Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:44:47 -0500
Reply-To: B Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: B Feddish <bfeddish@NETREACH.NET>
Subject: Re: head gaskets
In-Reply-To: <14894658.3660.1261059691975.JavaMail.mcneely4@127.0.0.1>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
You haven't mentioned how many miles were on this motor, that may factor in
as to what you want to do. Taking the heads off is a big job whether you do
it or somebody else does it. If I were to go that far there is no way I'd
just slap a new rubber gasket and some sealant in there and put it all back
together. This is of course if there are allot of miles on the engine. I
would at least have the heads done while they were out our better yet put on
some new ones. Yeah, the heads are expensive but so is taking them off in
terms of time. Then again if you are budget conscious and you are going to
do the job yourself then at least do the JB Weld thingy with the heads while
they are out.
Bryan
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Dave Mcneely
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 9:22 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: head gaskets
So, I should do the head gaskets, or not? It's very expensive, but I want a
reliable van (or no van at all). Thanks, Dave Mc
On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 6:48 PM, mark drillock wrote:
> This is a typical failure mode. Leaks in cold weather, stops when
> warmed up, leaks worse as temps drop. May go on this way for years
> depending on you and it. Mine has. On more than one van.
>
> Mark
>
>
> Dave Mcneely wrote:
>> So, I've done about everything I thought I should to make my '91
>> camper as reliable as it could be, including lots of cooling system
>> fixes.
>> Just replaced all coolant hoses, since so many think that should be
>> done.
>> .......
>>
>> Head gaskets are leaking. The question: I find it difficult to think
>> the gaskets just all of a sudden turned loose (I'd even removed the
>> tins to look for evidence of leaks when I did the hoses, and saw
>> none).
>> Could it be that the heads and or gaskets were already loose or
>> whatever, and the cold weather made them looser and so they leak? If
>> I run the engine a little while, the leaks dry up, suggesting to me
>> that temperature plays a role -- expansion, contraction ..... . So,
>> could the heads be sealed better even with the temperature difference
>> between normal fall temps and the quite cold temps we've had lately?
>> I'm just trying to understand why this suddenly showed up, and wonder
>> if it being coincident with the cold weather is more than a
>> coincidence.
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