Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:10:50 EST
Reply-To: RAlanen@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Head leak again.... What next?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
In a message dated 09/02/2007 12:48:59 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:
I have a 2.1 that was rebuilt top and bottom at 150K and now it seems to be
leaking through the inner head gasket again. I have 215K now and the engine
runs great but my coolant level will rise significantly during driving and
has a slow steady stream of small bubbles in it. I remember this happening
last time before a catastrophic head blowout. (engine had a roaring boil
coming of the coolant bottle and never started again after cooling off) Is
roughly 70K average for a head problem on a rebuild?
My real questing is what next. I am still not ready to part with my
Vanagon, but I don't have a ton of money to spend on it right now. If I
continue to drive it will I ruin the top of the Cylinders requiring more
than a top end rebuild? If I do just a top end will I most likely need new
heads instead of just gaskets? Should I try to re-torque the current heads
or will I most likely just crack them?
Thank you for everyone's insight,
If the head gaskets are installed correctly they will not leak - ever !
See my _VW Vanagon waterboxer head & gasket repair_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/gasket.htm) webpage. They are now leaking, corrosion has started , it
will only get worse, re-torqueing will do noting but stretch the studs. Maybe
they are already stretched and that's why the leaking. New heads vs old
heads, if the old ones are not cracked or pitted beyond reasonable reuse use
them otherwise it's better to have new AMC heads for many reasons explained in
the archives over years of postings.
Cheers,
Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy, '90 Carat, '87 Wolfsburg (Forsale) & Lionel Trains (_Collection
for sale_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/trainsal.htm) )
Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Frank Condelli & Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm) a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 07 ~ 10, 2007
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