Eric,

   Lots of us run with green coolant.  If you use the
orange coolant at $20/gallon (I think), you might get
lucky and the head gaskets will last a couple of years
longer than with the green stuff.  Maybe the heads
won't be pitted as badly with the orange coolant.  My
theory is the head gaskets will fail anyway, so go
ahead and get some tools and plan on doing the head
gaskets every few years.  BTW, the previous owners of
my van used green as well, and I'm still using one of
the original heads at 122K miles.

My $.02,
Greg Stelz
86 "westfakia"
Columbus, Ohio
-------------------
 OK, this whole proper coolant for Vanagon issue seems
somewhat
baffling to
 me.  Someone in a recent posting offering advice on
whether to buy a
Westy
 said they were concerned about the green coolant.  My
coolant is green
 straight out of the container.  It is Prestone brand.
 It says safe
for all
 aluminum parts on the label, but it doesn't say
phosphate free.  So is
 Prestone safe?  If not, what brands are safe?  What
do phosphates
damage in
 the engine?

 Thank you,

 Eric in NC
1988 Westy

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com