Date:         Tue, 10 Jun 1997 08:42:53 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Matt and Lisa Chamberlain <lttlwing@gte.net>
Subject:      [Fwd: Leaking Head?]

> 
> Hi all.  My '84 Westie has been behaving badly.  She has 180k on her
> so I won't complain too much.  My water temp light keeps flashing with
> no apparent pattern. (Sometimes everything is cool and then a
> heart-stopping light and the gage runs to the max). My brother and I
> have flushed out the coolant and refilled, (as well as bled the system
> a few times) to no avail.  I have no fluid in my oil and no white
> smoke out the tail pipe while I'm driving.  I have had a few mechanics
> look into the problem while I frantically drove back across the
> country.  One changed a thermostat and mentioned that I might have an
> air bubble in the cooling system that is causing the problem.  The
> other thought that I had an electrical problem.  I made it another 3k
> miles and she hasn't died yet.  Of course everyone has mentioned that
> I might have a leaking head gasket.
> 
> How do I know that my head is leaking?  Also, what is that sensor
> coming out of my driver's side head.  The wire was torched on the
> exhaust pipe.
> 
> TIA for all help.
> 
> Elizabeth