Well I finally broke down and removed the front grille. Opened the radiator bleed screw. Ran engine till warm. Nothing came out of radiator bleed screw. This is with front end on an upward sloping driveway and on wheel ramps. Almost dented my garage door with that manoever as the ramps slid forward. Also still nothing came out of thermostat bleed screw. I think I'll give up on this and just close everything up and keep my eye on the gauge and the refill tank.

PS. Removing the grille revealed two of the headlamp securing plastic thingees are damaged and the headlamps move around. Where do I get new ones? Also the VW emblem in middle of grille is missing one pin. Can that be fixed? I don't suppose they make a light-up VW emblem?

David (1987 Wolfsburg)

________________________________
 From: OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@COMCAST.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
Sent: Friday, September 6, 2013 9:54 PM
Subject: Re: Coolant top up
 

� � � � The most important bleeder is the 1 on the Radiator ~ you need to be
getting BubbleFreeFluid coming out of there before you close it & then
you should get fluid coming out of ThermostatBleeder before you close
it ~ it is not actually essential to use the ThermostatBleeder but it
can help ~ so if it is stuck & it doesn't want to open don't force it
& break it.

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ORR ~ DeanB

On 6 Sep , 2013, at 10:16 PM, David M wrote:

> Continued my coolant top-up operation. Refilled tank again and
> brought engine up to full temperature. Gauge stayed in middle,
> radiator fan came on high-speed. Coolant tank overflowed so I
> stopped engine and screwed top back on tank and reconnected hose.
> Ran engine again and coolant went down a little more. Still NO
> coolant came out of thermostat bleed valve.
>
> David (1987 Wolfsburg)
>
>
>
> ________________________________