Date:         Mon, 10 Nov 1997 18:48:14 -0500
Reply-To:     KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon mailing list <Vanagon@Gerry.SDSC.EDU>
From:         KENWILFY@AOL.COM
Subject:      Head Problems

Well first I would like to say, "Praise God the Vanagon List is back!"
 Secondly I know that you guys have heard all this before, but here is the
scenario.
Left school for lunch Friday with a bunch of friends in my '85 Vanagon
"Blue".  Got the the deli ok, but when I started her up to leave all kindsa
white, antifreeze smellin' smoke started coming out of the tail pipe.  "Oh
no, there goes that head gasket!"  I have two options right now.
1.  Try to retorque the heads and see what happens.
2.  Try some Morroso Ceramic block sealer and see if it seals up my problem
temporarily (like until I can afford to put a V6 chevy in this beauty!)
Are there any other options?  Has anyone ever come up with a better head
gasket design that eliminates the head gasket leak headaches?  I really love
my van but I hate to worry about the motor all the time and since I want to
use it for missionary trips that will take me all over the country
reliability is my chief concern.  So now I put my question out to the Vanagon
Gurus.  Is there reliability in the waterboxer motor is it just one headache
after another?  Do you think VW would help me fix my van, since the head
gasket is a poor design problem and not a wear problem?  Any help would be
appreciated.  The best vans in the world seem to have the worst motor.
Ken Wilford  John 3:16