Date:         Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:01:37 -0500
Reply-To:     Allan Streib <streib@CS.INDIANA.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Allan Streib <streib@CS.INDIANA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: head gaskets
Comments: To: mcneely4@COX.NET
In-Reply-To:  <10760216.2095.1261010085809.JavaMail.mcneely4@127.0.0.1> (Dave
              Mcneely's message of "Wed\, 16 Dec 2009 19\:34\:45 -0500")
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

It's not the head gaskets proper but the rubber water jacket gaskets.
Well... the head gaskets may be leaking as well, but in very cold
weather there's evidently enough shrinkage between the metal and the
rubber to cause some slow-drip leaks.  Mine does this too.

Allan
--
1991 Vanagon GL

Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET> writes:

> 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.
>
> First really cold weather of the winter last week.  Started up the van,
> only to see a coolant drip underneath.  Methinks, well, a loose clamp on
> a hose, not tightened adequately.  Take off the lid, search all over for
> a hose leaking.  Nada.  Continue searching, coolant drip diminishing.
> Stops.
>
> Didn't drive the van for a week.  Cold weather returned, and methinks
> the van should be driven a bit.  Start it up, and it drips, then drips
> more, then a larger drip, then drips from more than one place.  When the
> engine was warmed up, the leak quit.
>
> 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.
>
> How much should a fix cost?  If I need heads milled, am I better off
> having a local guy mill them than buying rebuilt heads?
>
> The engine only has 30K on a rebuild, according to paperwork I got with
> the beast.
>
> Thanks, David
>