Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 13:26:19 -0600
Reply-To: "Vanderzanden Michael (BetP/ESE1)"
<michael.vanderzanden@BOSCHREXROTH-US.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Vanderzanden Michael (BetP/ESE1)"
<michael.vanderzanden@BOSCHREXROTH-US.COM>
Subject: Re: Coolant pouring from tail pipe - 1987 2.1
In-Reply-To: <CE18CEAB-A796-45B0-98D8-AA584BEC6259@knology.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Thanks for the comments Jim.
Yes, it is coolant. It is green (Prestone...) and it smells like
coolant. And it was literally pouring out of the tail pipe. About the
rate that you might gently pour a beverage into your glass.
I plan to remove the spark plugs and crank it over and see what comes
out of where.
Progress will be slow and intermittent. The camper is low on a long
priority list right now. But I will plug away at it when I can. And
any other thoughts on this topic will be appreciated!
Thanks again,
Mike V.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Felder [mailto:felder@knology.net]
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 1:55 PM
To: Vanderzanden Michael (BetP/ESE1)
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Coolant pouring from tail pipe - 1987 2.1
Are you sure it's coolant? dumb question but thought I'd ask it.
How much liquid is it leaking? can you loosen the exhaust to find out
which cylinder?
There are two ways I can think of. One is a crack in the head, which
makes little sense since the car was just sitting, but it IS possible
because of really poor torquing, material defects in the metal
Or a pulled or broken head stud that filled a cylinder up with liquid
(but if it did this, it seems that with the first turnover of the
engine, a piston would have encountered the water and BANG it would
have all been over.
It seems more likely that if it's a head stud, it's a slow leak only
possible under pressure. If your bore sat there for two years with
water in it, the internals would definitely show the marks of the
rust. Your oil would have been full of water, too, by that time.
Check the oil. If coolant has been in it for two years, you're going
to need more than a top end rebuild.
Jim
On Jan 29, 2007, at 12:34 PM, Vanderzanden Michael (BetP/ESE1) wrote:
> I purchased this 1987 camper in Fall of 2005 and only drove it
> about 200
> miles. It ran "fine" at that time. Parked it last November (2005)
> and it
> sat
> until November 2006 at which time I decided to start it up. Prior to
> doing so, I drained the gasoline from the tank, put in fresh fuel and
> purgedthe fuel lines. Once I put in a new battery, it started right up
> however it immediately began pushing coolant out the exhaust pipe.
> Probably not a good sign..... I will drop the motor and overhaul the
> top ends and hope to not have to split the cases. Anyway, my question
> at this time is is there a logical reason why this would happen after
> the car sat idle for year or is this just a coincidence and I was just
> lucky on its last drive (one year previous)?
>
> Thanks for any comments related to my situation.
>
> Also, by way of introduction, I have owned my 1984 GL since 1990. Have
> put alot of work into it over the years and it is my daily driver to
> this day.
>
> Mike V.
> Lehigh Valley, PA
> '87 Westfalia
> '84 GL
>
