Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:50:02 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: this has me rethinking dexcool
In-Reply-To: <2163811a0803261759o75e7e34fn5434ab19fcc54312@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
You really have to chuckle. GM writes the spec and approves the fluid and
there is suit against the chemical company? Many of those failures were
not just bad gaskets. The composite manifolds also liked to warp and
crack. As for coolant going though the intake manifold, almost all V
shaped engines do this. How do you think the coolant gets to that
thermostat housing in the middle? Remember manifold heat riser valves?
Just in case coolant wasn't enough to heat the manifold and carburetor,
let's close of the exhaust manifold on one side so the gasses would go
through the manifold, under the carb for fast heating. Oh, let's also vent
some exhaust to the choke stove so it knows when to open. The early VW
Rabbit motors had water hoses going into the manifold for carb heat and
even into the chokes to control them. Water every where!
While it sucks when gaskets fail, what really becomes an issue is that
unexplained fluid losses don’t get fixed. I wonder how many engines got
destroyed from this manifold or gasket failure and how many could have
been avoided. I know every one I saw gave plenty of warning signs before
that eventual cloud of smoke and the holy pistons that became the result.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Angus Gordon
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 8:59 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: this has me rethinking dexcool
On Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 8:55 AM, gary hradek <hradek@yahoo.com> wrote:
> http://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html
>
Don't forget this is lawyer talk, not a technical paper of any sort. GM
had
a problem with coolant leakage through the intake manifold on these
engines,
and I'm guessing the lawyers probably sued the makers of Dex-cool, GM, the
gasket manufacturer and the Detroit water department. The shotgun approach
to litigation seems quite lucrative.
I have a friend with a Buick Century which had this problem a few years
back. I checked it over for him after it had overheated and found coolant
in
the engine oil. Some research on the internet revealed the most likely
cause
was this coolant leak through the intake manifold. GM had a new,
re-designed
gasket available so I, unsuspecting, offered to change it for him. I mean,
how much work is an intake manifold gasket? Ten hours later I knew!
GM in their infinite wisdom runs coolant from one head bank to the other
through the intake, which sits down in the V between the heads. Makes the
waterboxer design with all it's external plumbing look like the work of a
genius. I think the problem is with the design and gasket material, not
the
coolant. The "rusty sludge" they talk about in the lawsuit is no doubt the
result of coolant left unchanged since the vehicle was new.
Vanagon content - since working on this Buick I have never again cursed
the
myriad of external pipes and hoses VW adorned the Vanagon with. Even the
waterboxer head gaskets are a brilliant design in comparison!
--
Angus Gordon
birdworks@gmail.com
