w_VR]

Hey Koko5869 what lines do you delete and re-route for the coolant ball delete. I tried it and it did not turn out to good. Coolant ball is probably going back in unless I can figure it out. Let me know. Thanks

[koko5869]

ill try to get a hold of some pictures today.
there is still a hose or two id like to replace, but it works fine for now.

delete the coolant ball.
the 2 hoses that come off that run into hardlines that go across the back of the motor and hook into the heater core/throttle body line (its ridiculous). remove those.
(take the time here to remove your tbody and clean it, especially if you havent done it before, mine was pretty disgusting). there is also a hose under the tbody, so removing it will be a million times easier.

on to the heater core lines, the way i have these run are...
passenger heater core straight to the back of the block, kind of under the tbody. i think there was a T in here, i just got a new hose completely. about $1.59/ft from autozone.

driver side heater core line. i took out the T that was ~8 inches from the firewall, and added a straight coupler. the line comes out of the firewall, goes into my coupler then right back into the stock hose that runs down to the front of the motor to the tstat housing. so basically remove the T and put in your coupler.

i took off the oem plastic coupler that is in the top rad hose and added in my inline filler neck. its at a wierd angle a little, so this is the one id like to change out a little later, just to make it prettier.
i got an overflow tank from one of the machines at work and using self-tapping screws, drilled it into the frame rail.

other notes...
i capped off the spots where the tbody hoses went with some regular vaccuum caps to keep anything out of it.
i had a tons of hoses and couplers, etc that ive gathered over a couple part outs, i think i may have replaced a couple that connects to the heater core (put in a straight and took the 90 out)

the only things youll have to buy that i can think of are:
overflow tank.
inline filler neck.
pretty sure 2 couples for the heater core lines.
something to cap off the tbody with.
some new hose from auto zone or somewhere equivalent.
i use green coolant that is borate and silicate free. (some people may give me crap for this, but ive been using it for years. i grabbed two jugs, but i also didnt drain the system. so you may need more)

no bull****, i have about $50k worth of tools, and this is by far my favorite one ever. if you are doing this, or even just plan to do a lot of work on vw's, the money is costs will be well worth it.

[Ld7w_VR]

Nice little write up there. Thanks!

[magman]

Another place to check is the blank on the crack pipe, it's located next to the temp sensor.
Front of engine drivers side.
I had a similar issue a year or so back. Took a while to find, but the damn blank wore through.
Fixed it with some JB weld..

[volvoguy27]

I am curious as to the point or purpose of deleting the coolant ball. To make room for the FI piping?