VolkToyZuki

[Suzuki_dude]

Small update. Got my laptop hooked up and took it for a drive. Made it a mile before the battery died.  : Actual boost is lower than requested but not enough to throw a code. Actual timing meets requested perfectly so it's not a timing issue.

And this week I started school so my rad decided that was a good time to call it quits. Leaking where the tubes go into the tank. Sprayed half the engine bay with coolant. Made it the 3hr round trip once leaking like that. Now I've got my original brass rad back in.

I also discovered my turbo is still leaking just not out the exhaust as much. Looking at rebuilding it with a 360 degree thrust bearing. Doesn't have any thrust play and a bit of side to side play.

I was gonna add pics but it's not letting me. It usually gives me trouble and by the 10th time it'll work but no go today.

Edit: On my laptop it works to upload pics.

 

[Suzuki_dude]

It's like it just wants to be air cooled..... The neck bent somehow and the cap slipped off that side. Shouldn't be a hard fix but it would be nice if it would quit acting up. Coolant is expensive.

 

[Spokerider]

Too bad the rad broke. It never ends [ sometimes ]  : .

Will be interesting so see if the oem samurai rad is up to the task of cooling a TDI

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Too bad the rad broke. It never ends [ sometimes ]  : .

Will be interesting so see if the oem samurai rad is up to the task of cooling a TDI

 
I've talked to a guy with a tiny Civic half rad in a Toyota and he's pulled trailers without overheating. Just understand 210-215 is normal and you'll be good. My brother's Jetta went up to 217 just cruising down the travel road.

 

[Spokerider]

My golf and jetta both have basic temp gauges.......so I don't know the exact temps these are at for various conditions.
If yours reach 210-215 regularly, that's good to know.

 

[Suzuki_dude]

I don't have a decent gauge either but I've read the temp with vcds. Mine has gone higher than his but I don't remember how high. Important thing is the lower hose is much cooler than the upper.

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Well it looks like all that driving with low coolant took its toll. Haven't been able to keep coolant in it. Blows out a liter every day from the overflow. Water pump and thermostat didn't help. Head is at a machine shop getting checked out. Block looks good and straight still. Gonna get a timing belt while it's apart too. I also want to change over to a closed coolant system with the VW reservoir. I have an incorrect rad cap that doesn't seal off the overflow hose from the rad but will keep coolant in the rad. The overflow hose will become a vent hose and I can uncap the vent in the head. It should self bleed better and maybe if I get combustion pressure in the coolant it'll bleed all the air out and not lose as much coolant.

 

[Newfie-Zuk]

These VW diesels are pretty resilient , I have fixed many over the years , its usually the gasket that fails rather than the cylinder head. 

Hopefully the head checks out for you , and you get this mobile again very soon .... 

No matter closed or open system , both do the same job ,  the key is flow . Get the air out , get it full of coolant , and be sure there is no air traps to stop the flow of coolant. 

Remember your water pump is a circulating pump  not an actual pump , so the responsibility is on you to setup a system that allows flow and the circuit to work .


P

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Well I'll find out soon I hope. Gasket looked fine but you never know. 

They are similar but different. A closed system is constantly venting. My vent on the side of the head is capped. I uncap it when I fill it up which gets all the air out but if any air is introduced it stays trapped in the head. With a closed system it'll always be able to escape to the reservoir. That is an important benefit. The other thing is I'm going to use that vent line to go through a coolant filter. There's also no chance of dirt being introduced through the overflow tank. Superior system overall I think.

 

[Newfie-Zuk]

The closed system do not vent at all , it's a sealed system operating at or below 19psi . You will need to be sure the system is totally bleed free of air at operating temperature.

It can take a while to bleed the OEM VW system  , so have patience with it ... Just be sure it is full of coolant and the thermostat is opening , it's only then you will have flow from the top spigot to the VW bottle.  After this you can seal the cap , let cool and then recheck , it should drop a little at which time you should have to add a little coolant. 
However once to proper level and a good coolant bottle cap , it can be sealed and operate perfectly. 

Just remember the coolant bottle is the highest position for you coolant to circulate too , it should be a little higher than your sealed radiator .( You will need a sealed radiator , so your going to have to change your exsisting unit too )  

Just be sure the system is full of coolant and free of air ... Also be sure all hoses allow a clean easy flow with no air traps to stop flow . Once you have all that , your engine should cool fine .... 

