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Date:         Fri, 18 Sep 1998 10:19:24 -0700
Reply-To:     "Richard M. Myers" <myersr@SPAWAR.NAVY.MIL>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Richard M. Myers" <myersr@SPAWAR.NAVY.MIL>
Organization: SPAWAR Systems Center, Div. D714
Subject:      Re: Overheating '88 Westy
Comments: To: Dagbear@aol.com
Comments: cc: Vanagon <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Dagbear@aol.com wrote:

> I have an 84GL and had similar problems. When I rebuilt the engine I > discovered a crack in the right head between the intake and exhaust valves of > the forward cylinder. This allowed coolant to enter the crankcase and exhaust > to enter the cooling system. Have a reliable radiator shop check for exhaust > gasses in the coolant. >

Would this affect compression? My van has compression of ~150 psi in 3 cylinders and ~110 psi in one cylinder.

Thanks,

Dick

Richard M. Myers wrote: > > Hi Folks, > > I'm a new vanagon owner, but experienced type 2 Westy owner, and I'd be > very thankful if anyone can help me with this scary ($$) problem. My > recently acquired '88 Westy is exibiting the following symptoms: > > 1. The temp gauge is always at least 3/4 full scale. > 2. It 'boils over' under moderate loads before the gauge registers full > scale and the radiator usually feels warn to the touch. > 3. The fan comes on only when it's really hot AND at idle or low RPMs. > It's not running when I pull over after the flashing light comes on. > 4. When bleeding the cooling system, things get flakey once the engine > gets hot (ie. at a constant 2K RPMs, it sporatically overflows the > reservoir, then bubbles). I've managed to bleed it as long as I'm > fairly quick about it. > 5. Doesn't seem to 'boil over' under consistent conditions. Seems > somewhat unstable. > > Other things to consider: > > a. It gets runs good, has good power and gets 20MPG+ on the highway. > b. It has VW-approved blue coolant (installed by VW - a fiasco, but > that's another story). > c. It has a new thermostat (see #b). > d. Heads appear to be bright and shiny compared to the block (??). > > I've done a bit of research poking about on the net and have a couple of > hunches. It seems as though there may be two problems. One is that > there seems to be some blockage in the system which doesn't allow > sufficient flow through the radiator (merely warm when temp is high). > There's also a greasy film which coats my reservoirs; could it be some > sort of 'Stop Leak' product? The second problem could be that exhaust > gasses are leaking into the cooling system sporatically when it's hot, > forcing coolant into the overflow and creating a 'boil over'-like > condition (indication). I've read that you can sometimes fix this > problem by re-torquing down the heads. Is this hard to do? > > Anyone have any insight and/or suggestions? > > Thanks, > > Dick Myers > San Diego, CA > '78 Westy > '88 Westy


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