Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (January 2005, week 3)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Wed, 19 Jan 2005 13:52:10 -0500
Reply-To:     Matt Sutton <msutts@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Matt Sutton <msutts@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      heads v.s. bottom end: for discussion
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi Folks, With all this talk about long term/short term fixes, head life, JB Weld etc., I've got to wondering about the future and eventual failure of my 2.1. Like many of you, I'd guess, I'm pushing 200k with my 88GL and in my case it's the original engine with heads. There's nothing wrong now except for slightly low/off balance compression on cylinder #1; a leak-down test by listee Dennis Haynes indicated rings as a probable cause, but nothing's gotten significantly worse in the 35,000 since then. I'm lucky, but I stay pretty well on top of preventative maintenance too. The question(s) I'd like to put out there deal with the twilight years of a vanagon engine, and finding ways to make smart economic decisions as real trouble starts to kick in, or even before. -Compression, bad valves, leaky gaskets, etc.; these are all head issues right? You can do tests or just use the naked eye and proceed from there. A person can get new heads for $1000 or so and/or do gasket job and solve a lot of problems. But in my case, if the the rings get worse on #1 cylinder, then I'm into that job. Then it's deciding how far I want to go toward total rebuild, or just swapping the whole thing. -Is there really anyway of knowing what the state of the case is, with all it components, outside of teardown and measurement? Is oil pressure alone enough of an indicator? It seems crazed to consider new heads or anything like that with so many unknowns in the interior of a high mileage engine.

Perhaps you can see where I'm going with this. I suppose it's about getting as much advance knowledge as possible, so as to be able to make good decisions at the right time and be prepared. My van is very much a daily driver and I feel like I have to face facts for that reason, and find ways to not throw good money and effort after bad. I'd figure a lot of listees are in the same boat.

Thanks,

Matt Sutton 88 GL Brooklyn NY


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.