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Date:         Thu, 18 Jul 1996 06:42:05 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         moorelab@ix.netcom.com (Tony Moore )
Subject:      '83 H2O head gasket advice needed (long)

I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this, but...

As I've posted in the last week or so, my '83 wasserboxer has had a chronic overheating problem. A brief description of the problem: I bought it three months ago, my first watercooled VW. The temp and fuel guages didn't work, changed the voltage stabilizer and checked with meter per Joel, all seemed well. The temp guage rested somehwere between 2/3 to 3/4. Ran great, took several 400 mile trips with no problems at all. Had to change the alternator about two weeks ago. Immediately following, the guage began creeping to full mast and light began blinking. Checked the coolant and it was ok. Tried to bleed the system per the archive instruction and could not get all the air out. Just when I thought it was bled, I would go for a drive, it would heat up, I would jack it up, and there was air!. Took everybody's kind suggestions and checked the guage again, the rad felt hot, the fan wasn't coming on (I tested the switch and it was OK). In desperation, I took it to a garage close to work and asked them to test it. They said they checked the radiator, thermostat, the fan, and tried to bleed it too. They said the fan wasn't coming on when overheating but came on when AC was turned on. They checked the fan and found the switch OK too. They then checked for combustion gas in the coolant by using some blue colored chemical. Well, they say there is combustion gas in the coolant and say this is also why the fan isn't coming on, something about the sensor.

So, I desperately need advice on verifying this. Did I forget anything? Should I recheck? A second opinion? A local vw specialist (not a dealer) said it would run about $1000 :( I've never done any kind of repair to this scale but I'm not afraid to learn and try. Should I be? I've printed all the applicable articles from the archive, got my Bentley. Anything else? Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated!

tony


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