Some years ago, my '84 7 passenger was experiencing these symptoms but
instead of just leaking gasket(s) I had a crack in the head at #2
cylinder.  I never saw any white vapor in the exhaust.

A compression test showed normal for #s 1, 3, and 4 but #2 wouldn't come
up to the same as the others nor would it hold the pressure at all.

After removing the heads, I had a local machine shop pressure test the
one for #s 1 and 2 and, sure enough, #2 failed.  The crack between the
valves was a tad wider and certainly deeper than was acceptable.
Replacing that head was the fix.

Mike
'84 GL 7 passenger
'84 GL Westy
'85 GL Westy

David Kao wrote:
> It sounds like a head gasket problem. The combustion gas may be leaking through
> the stainless steel gasket rings on the top of the cylinders into the cooling
> system, which forces coolant out of the expansion tank back into the reservoir
> tank. If you see the reservoir tank gaining coolant (higher level) it points
> the the gasket problem.
>
> This happened to my westy when it was almost a new car. Try to re-torque the cylinder
> head nuts. But before that you need to loosen all exhaust headers. You will also need
> to remove the intake system in order to gain access to all head nuts. All head nuts
> should be torqued to 50 NM. This will not fix the problem if the heads are warped already.
>
> My recent rebuild of my 1.9 engine had a very slight leak. It was first noticed from the
> higher than normal temperature and slight increase of coolant level in the reservoir
> tank. After re-torquing the heads the problem was completely eliminated.
>
> David
>
>
> --- John Goubeaux <john@UCSB.EDU> wrote:
>
>> I have a situation where my 90 vanagon, after running for a few miles
>> began to exhibit "cooling system problems":
>> The temp needle went to the top and the red light began to flash. I
>> drove a little while longer and idled downhill home.
>> Coolant was leaking out of the (it looks like top of )  pressurized
>> coolant reservoir and as well as being under what looks like higher
>> pressure than normal. The car did not appear to be overheating. After I
>> stopped the engine I could hear pressure noises (what sounded like fluid
>> shifting around as the engine cooled off)
>>
>> Does this point definitively to a head gasket leak? If not what are the
>> other possibilities?  My coolant reservoir  had signs of leakage around
>> the top where the sensor fits into it prior to this and this was pointed
>> out to me by a mechanic.
>>
>> Thanks !  -john
>>
>
>
>
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