This is a symptom of coolant getting into the combustion chamber. This can
be caused by a bad head seal or a cracked head. It is rare but it could also
be caused by coolant leaking between the cylinders and the case. It is
critical that this is repaired quickly. Coolant becomes corrosive when
heated and mixed with air. Damage to the engine bearings is a common result.
The water getting into the combustion chamber will also damage the pistons
and heads. The crankcase must be thoroughly flushed after repairs are made.

Dennis

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf Of
John Houser
  Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 8:16 AM
  To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
  Subject: Coolant blowing out of crancase vent

  Volks,

  My 84 Westy continues to frustrate me.  Saturday it was running quietly,
  Sunday morning I cranked it up and it had developed an engine click.
  Yesterday, I worked on the engine a while and saw what I thought was smoke
  comming from the transmission area.  What I was really looking at was
water
  vapor comming from the crancase vent.  The previous owner had hooked a
hose
  to the crankcase vent, run it over the engine and terminated over the
  transaxle.  [It should  go into the lower hole in the elbow just past the
AFM
  shouldn't it?]  Any way water vapor and a few droplets of water were
comming
  out of this hose.  I caught some of it in a cup and it appeared to have an
  orange tint.  [ I use the orange coolant.]  Since I have never seen this
  before, I assume that the click and the vapor venting are related.  If you
  have had these symptoms, please let me know what your problem was and what
  you did to solve it.

  TIA,
  John Houser, Jr.
  Perry, Ga.

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