Date:         Mon, 20 Nov 2000 23:23:38 -0500
Reply-To:     enettles@MINDSPRING.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Eric Nettles <enettles@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      Head Compression Leak

Hello Volks,

Well, I wrote a while back about having an adventure replacing heads and gaskets and coolant hoses and breaking down here and there across the eastern seaboard...

After much time spent thinking (not much else 'cause the new job's a hassle and the kids got the.. oh wait, I don't have kids yet ;) I've come to the conclusion that there are only a couple of possibilities left to explore.  (at the moment I can get about 30-40 miles before I have to stop and either cool off or bleed off, but hey, I've gotten the bleeding down almost to a fast performance art piece..)

1: Flow problem, but that doesn't seem to be it because there are ALWAYS bubbles with the seemingly decent flow, even when I have just bled the system.

2: Leaking: I've found that the system WILL leak when its under loads of pressure (GOLLY!) more often when the heater circuit is open, due to the coolant collector on the passenger side (strange black thing with lots of inlets and outlets, also new) and a T connector in the heater line... but those seem again, only under extreme pressure.

3: compression leak: and here's my question.  I have done a little reading about the studs and the heads and all, and I think that the source of the bubbles in the cooland flow could very well be exhaust gas... Should I find the spare time to take the engine back down, is it OK to just tighten down the head bolts some more, as long as they're even? The seals on the pistons and in the heads are all new, other than "tighter" I don't know what else to do...

Ideas?

Thanks all,
Eric Nettles
Baltimore, MD
87 Wolfsburg,
Pita.