Date:         Sat, 6 May 2000 23:42:36 -0000
Reply-To:     "John D. Stepto" <jstepto@CHESCO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "John D. Stepto" <jstepto@CHESCO.COM>
Subject:      Leaking heads
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;

Hi, all.

I have been on the list since Feb. and there has been alot of discussion and archives on the issue of the cause of leaking heads and the type of coolant that is used.  Has anyone looked at the type of water you should use?  I worked in a shop in State College, PA (Gemini Enterprises, John Simbeck is the owner, one of the best mechanics you will ever meet) while attending Penn State.  He had me replace his 390 out of his '69 Ford F-150 one day and told me to look for anything that needed replacing as well.  I took the radiator out and it looked brand new. I asked John if he had replaced it recently and he said no, its the original rad.. I asked why it was in such great shape and he said because he used only distilled water with the anti-freeze.  He said the minerals in the tap or spring water causes corrosion  in a cooling system.  Perhaps this is what I just saw on the head I saw tonight while replacing the head gaskets.  Based on John's testimony, I always use distilled water in all my cooling systems and have never had a single problem.  Just a thought.


John
'84 Westy    

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