I had a VW sealed coolant system in my first N/A Suzuki Sidekick . It worked great .. [approve] [approve]

The main reason I used a Suzuki Coolant system in my two swaps to follow , was the ease of doing so . Set up correctly , they both work flawlessly too.


P

 

[Suzuki_dude]

I've never had any issues bleeding anything. If it's designed properly it'll get the air out all by itself once running. The reservoir will be the highest point and my rad will work perfectly with the incorrect cap I have.

 

[Zuki4x4]

When I was having air bubble issues in my Dodge, my neighbor brought one of these over -- 

https://www.amazon.com/MASTERCOOL-43013-Vacuum-Cooling-System/dp/B07CSKGCX9/

(The real deal is branded AirLift and the model you would want/prefer is the all brass model, the plastic ones are junk, that link is a reference to the concept)

I was instantly sold on it and bought one for myself.

Never again guessing if there is bubbles in the system or having to "burp" the coolant. 

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Got it together a week ago but this site is always giving me trouble uploading pics the usual way.

I've eliminated a few coolant connections by using brass fittings threaded into the coolant ports. 1/2"npt goes perfectly into the water pump inlets and the back of head outlet. No more reducer fittings to get to 5/8" for the heater core. I would 100% recommend it. Clears the engine mount and I've added a coolant drain for the block. Works awesome. The water pump can still be removed and installed with the fittings on it.

I have a couple leaks and I've had to add coolant a few times. This closed system works so much better for bleeding. No more pulling the bleed cap, filling until it pours out and filling again. Just fill the reservoir and it's done. No air.

 

[Diesel_Zuk]

Pix no worky

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Pix no worky

 
After an hour of trying to upload them last week and another hour and a half today trying again, giving up, and figuring out how to embed them I've got it figured out. Once I got it working there was a very loud sound that scared my wife. Might've been me yelling YES! but I'm not sure.

 

[melbakid]

Pics are working now!  

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Update time. Still leaking coolant. Whole underside is covered in coolant. I replaced the O-rings on the side and rear outlets already but not with the correct metric ones. Nice thing about my cooling system mods is I can drain it, stick an air fitting in the drain and pressurize the system with air and spray everything with soap water. I find that works better for finding leaks than pressurizing with coolant in it.

Did the top seals on the injection pump. Not hard. But now on a cold start it will literally pour diesel out by the pump head for a few seconds and then stop. Gotta do that O-ring yet.

Tire rotation front to rear and cleaning all the rust off the wheels really helped the sound I've been hearing in 4th and 5th. Not totally gone but a lot of situations that normally trigger it don't anymore. Next step for that is lowering it a bit and changing the t case mount. It's soft from being soaked in oil for so long.

Ended up pulling the intercooler out because the boost leaks were so bad I could hear it over the engine and road noise. With it back in and not leaking my egt dropped 200f at a steady speed and the engine takes twice as long to get up to temperature. Intercooler makes a big difference even when not under heavy load.

 

[Suzuki_dude]

The coolant leak was between the engine block and adapter plate. There's a frost plug on the back of the block that must've started leaking when the head gasket went.



When I got it apart I found a broken clutch spring. Likely because it was bottoming out. Gotta look for another disc now. Hard to find something that will hold up.




Main thing I've been working on is replacing the rad and intercooler. Old rad lower tank got crushed driving down a really nasty road. It fills the whole area very nicely. Intercooler fits right under the hood latch and the rad is right behind there and pretty much even with the top of the latch. Same guy who built my fuel tank is modifying the rad to fit in my application. Putting my BRM intake back in, going with 2.5" stainless charge pipes, and a stainless upper rad pipe.




It's been so long I forgot how to make the pics work and my browser history doesn't go back far enough to find what I did. 

Thanks to NoMoreMondays and Chuck78 for telling me how to get the pictures to show up. 

 

[Suzuki_dude]

Well the frost plug I thought was coolant related actually just led to the crankcase so that wasn't my coolant leak. But this crack in the block probably is the leak. Bummer. Really don't want any kind of stop leak in the system with a brand new rad going in. Can't afford to get my commonrail going yet.

 

[Deadlight44]

Scuff it up and JB weld it lol.  I'd try it, bummer though.  Good luck!