When my '84 7 passenger was given to me in '91, due to a bad engine that
had been overheated and which self destructed, I found that I could
actually wiggle one of the head capnuts.  Upon disassembly, the head
stud, for that wiggly capnut, was badly corroded and had stretched.
Obviously, the overheating was caused by combustion gases getting into
the coolant.

Mike

Ken Wilford wrote:
> Kim,
> You can reseal it with the yellow stuff that comes with the engine
> gasket kit.  Or if you don't have any of that you can use blue permatex
> or ultra blue.  The problem is that some times what is really going on
> is that they head has cracked externally near the head nut area.  This
> is a common failure of factory VW heads.  In that case your only fix
> would be to pull the head and install a new one along with a new
> gasket.  If you have a 1.9l engine the heads for this have been
> discontinued about three years ago so you would want to replace both
> heads with new 2.1l versions.  It will work no problems as long as you
> replace them in pairs.
>
> Let me know if I can help you further,
> Ken Wilford
> John 3:16
> www.vanagain.com
>
>
> Kim Springer wrote:
>> On another note, I have a very small coolant leak coming from an upper
>> head
>> nut. I've never heard this mentioned and didn't find anything in the
>> archives.
>>
>> I know the head studs are in the cooolant jacket and that sealant is
>> used to
>> seal the studs to the heads.
>>
>> Boston Bob, Jeff, any experience with this? Subi time Benny Boy?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Kim
>>
>>
>>
>