Date:         Fri, 7 Jul 1995 10:28:16 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jonathan Dove <JDOVE@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu>
Subject:      Had our heads replaced (long)

We had our 85 vanagon's heads replaced recently.  We bought this new in Fall
1985.  This vehicle has about 160K miles on it.  The water pump had been 
replaced twice.  The first time by VW and the second time by us (my father
and I).  It had started leaking about a year ago.  At that time it was no
concern until a few months ago. It would leave a small puddle on the ground
but water level never dropped.  He had inquired at a FLAPS (NOPI in Savannah)
for replacement heads.  They had them for about $350 each and the gasket set.
He also asked if any one in the area could work on it.  They said that none
of the local vw repair shops would touch it.  The only place in town that
would do it is the VW dealer.  The dealer was not too thrilled on doing it.
The only place that would do the repairs was a vw repair shop about 1 hour
away.  Their address is below if you are interested.
  
Here is a copy of the bill:

Parts

 1 ring set            26.99
 1 gasket set         184.76
 8 lifters            138.16
16 cyl head studs     224.00
 2 cyl heads          691.58
 8 push rod tubes     144.40
 1 front seal          10.24
 1 rear seal, o-ring   20.08
 1 oil filter           9.50
 5 qts oil              7.00
 1 hose                 6.14
 1 hose                 4.00
 1 hose                28.45
 1 hose                40.45
 1 hose                60.90
 1 hose                60.90
 1 hose                60.90
 1 hose                67.55
 1 hose con. valve     38.50               
 2 ft overflow          2.80
 4 ft heater hose       4.00
26 hose clamps         37.40
 1 gal antifreeze       6.50
 2 exh gaskets         11.00
 2 exh braces          42.05
 1 exh clamp           39.15
 1 oxy sensor          38.15
 1 vent hose           13.00
 1 used exh pipe       25.00
 2 exh gaskets         11.00
------------------------------------
                             2024.55

Labor
R & R engine          450.00
R & R water hoses      60.00
R & R exh pipe         25.00
Labor on idle switch,
R & R oxy sensor,
Adj F/I                35.00
------------------------------------
                              570.00
Tax                           101.23
Total                        2695.78

Mechanic's comments:

He thinks part of the leaks may come from the head studs stretching.
The cracks may have from overheating.  It may have come from running the
engine too hard when it is cold.  He adjusted the fuel injection because
someone had tried to adjust in the past.  We suspect the dealer because
we had no reason to change it.

My comments:

The final price may seem high but at least we will have a good running
engine. This is probably much cheaper then getting a rebuilt engine from VW.

The replacement heads are brand new.  The old ones had to be returned for the
core charge.  I don't know if they are reusable.  The old heads had corrosion
on the surface where the gasket meets.  The chamber surfaces had a weird
yellow color.  There were cracks between the intake and exhaust valves on all
four chambers.  

Ring set looks cheap enough.  The gasket set is (IMO) expensive.  It is made
by Elring.  $224 for head studs!  The only thing I know about them is
that they are 12.9 grade material.  I have never have seen anything higher
than 10.9 grade.  Some of the old studs had rust on them.

Three of the old lifters had collapsed.  That explains some of the valve
tapping noises.  They did not have any wear on them.  We change the oil
and filter every 3K miles using 20w-50.

Hoses are expensive.  We all know that.  The mechanic had to call around
the country for those.  The new hoses, most of them, have VW markings on
them but I don't understand why they are hard to get.

One of the exhaust pipes had to be replace due to a crack near one of the
flanges on connecting to the head.  I don't know where that came from
but it was very inexpensive.  He had to replace two of the braces because
the old ones had rusted and broke.  When my father and I replace the 
muffler we made our own brace out of galvanized pipe.  Cut to length, 
hammer the ends flat and drill the required holes.  We also made our own
muffler strap using steel shipping straps.  Works just as good as VW's.

Final thoughts:

It may look like combination of wear, abuse and VW's design flaws that 
caused the engine to leak.  We do take care of it.  Part of the abuse
may be from some of the drivers in the family.  Two of them drive it hard
as though they are in a drag race all the time.  It now runs much smoother
probably due to the fuel injection adjustment.  Any way here is the address
of the place that did the repairs.  When we had picked it up they were 
working on an 87 vanagon doing head replacement.  They had done about four
of them before working on ours this year so they know what they are doing.

Stan Boatright & Son Volkswagen Repair
Rt. 11 Box 1074
US 341
Brunswick, GA 31520
912-265-9567


Jonathan
jdove@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu