Here in the northeast, we have been experiencing some cold weather.  Sunday
night the temperature dipped below 0 F (-18 C) with some awful wind gusts.
When our 90GL  was started Monday morning, an oil leak (gush) had developed
but was not detected.  The engine's lifeblood steadily poured out as the van
was allowed to warm up and then driven away.  Unfortunately the oil light and
buzzer did not convince the driver to shut the engine off.  The van made it
back to our driveway, but the engine was a goner...siezed!

Probably what happened was a failure of the gasket at the oil cooler (2.1L).
This gasket experiences a lot of heat in normal use and the extreme cold can
cause it to crack.  I will know after the autopsy.  An improved version of
this gasket is available.

A friend with a Passat experienced the same failure on the same day  He made
the mistake of leaving the engine running while he went into a store for a
few minutes.  When he went back out to his car, there was a puddle of oil
under his car and some terrible noise coming from it.  Luckily his engine did
not sieze.

I had been planning to replace the head gaskets in the Spring.  I will
probably replace the engine with a used one.  This time, I will do the heads
before installing the engine.  I will also replace the oil cooler gasket.

This is Vanagony!

Paul Kirsch
90GL  (Exxon Valdez)