Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 13:59:37 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject: Re: Fwd: white clouds behind my van :-(
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Tim, I have had the "White Smoke" event happen to me several times. In my case it
was ALWAYS a coolant system hose or fitting leak. Never a head leak. The tiniest
hole in a hose or fitting can really put out a lot of coolant under pressure, and
if it is spraying down on the exhaust manifold or elsewhere onto something really
hot it will make a huge amount of steam.
In my experience, I suspect you have a hose/fitting leak before a head leak,
although the latter is a definite possibility.
I recently had my engine rebuilt. In the process of it all, inspection showed the
hoses were well aged. Having had a couple of hose leaks earlier, and realizing
that my van ..an "88 GL .. was now 12 years old, that meant the hoses were 12
years old. I also found a couple of injector lines that showed signs of
cracking. Time to change the hoses and injector lines. So I bought a complete set
of coolant and injector hoses. I do not want an overheated engine....either from
coolant loss or from a fire.
If this turns out to be a hose leak, I strongly urge you to replace all your
hoses if you have never done so. And most especially change your fuel injector
lines. Your van being 16 years is begging for that attention.
Sorry I can't be more specific in helping you solve the leak mystery. Lots of
looking will tell the tale.
Good luck.
John Rodgers
"88GL driver in Birmingham, Alabama where my new engine is being test run for the
first time as this is being written. It took 1hr15min of listening to noisy
rattletyclack before the lifters pumped and the engine smoothed out.....and that
was even after pre-oiling.
Tim Root wrote:
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: white clouds behind my van :-(
> Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 12:06:26 EST
> From: Timeroot@aol.com
> To: vanagon@vanagon.com
>
> Hello list, last night I was on my way to the Northwoods for some first class
> ice fishing and camaraderie with my woodsy friends.
> I was happily motoring along in my '84 when I noticed white "smoke" in the
> rear view mirror. I pulled off the nearby exit and she was steaming to beat
> the band.
> At this point I was very happy that It wasn't on fire (it sure looked like it
> could have been). I got a tow home, (AAA always pays for itself) and this
> morning I am trying to figure out where the problem lies.
> My hope is that it is not the head gasket on the left side which has been
> leaking slightly since I bought this van in April 1999. There was/is quite a
> bit of coolant on the top/back of the motor, and the top of the tranny is
> wet. There is coolant everywhere on the left back side of the motor. There is
> coolant on the left axle/CV boots. The expansion tank and overflow tank are
> still full of coolant. The hoses that run across the front (toward front of
> van) of the engine compartment look OK, and I have the plastic bleeder
> apparatus out and it looks OK also.
> The engine was running great when this happened, and the white clouds were
> not coming out of the exhaust pipe. The engine did not get overheated before
> I shut her down.
> My questions:
> 1. How do I find out for sure if is the headgasket or not?
> 2. Why do I have the plastic bleeder piece (top front middle of engine
> compartment 2 hoses clamp to each side) when it does not show it in the
> Bentley?
> 3. Does anybody know of a reputable wasserboxer rebuilder in south central
> WI, or anywhere in the upper midwest?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Tim Root
> Portage, WI
> 84 Vanagon
> 90 Fox Wagon
> 97 Jetta
