Date:         Tue, 24 Dec 2013 02:14:31 +0000
Reply-To:     J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         J Stewart <fonman4277@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Re: Engine woes - what to do?
Comments: To: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <CA+r=JhpKBaS2FaS4TTf80czkpcVzcfpGC8VoRCgyVzh5tEZCzw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Please expand on that! My right cylinder head is leaking coolant from the top of the head. Already tried a couple bottles of the Suby coolant "conditioner" Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
> Todd,
> Could you be more specific about the "symptoms"? If by "head leak" you
> mean coolant from the waterjacket seal, you can fix it for about $100,
> not
> counting your time.
> Exhaust gases in the coolant is another matter...
> Larry A.
> On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 4:09 PM, Todd Last <rubatoguy@comcast.net>
> wrote:
> > After almost 230,00 miles my '88 Vanagon is displaying symptoms of a
> > head
> > leak - I have not yet confirmed this or done a recent compression
> > test, but
> > plan to do so. I have concluded that one of the worst things you can
> > do to
> > your van is not use it. Bad things happen when they are left
> > sitting!
> > In any case I am looking at my options, and started out thinking
> > about
> > replacing the heads, then thought if I was going to do that, I might
> > as
> > well put in new piston rings too, and well, once you do that you
> > might as
> > well go a step farther and do an engine rebuild. Of course, once you
> > get
> > there, the question becomes, stock, modified (like GoWesty) or
> > engine
> > swap. In looking at these options, it looks like a cost of $5,000 or
> > more.
> > From what I have seen, Subaru conversions can reach over $10K.
> > Yikes!
> >
> > I was wondering if I could get opinions on the best course of action
> > in
> > this situation, not wanting to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
> > Would
> > list memebers give me their 2 cents worth and if possible, what the
> > aproximate costs for the various solutions range from? I'm not sure
> > if it
> > makes more sence to just install new heads and hope for the best, or
> > go
> > full bore and swap the engine.
> >
> > What does the voice of experience say? Anyone out there have
> > opinions on
> > the GoWesty performance engines vs. a Subaru transplant?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Todd
> > '88 Westy
> >
> >