Date:         Sun, 27 Jan 2002 21:18:59 -0800
Reply-To:     "Loren A. Busch" <lbusch@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Loren A. Busch" <lbusch@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject:      Re: After 3000 mi trip: 84h2o overheating,
In-Reply-To:  <200201271600.u5955c.q0j.37tiu50@motown>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Got to jump in on this overheating thread....
Go put in a new radiator!
For 6 years after I purchased my now dead (wrecked) '85 I fought
overheating problems. EVERY "expert" I talked to insisted I needed the
heads replaced, "they are famous for bad head gaskets and leaking
exhaust into the coolant" was the usual line.  From the outset the
symptoms were consistent with the cooling system just not having the
capacity to dissipate the heat being generated by the engine under heavy
load conditions or when idling for long periods.  I nursed this problem
over many mountain passes and up into high mountain areas that I
frequently go.  I found that under some conditions, running both heaters
wide open and with the heater fans going full tilt (and frying the front
heater switch one time) that added just enough cooling capacity to make
it, but I still ran many miles with the temp gauge nearly pegged and the
red light going off and on.  Diagnosis was confused by the fact that I
overheated often enough that I usually had a bubble in the system from
lost coolant.  Eventually, after the only mechanic that bothered to
check to see if there was exhaust gas in the coolant (there wasn't) and
some other work on the plumbing, the system was so tight that the next
time I overheated, I blew a freeze plug and cracked the block.  Since
the engine had 180,000 + on it, I elected to have a full rebuild, VERY
expensive when you can't do the work yourself.  After the new engine was
in guess what!  The damn thing immediately overheated!!! A new radiator
was installed, and for the next 6550 miles, again on long trips over
mountain passes and up into the mountains, I only had cooling problems
once when I got stuck in traffic in Victorville CA @107 degrees!
If I had followed my gut feel (and analysis of the problem) I would have
told the 'experts' to forget the damn heads and put in a new radiator
whether they thought it was needed or not.  I would have saved myself a
lot of anxiety and misery, and in the end a lot of dollars.