82 diesel van coolant hose source

[William Howe]

looking for the four main coolant hoses for my van. 068 121 101f,073c,053e and 081b. the first one, and has a pinhole leak, is apparently no longer available from vw. for the first one, 1 3/8" on two opposite ends with two others 5/8" at the oil cooler and 7/8" at the expansion tank(the 4 way top hose) you have any suggestions short of a lot of adapters from napa and hose clamps a plenty. the other three are apparently available but have some difference in size at the expansion tank between 81-82,83 and 84?? or not. i would like to replace all at one time. hintsm suggestions and advise gladly accepted tnx William in Seattle

[VancouverVan]

I've little insight to offer, but...I rebelled against the price of these hoses last year when rebuilding my '82 Diesel Westy, and built myself a cooling manifold of copper pipe and fittings. A pain, but much less expensive, and far more unique, and rather fun to piece together...it's got about 8000 miles on it, and isn't leaking anywear yet....

[the-tinkerer]

I have to agree with Vancouver. I got a new one a few years ago, but it was pricey. Just don't use a used one, it'd only be a very temporary fix. I'm planning to do something similar to the above suggestion. I plan to take a trip to Home Depot and see what I can put together with copper pipe fittings and connect the pieces with rubber. Best of luck and let us know what you come up with.

[username]

I wouldn't be worried about the copper pipe leaking, but...

The copper tube is going to do nasty galvanic things to any aluminum in your coolant circuit.

Not right away, but eventually your radiator, heater cores and cylinder head passages are all going to be reallllly ugly.

[VanVan]

Just saw this....

I thought - confessedly without researching to confirm - that the radiator was already in good part copper, and so figured I was on safe ground.

My copper's all isolated from all other metals by the rubber and silicon hoses - so the corrosive / electrical path is the coolant....I'd thought.

I am years past my limited metallurgy education....anybody have any thoughts on this? I'd rather learn here and replace my beloved copper manifold than learn in the shop replacing plugged-up engines, radiators...

Also am checking with chem-engineer friend...though I don't normally trust people that don't build their own cars....

[VanVan]

And now I've learned I built a battery using aluminum and copper with ethylene glycol as a the electrolyte.

Probably time to suffer and buy the right hose, or find some other non-Cu solution.

Sigh. Hope I've never used my real name here.

[Josh]

Hmmm. So you've built a battery, according to your expert research?

That's good to know.

To clarify, your pals have told you that utilizing these copper pipes is not a good idea in the coolant system, yes?

That makes me wonder, what metal are the coolant tubes which are already installed in these vehicles, and what is the difference which makes them acceptable, and your copper tubing not??

-Josh

[VanVan]

Briefly put, it's a cathode / anode (Cu / Al) reaction, where the cathode gets thick and the anode gets thin and the coolant conveys the galvanic potential...weird, but...methinks this problem similar to phosphates in wasserboxers' coolants....researching, I found there are enough variables to make me dizzy....whether to use distilled or tap water; VW antifreeze, Sierra, Prestone, or BASF; VW didn't keep track of which radiator went where; how often to replace coolant (some brands become unstable, chemically, and will eat the engine; some call that nonsense)...and so on. It's enough to make Click & Clack quit laughing.

I don't know yet if the radiator is copper or aluminum; they make them with both, I've come to learn, so I'll have to look. If it's Cu, I'll relax and replace my copper handiwork when I've time and if I find a way to do it cheap. If Al, I'll replace my lovely copper before I do much more driving.

All chemical ramblings aside, replacement of my Cu pipes is feeling commonsensical to me.

[libbybapa]

If I'm not mistaken (and I'm quite sure I'm not) then the stock radiator for the '82 diesel vanagon is a brass/copper core radiator. Your copper fittings ain't gonna do diddley in comparison. I have run copper fittings for years with no trouble. If you do not ever flush you system then there might be some trouble, but even still probably not.

Andrew

[VanVan]

Am going to concur. It looks like copper to me up front, so off we go...just as we are, copper pipe and all.

[vwtyp133]

What about using a sacrificial zinc anode in the cooling system? They're usually just hung in the radiator, but it seems like the could fit in the plastic expansion jug & do the same job.

J.R.
SoCal

[stopping]

That sounds like a great idea.

I have the stock pipes from 82 and want to make em last. Has anyone added this sacrificial zine (magnesium maybe) anode? This a common trick with home hotwater tanks (4' long anode of magnesum) needs to changed every few years.

Has anyone done this?

Suggestion for hoses.... could be washing machine hoses that come with an integral tee. Some are of very good quality joints.

Steve

[myke_w]

The copper tube is going to do nasty galvanic things to any aluminum in your coolant circuit.

Not right away, but eventually your radiator, heater cores and cylinder head passages are all going to be reallllly ugly.

I'm a bit skeptical that copper would hurt anything.
Vw used copper core radiators for years in the TD's in early diesels with no such problems...
Copper is an ideal choice IMO.

[Josh]

The copper wouldn't do jack; I think we've consensed on this elsewhere... yes?

-Josh