Dear Volks,

I have an '86 Westphalia with 180,000 miles that I purchased this summer. I
successfully made a couple of 400 miles trips without major incident. Bring
the tach any where near the redline resulted in enormous clouds of white
smoke out the back! Coolant has been disappearing from the tank without
evidence of leaks on the floor.

I had been blissfully ignoring the problem until it came time for CT
emissions testing. The story is a long one, but I'll just hit the
highlights. The bus failed and garage #1 replaced the O2 sensor and
catalytic conververtor. After this it failed by a considerably worse margin
and the bus now runs dangerously rich. Before this "fix" power was
adequate. Now it stumbles at 3,300 rpm, makes little power and black smoke
comes out the back. After 2 weeks the garage "gave up" and offered to put
the old parts back on and refund my $.

Garage #2 said that yes you have the dreaded coolant leak into the heads.
In the interest of carefree cruising we started to investigate an engine
replacement. VWofA wants $2,300 for a short block (no heads) and has no
idea when it could be available.

HELP! Is there a reputable engine rebuilder that you Volks can recommend?

Mike Covello
Storrs, CT
86 Westphalia