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Date:         Wed, 4 Sep 2013 16:01:07 -0700
Reply-To:     Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET>
Subject:      Re: nuts vs head gasket job
Comments: To: Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
In-Reply-To:  <52278E5E.4020503@turbovans.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

well, i'll be somewhat hopeful - but resigned.

re; the goop, aka the yellow nut sealant - will that impact the torque in any significant way? ie, should i loosen all nuts (ie, break the seal) before checking the torque?

On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 12:47 PM, Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>wrote:

> yes, I think that could be 'overly hopeful' .. > and it's worth trying. > re-goop the nuts of course...that's an important seal there. > > On 9/4/2013 9:54 AM, Tom Carchrae wrote: > > I've put this off long enough. I got a few trips from my van this summer, > but on the last day I drove it, it backed up the coolant in the reservoir > (behind licence plate) three times in one day. I would pull over when the > blinking low-coolant light turned on, drain the coolant out into a bottle, > start the vehicle, open the hot pressurized tank, and pour the coolant back > where it belonged. > > Yesterday I took the valve covers off and used a torque wrench to inspect > the tightness of the nuts on the heads - well, all the easy to get to nuts > (so all but the two behind the air intake - I have only removed the air > filter box so far). > > I have only done one side so far, but I found one of the bolts in the > centre of the head to be slightly under spec (37lb). I recall Dennis Hayes > saying (email below) that this managed to solve head gasket symptoms 50% of > the time if done soon enough. I doubt I have been soon enough, but how > does one tell. > > I am prepared to do the head removal but boy would I be happy if it was as > simple as tightening some nuts. Would I be overly hopeful to think that > this minimal nut tightening this late would save me having to remove the > heads? > > Tom > > 84 Vanagon > > > > > On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 2:19 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com> > wrote: > > > One problem with relying on the sniffer tests is that they are looking for > un-burned hydrocarbons. In order for this to work in addition to the leak > you also need a combustion failure in the leaking cylinder. While cracked > or > loose heads may also cause a combustion issue you are in deep trouble by > the > point the sniffer tests pick it up. Keep in mind if those gasses can get > out > in some cases coolant can get into the cylinders. Antifreeze into the > cylinders and then into the oil can cause some real damage. Long before > antifreeze in the oil is visible the stuff becomes extremely corrosive and > can quickly destroy bearings along with crank and cam surfaces. It can also > destroy pistons by blowing out the tops and destroying the ring lands. > > If the engine has ever been overheated, (even before a rebuild) or has had > the heads off for any reason loose heads can be the cause. I probably have > a > better than 50-50 success rate in fixing these issues just be retourqing > the > heads if the problem has not been left so long that the head seals (inners) > or the tops of the cylinders have burned or pitted away. > > Dennis > > > >


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