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Date:         Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:06:09 -0500
Reply-To:     pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Head gasket leaking. Bummer.
Comments: To: Mark A Kippert <vanagon@kippert.com>
In-Reply-To:  <m163k3kz0z.fsf@cs.indiana.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Before I did our heads I got bottles of this stuff to give it a try. The local subaru dealer had it in stock and it was real cheap ($2-$3?). A lot of people use 2 bottles. Definitely worth a shot! Didn't work for me though. My leak was *really* slow---a drop or two a night, unless it was really cold, in which case I got I small puddle underneath. When I did the heads, the gaskets and head mating surfaces were in horrible shape. I would try the subaru stuff to hold you over, but do the job right before taking any big trips (I did it to get ready for our 8000 mile cross country trip).

For what it's worth, the rebuilt heads are generally frowned upon. Supposedly the welding actually stresses the metal and makes them more likely to develop problematic cracks---so that putting your old heads back on might even be better. If you want to do that, you should take them to a machine shop who can pressure test them and resurface them. Otherwise buy the new AMC heads if you can afford it.

Things that can go wrong: the cylinder sleeves can be stuck in the heads to where they are realliy difficult to separate. Sometimes this means you have to pull them out with the heads to get them off. (With mine, they were still a major pain to remove on the bench.) If this happens, you have the problem of getting them back on (getting the pistons back in the cylinders). At this point, I think the best thing to do is remove the pistons, and have them properly soak-cleaned by a machine shop (no scraping/scratching of the ring grooves) and put on new rings (also need to rehone the cylinders). All of this can be done with the engine still in the van but it's not pretty. Hopefully you can break your cylinders free in which case you don't have to go this route.

I've only done the job once, and I could have comfortably had it done in a weekend if I didn't have to pull out the cylinders. It was a week before I got it all back together including running around to the machine shop and waiting for things I needed.

Good luck! Wes

On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 1:42 PM, Allan Streib <streib@cs.indiana.edu> wrote:

> Mark A Kippert <vanagon@KIPPERT.COM> writes: > > > Thanks for the info Dave. I assume you're talking about the Coolant > > Conditioner, which appears to sold out. Must be a lot of leaky Subarus > > out there as well! > > I bought some of the Subaru stuff from SubaruParts.com have not used it > yet. I have a few drops leaking from the water gaskets only when > ambient temps are cold. > > By all appearances, this stuff is also known as "Holts Radweld" the > bottle looks exactly the same, even has the "Holts" name embossed in the > plastic. So if you can't get it from Subaru, try looking under that > name. > > I'd guess any Subaru dealer could get it for you though. > > Allan > -- > 1991 Vanagon GL >


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