Date:         Sun, 13 Jul 1997 05:42:37 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Steven Johnson <sjohnson@calweb.com>
Subject:      Re: Head gasket FIX!!!

At 07:38 PM 7/12/97 -0500, dgibbons@presray.com wrote:

>VW has on water cooled cars put in either an afterrun fan thermo switch OR a
>afterrun COOLANT PUMP and thermo switch (Many golf III's and all Eurovans
>have this). MB also has this device on many cars. What it does is circulate
>coolant thru the engine and radiator after the engine has shut off. This
>keeps engine and coolant temps from sky rocketing after shut-off.
>
>What would happen if vanagon waterboxers had such a system? Would the engine
>stay cool after a hot run? Would the water jacket gasket stay cooler? Would
>the heads stay cooler under the same conditions?

I've been doing this manually for my '91 Camper ever since I read in
the manual that after long hauls or uphill climbs, that you should
let the engine run for a couple of minutes before you shut off the
engine.  I've pretty much adopted this to most of my runs which are
mostly to and from work.  I don't know yet if I'm wasting my time
and gas or if it will pay off.  I have 97K miles with no gasket 
leaks or other leaks except for the stupid little gasket that 
is for the small connection by the alternator.  But I think that
eventually it will start leaking no matter what you do.  I am,
hopefully, extending that deadline a somewhat.....  :)

Steven

sjohnson@calweb.com