Date:         Thu, 25 Nov 1999 13:44:46 -0500
Reply-To:     Frank Miller <fmiller01@SPRYNET.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Frank Miller <fmiller01@SPRYNET.COM>
Subject:      Re: Wasserleaker Head Job - What am I getting myself in for
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Good info, Herr Doktor!
I didn't want to get too detailed, but in the case of my van, I bought it
for a very paltry sum with the understanding that the engine "has a water
leak" so I never did run it, let alone try to drive it, before tearing it
down. The PO did mention how he "never did believe all that VW propaganda
about needing to use their overpriced coolant" and just used whatever was
available on sale, so I knew there was no point in even trying. Surprising
that the heads with 80K+ miles on them did have a little corrosion, but not
bad at all. I was wondering if the PO was right about a water leak at all
until I was beadblasting one of the coolant pipes & found a small hole. The
piston on the verge of disintegration was another surprise. Chunks out of
the top and side, combustion chamber all beat up, but no sign of any loose
pieces, or broken valves or guides. Guess the PO was lucky.
Frank

At 09:46 AM 11/25/99 -0800, you wrote:
>
>At 09:44 AM 11/25/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>>As for special tools, only a torque wrench if you are only doing the head
>>gaskets and don't have to mess with cylinders.
>
>And do note that a clicker type wrench won't do, a beam type is specified
>for reasons determined by the Neanderthal Engineers. Things like, long
>special alloy steel head studs with special sealant under the head nuts
>while torquing, just off the top uff mein noggin, above the brow ridge.
>
> In my case, the
>>wasserleaker's heads were OK, a bad coolant pipe had been the culprit for
>>the coolant leak.
>
>I must suggest the foundation of the problem is not the cooroded pipe, but
>the source of the coorosion. Improper and/or inadequate maintainence for
>desired result and/or combined with non-spec coolant.
>
>But while I was in there, I found that one of the pistons
>>was about to self-destruct, necessitating the more indepth teardown.
>
>Due to overheating because you didn't monitor your coolant tank and noted
>more addition of coolant than has been required in your past rates, known
>by your past notes and thereby noted a leak was progressing somewhere by
>empirical DATA, therefore, knew to find the mystery leak before you
>billowed steam and cracked or holed a piston. The coorosion founded upon
>inadequet or non spec procedures is again the foundation of the problem,
>rather than enhanced given spec and procedures desugned obtain the desired
>results of no coorosion ever getting started.
>
>When I do this procedure, WasserLeaker heads, I have 2 legal pad sizes
>pages of notes by the time I'm done. It starts with a complete patient
>history of past parts/supplies/services documented. That's before I do the
>estimate for the parent (owner). I look for the gaps in verified
>maintenance, any recent or past procedures, spec or non spec fluids/parts.
>I discriminate.
>
>If I see a past compression test listed, but no figures, it provides not
>the data that would have value. If I see one that shows 135/125/130/120,
>they need better guages or need to learn the concept of interpolation or
>more probably both. But poor data is better than no data. I can look to
>more of their invoices in this or any other patient history and know at
>least compromised data is available. If I see also they use polypropalene
>glycol, I know they are not associated with spec fluid or don't much care
>about spec. It is proof I should not trust their engineering sence. They
>don't know, and they don't care that they don't know. I will validate what
>I can of their work.
>
>If I see, similar to my invoice, "134/127/129/122, spec = 110-138, variance
>less than 10%", I know the motor was getting weak on variance. I want to
>update those numbers to see if wear has progressed further. If no. 4 is now
>112, I do a leakdown test to confirm a valve going south as the cause of
>the problem and not the rings, and I know to add head replacement. If I see
>leakdown by the rings or pistons getting poor, I know to add a long block
>reman or new into the procedures.
>
>All that can be known about the patient should be known if you want to
>identify the true source of the problem before you assume what limit or
>extent of the procedures are required to put the patient right for use
again.
>
> The officail tools
>>are probably more efficient, I only expected to do this job once or twice
>>in my life.
>
>With adequate enhanced spec maintenance, once every 30 years is possable.
>And you will have the records to found that success upon and prove what
>works with empirical data.
>
>
>Doktor Tim
>Maintenance Repair and Restoration of European Vehicles
>San Juan Island, WA
>
Frank Miller
Alternative Business Systems
4216 Indianola Avenue
Columbus, OH 43214-2826

Tel: (614) 447-0060
Fax: (614) 263-9086
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