Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 14:56:07 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Friday post, some van, some other...
In-Reply-To: <CAEwp_cRO3baWL7UQwoTu4RXv0be+Pb72YuGy1LRGqgu84phGHQ@mail.gmail.com>
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Guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. This "clouds of white smoke"
while going up a hill (I my case going around a tight on-ramp curve) along
with an empty reservoir and full overflow tank, has happened to me in two
of my vans and in both cases it preceded and engine failure requiring an
engine overhaul.
The empty reservoir combined with full overflow tank indicate an internal
seal failure leaking combustion gases into the cooling system, thereby
pressurizind it and blowing the coolant out of the system by way of the
overflow tank. Coolant won't necessarily give the billowing white stuff but
more like steam. But real billowing white stuff that is somewhat opaque
that shows going up hill or around a curve is most likely oil. You need to
have a compression test done right away.
I my situation in case #1 I would get billowing smoke going around a curved
ramp.I was new to vanagons back then, ignored it, being it was Thursday,
thinking I would have it looked at on Monday. Wrong!! Sarurday night on
I-40 in between Somewhere and Nowhere, Oklahoma, cruising right along
with everything looking good, I heard a loud "POP"in the rear, and I
instinctively look in thevresr view mirror. There was an 18 wheeler
closing from behind and in his light I could see clouds of smoke boiling up
from behind the van. There was a ramp just ahead at a service station. I
pulled jinto their parking. Oil was every where. Back of the van, and the
engine as dripping oil all over underneath. Checked the oil level, itt
didn't measure on the dipstick. I put more oil in up to the mark and
started the engine. Oil pouredcfrom underneath. I was done. Called a
flatbed to come and get the van and hauled into Clinton, OK. Had to stayar
Holiday Inn 'til Monday. Had the van again towed to a garage. They noted
the oil was coming from a rocker box gasket and put one on. On starting the
engine, the new gasket immediately blew out. A compression test then
compression on one cylinder to be competely flat. The conclusion was
something had happened internally, and exhaust gasses were pressurizing the
case, going up thru the pushrod tubes into the valve rocker area and then
blowing out the seal/ gasket. Being under pressore the oil was really
blowing out. They- nor I - was prepared to deal witn an engine change, so I
GOT A U-haul truck and Auto-trailer and hauled it to Birmingham, Ala to a
shop I knew there. On teardown it was found that the head and piston had
buned through pressuring the case. I wasn't far from a major engine
failure, probably throwing a rod.i'n any case I got a good price on a new
engine from a local rebuilder.
Same van, different engine. I basically ran out the engine. At 178 ,000
miles it stared smoking and I could smell coolant. Cylinders were low on
compression check , so the engine was pulled. On disassembly, the heads
were cracked 9 places. Given that this was the second run on this engine, I
figured it was done!
I'm now working on a Subaru EJ2 .5 conversion including the 5 speed
transmission. No hurry, but will post 'pictures and progress!! Btw, this is
an '88 Tintop!
John R
On Dec 22, 2017 08:56, "Marc Perdue" <mcperdue@gmail.com> wrote:
> Yeah, so, my van seems incapable of running longer than a week or two
> without something happening, dang it.
>
> You all may recall I had written about the red blinky light coming back on
> just after starting the van up. There was plenty of coolant, and the temp
> seemed fine, though I discovered it was leaking a small amount of coolant
> from the lower thermostat housing.
>
> I took the van into my local Volvo shop because they love working on vans
> and they're closer than 40 miles away. They fixed it and cleaned it up
> inside and out, an additional service I got for "free" from many visits
> getting vehicles repaired. The van looked and ran great . . . for a while.
>
> Last Saturday, I bought a "new" car to trim down my fleet of vehicles. I
> know, that doesn't make sense. I bought it so I could get rid of my POS BMW
> wagon, plus we're giving my wife's Volvo to my daughter. New car is a 1999
> Volvo V 70 R with 81K miles on it. Woot!
>
> Back to the van, I was driving the van up to the DMV to take care of stuff
> for the new car and I noticed that whenever I went uphill, big clouds of
> white "smoke" went billowing out the back. Well, I noticed this when I was
> about a mile from home, so I took it back home and grabbed a different car
> to go to the DMV. Sigh...
>
> I checked the van later and, while I can't see any signs of a leak, the
> coolant reservoir is empty and the expansion tank is down by about an inch.
> For the moment, I'm thinking that the shop, after replacing the thermostat
> housing failed to deal with any coolant having been lost during the work,
> and/or bleeding the system...
>
> There's no end with this van...
> Marc Perdue
>
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