'88 Westy, new (rebuilt) engine with maybe 4,000 miles on it. As will be
made apparent, I am not a mechanic, so please bear with me.

I drove cross-town today, and when I parked, I could smell coolant. I looked
under the engine and sure enough, coolant was leaking out onto the ground in
a steady stream. I quickly removed the engine cover and saw that it was
leaking from the end of a large hose close to the back of the engine (if
you're facing the steering wheel).

The obvious (?) solution is to replace the gasket on this hose, but it's not
the regular steel-circle-with-a-screw-type gasket. There is no screw to be
seen, and I don't know how to remove it.

So, two questions: this leak seems to be intermittent. If the gasket is the
problem, why wouldn't it leak all the time? I drove it to a local service
station after initially seeing the leak, and the mechanic there left it
running for an hour waiting to see where the leak was coming from, but it
never leaked for him. As soon as I picked it up and drove it home, it leaked
again (of course).

Secondly, how do I remove the existing "strange" gasket so I can put a new
one in its place?

Thanks for any help.

Chris
Los Angeles