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Date:         Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:03:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: a newbie with some problems: hissing 2.1 L WBX and thrown belt
Comments: To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252";
              reply-type=response

you'd think he would have mentioned or noticed bright red LED warning lights...... so maybe none were on, or just at the last minute.

and sure..........he could have cooked the engine pretty badly. I have never seen studs pull from overheating, and given that the heads are not long or flat-bottomed......... can't say I've seen 'warped' but I SURE can say you need to pay very careful attention to how much the other 'water retention gasket' is compressed when the head is bolted down. ( btw........everyone always mentions AMC heads - I have an AMC head that only has 10K miles on it, and it is massively out of correct dimension. Like it's a joke. The outer water gasket pinched and leaked after those 10K miles - so be careful there )

but .......all you can do is get some liquid for coolant in it to see if it'll still run, find an external leak if there is one........fix that.... and hope you still have a viable engine. And besides............unless the head gaskets have a known and reasonable history - like say only 50K max on them.......... ALL used waterboxer engines need headgaskets ( and freshen up the valves is nice too ) .. it's a joke system. And it sure can't work for 10 years, in most cases anyway.

I generally use high quaility regular green anti-frz, mixed 50/50 with decent water......and I had machinist's water solubable oil..........'cutting oil'..........as a water pump lube and rust inhibutor. Been doing that to cars and Vanagons for 25+ years.....it works just great ! scott ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 4:58 AM Subject: Re: a newbie with some problems: hissing 2.1 L WBX and thrown belt

> The belt was the alternator and water pump drive belt. Whan it failed the > alternator warning light should have came on to let you know that > soemthing > was wrong and you need to immediatley shut the engine down and check it > out. > > If you continued to run the engine without the water pump turning, then > you > overheated the coolant in the engine and the heads to the point that it > boiled out probaly vilently and this sudden steam creation with all the > oter > physics invleved exposed your engine to what I call a trauma. You have to > accept that you did some damage. The head gaskets take the first hit with > warped heads, cases, pulled head studs and other nasties to follow. > > As for coolant type there is a lot of opinons. To me the most important > thing is to avoid mixing coolant types and if you are in an area with hard > water, use distilled. I am taking a liking to the Zerex GO-5 and some of > the > long life pink coolant such as is used for Diesels. I realy have not seen > any problems with regular Prestone Green or the nwer univesal stuff. I > find > that the recomended VW Blue coolant and Dex-cool will sometimes leave > clumping deposits. Note that the VW RED coolant is not Dex-Cool. > > Why folks wait until something is wrong to learn about how the warning > lights are supposed to work is a bit beyond me. Any car can have cooling > system and oil system failures. Knowing how the lights work and what to do > is extremly important. They are self testing and should be checked > whenever > the engine is started. > > Good luck. > > Dennis > > > >>From: Thomas Kortus <tkortus@HOTMAIL.COM> >>Reply-To: Thomas Kortus <tkortus@HOTMAIL.COM> >>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM >>Subject: a newbie with some problems: hissing 2.1 L WBX and thrown belt >>Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:27:56 -0700 >> >>Help! >> >>I just bought a 89 vanagon and i had just turned ont on my street after a >>5 >>hour drive only to hear a very loud hissing sound from the engine. I >>pulled >>over immediately and the hissing continued and eventually died out. There >>is coolant on the engine and a belt was off. the belt goes around the >>pulley to the far right of the engine. the coolant tank is bone dry. >> >>I am completely new to vanagons and to this engine (2.1. L wbx) i had a >>'67 >>split window for about 7 years. >> >>i am thinking and hoping that this is just a hose, but i don;t even know >>what to put in this engine for coolant. or where to put it. >> >>any help would be very appreciated. >> >>also as i was coming home the fan up front was working overtime at points >>in the trip. i am assmuning that this fan is designed to help the cooling >>process is that right? >> >>thank you- i am looking forward to learning more about this van nd these >>engines- i guess owning one is the best way to do this- my lessons just >>started sonner that i thought they would. >> >>thanks- >> >> >>thomas >> >>durham ,NC >>'89 vANAGON gl Wolfsburg >> >>_________________________________________________________________ >>Stay in touch when you're away with Windows Live Messenger. >>http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_messenger2_072008


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