Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 21:57:45 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: 84 Sludge / Head
In-Reply-To: <20041011003358.TQLG8960.out008.verizon.net@CoramDeo>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
That light brow gooey gunky stuff is too much Bars stop leak already.
Probably the reason it was for sale so you could buy it. If you have so
much gook that it is everywhere, save your money radiator and heater
cores. They will be needed. Re-tourqing eh heads sometimes helps small
internal leaks but the outers are going to require repair.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Don Sturgill
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 8:34 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: 84 Sludge / Head
Lesson learned today: Always make your beer run before starting a
simple
project, since you may not have transportation later. My
flush-the-coolant
job got a little involved, but I did get more intimate with my "new"
transporter. There was so much sludge (light brown, thick, sticky gunk)
in
the coolant tank and reservoir that I decided to just remove them both
for a
good cleaning. That required removing the rear bumper to get the
reservoir
off. The right side engine drain plug was easy, there was no engine
shroud... but the left side was a bear. Removed the oil filter,
finally, to
get access to the rear bolt. I am glad I did, for the clear view
afforded
by the shroud removal plainly showed a head gasket leak on the bottom
front,
left side. Darn. Another lesson... I had grouped my various bolts and
nuts
according to the appropriate part. Hearing a commotion, I turned to see
my
neighbor's three year old rifling through my tools... the little rat. I
grabbed a box of plastic sandwich bags and used them to secure the
fasteners. I labeled them by dropping a tear of notebook paper in each
bag
marked "bumper", "reservoir", etc... Checked the torque on the head
bolts,
using 26 ft/lbs as a standard (garnered from the archives), they seem to
be
already considerably tighter than that. I moved inside the bus to check
the
rear heater for leaks. Two of the screws in the cover required special
techniques (via a Dremel). Then, I had to remove the rear bench seat to
get
the cover off. Removed the cap from the (vent?) on top of the heater
and
found the oily, gunky stuff there too. Darn. Moved to the front, had a
great time trying to get hoses off. Those clamp-on hose clamps make me
crazy. Finally backed up and separated the hoses at the connections
under
the cab area. Used a plumbing tool... kind of a rubber bag that blows
up,
seals the hose, and applied good water pressure to purge the lines in
both
directions. Couldn't see what came out, I got drenched and the local
world
began to get dark. Good thing tomorrow is a holiday for me, maybe I can
get
her going again. My plan is to flush more, then bolt her back up,
leaving
the shrouds off for now, and dump a can of Bar's Leaks Head Sealer in
her.
Who knows, maybe it will work. Haven't been able to find anyone locally
who
can replace the head gasket and I am short on both time and skill...
might
just have to go at it anyway, though. Take a bus to work and turn
wrenches
at night. Anyway, you folks have been great help and comfort, just
wanted
to file a report. Take care, all.
Don Sturgill
Sarasota, Florida
84 Vanagon Weekender
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