I'm no authority on the matter, but experience has shown me that old orings
compressed long enough can look like flat seals.

Any chance of mistaken identity?

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
azsun99
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 9:03 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: seal at lower t-stat housing to cyl head

This is on a '90. The ETKA calls it a seal and when I removed the old one
(it was
leaking), it was a flat seal, not an old hardened o-ring. When I asked for
the seal at
a VW dealer in San Diego, they gave me an o-ring. It does not appear to be
anything
special, but I am concerned with the high heat in that area.
Has the flat seal been superseded by the o-ring?
Thanks,
Jerry in AZ