Date:         Sat, 8 Jul 2006 21:49:53 -0400
Reply-To:     Jay Brown <badkarma@TTLC.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jay Brown <badkarma@TTLC.NET>
Subject:      Overheated... Now what?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Coming back from camping last weekend I lost the alternator belt in my '85
Westy.  The sun was in my eyes and I couldn't see the temp gauge climbing
into the danger zone, so needless to say I overheated the heck out of poor
old Ursula's engine to the point where she shut down as I glided to the edge
of the road.  Steam and blue coolant was spewing all over the place, so I
called AAA and got her towed the remaining 15 miles home with my tail
between my legs and a desperate feeling in my gut...

The next morning I refilled the coolant tank, replaced the belt and pulled
the wire from the center of the distributor off to see if she would turn
over.  She spun right up without hesitation and seemed no worse for wear, so
I changed the oil and started her up.  She seems to be running fine and my
compression tester indicates that she is putting out about 140PSI on each
cylinder, so I am pretty sure that there was no major damage done during the
boil-over.

I thought I would consult the list to see if there are any other steps I
should take before I take her back out for a long journey, such as flushing
and changing all of the coolant or replacing any parts (temp sender,
thermostat etc.) that may have been damaged by the excessive heat?  Am I
just being paranoid, or am I correct to worry that I may have done some real
permanent damage?

Thanks in advance,
Jay Brown
'85 Westy
'72 Riviera