Date:         Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:05:20 -0800
Reply-To:     Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Dreaded water jacket head gasket leak strikes
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Well, my son's '87 was losing about a pint of coolant every 500 miles, but I
could not find a leak.  Today I found it, and it's the right side water
jacket seal.  I pressurized the system to 15 psi and it drips one drip every
five minutes or so.



This van is going to get a Subaru engine, but not right now, so what are my
cheap fix options?



1.       Barr's Stop Leak (just kidding, but I'm tempted)

2.       Just drive it and keep topping it up. It's not a daily driver,
summer only on a few trips, maybe 2000 miles a year. The difficulty with
this is as the system cools down air is drawn in though the leak, and that
limits the amount of coolant that can be pulled back in from the overflow
bottle, so there is a bubble in the expansion tank.  This requires the hatch
be opened to top it off.  Not a big deal, just a pain when the van is
packed.

3.       Replace the seal on this side only, providing the head is
serviceable, which I doubt it is since it's likely corroded.  I've heard of
folks using JB Weld and sanding the head smooth, but I can't see that this
is a viable option.

4.       Replace the head with a new Go Westy AMC head.

5.       Replace both heads with new GW AMC heads, and when he does the
Subaru I buy this engine and put it in my '85. It's a strong runner with
good compression, and only has 145k on it.



When my previous '84 was fixed under partial VW warranty they replaced both
heads even though only one was leaking, and I got another 200k miles out of
that engine with no leaks.



Thanks!



Stuart