Tim,

>From what you have said, it sounds like I have an internal head gasket leak.
I have had the van for about a month, and have never noticed any leakage.
But when I took it to my mech. to have it checked out, he let it idle for a
long period of time to check the radiator fan.  This is when he noticed a
small puddle under the overflow bottle, and a leak coming from the overflow
bottle cap.  I will try the tests that you have suggested and bleed and
refill the radiator, but my real question is would a van with an internal
leak be able to make a long road trip?  The engine has high miles, and I
plan on rebuilding it (talk about a learning curve) at the end of the
summer.  So I guess what I real trying to say is what can I do to make this
engine last the summer (and for my trip!!)?  I've heard that retorquing the
heads might help.  
Any Ideas?

Case and 1/2
Mike D.

At 05:38 PM 5/22/97 -0300, you wrote:
>
>Hi, sorry but I deleted your fist post, what/where/how is the water leak?  
>
>The vanagon has 2 kinds of head gasket leaks.  The obvious one that drips in
>your drive and can fail more and more rapidly after a decent warning period.
>The fix is at least head teardown and new gaskets.  In the realm of
>experienced/equipped DIY, but just.  If the aluminium heads have large
>corrosion pits on/under the gasket sealing surface then you are looking at
>'new' heads, about $1500-1700 job for both sides.  Heads new are $550 each,
>refurbed about $275-350, used $200.  I've fixed mine using JBWeld epoxy,
>definately not a VW sanctioned repair, but at $5/tube + gasket set + my
>labour it was cheap.  4 years/75K kms and still dry (two vans/4 heads too!!)
>There is a procedure in the archives, scan under my name or under Dan Houg.
>His is a great write-up BTW.
>
>The other leak is internal, combustion gas into water jacket, which blows
>coolant into the overflow tank. You can get the coolant checked for exhaust
>Which fills and overflows to ground.  When it's cooled it will suck back in
>some/all of the water.  Sneaky little leak. You slowly loose coolant, get
>big airbubble in rad/heater core and overheat eventually.  To check for this
>fill the overflow bottle to proper level. Stick a piece of masking tape on
>and mark with a pen.  Then drive around whatever and check immediately upon
>shutting off, mark level.  Check again when completely cool.  Do this for a
>while to get an idea if there is a problem.  Sneaky probs that hinder
>diagnosis are faulty pressure relief cap on main reservoir and cracked
>overflow and/or main reservoirs.
>  Quick check is to turn on front heater to max while driving and feel
>defrost vs. floor heat (no fan on). This works best in winter natch.  If
>defrost heat is low/none then you have an airbubble.  Follow the correct
>coolant bleeding procedure, monitor levels and do this heat check to see if
>the problem re-appears.  A nastier manifestation of the airbubble prob is
>that at higher RPM the water pump has enough pressure to compress the
>airbubble up front (due to constriction in return flow due to pipes/crud/rad
>clogs) This has the effect of lowering the coolant level in rear, the LED
>comes on and the heat needle goes over the max.  This causes local *high*
>heat in engine, but rad stays cool (no flow) and the rad fan stays off. This
>can lead to warped heads!!!
>
>Now.....  BarsLeak rad sealer works for smaller leaks (drips) BUT you don't
>want to seal the rad, just the engine/heads.  Get it slightly warm and throw
>in 1/2 the rad seal. Idle it until you feel the fat hoses get warm as the
>thermostat opens.  Let it cool for 15-20 mins then repeat, 2x more.  This
>keeps the sealer mostly in the engine.  Then dump the coolant by pulling off
>the  lowest rad hose in the engine compartment, preferably by removing the
>Allen head bolts in the water jacket between the pushrod tubes.  Refill with
>water, run and dump again.  Then fill completely with water, bleed the rad.
>and run it for a day or so looking for leaks.  If you have some still you
>can BarsLeak again, the jar holds enough for 2 treatments. When happy dump
>and fill with antifreeze, run up to temp and adjust to get correct 50/50 mix
>ratio. 
>
>bye, Tim
>
>
>