Dave do a cooling system pressure test. A tester can be rented, but you
should have one if your going to do auto repair work. About $35.00 at the
local FLAPS. Test the system cold and you should be able to find the problem
easily.

Howard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Mcneely" <mcneely4@COX.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 6:34 PM
Subject: head gaskets

> So, I've done about everything I thought I should to make my '91 camper
> as reliable as it could be, including lots of cooling system fixes.
> Just replaced all coolant hoses, since so many think that should be
> done.
>
> First really cold weather of the winter last week.  Started up the van,
> only to see a coolant drip underneath.  Methinks, well, a loose clamp on
> a hose, not tightened adequately.  Take off the lid, search all over for
> a hose leaking.  Nada.  Continue searching, coolant drip diminishing.
> Stops.
>
> Didn't drive the van for a week.  Cold weather returned, and methinks
> the van should be driven a bit.  Start it up, and it drips, then drips
> more, then a larger drip, then drips from more than one place.  When the
> engine was warmed up, the leak quit.
>
> Head gaskets are leaking.  The question:  I find it difficult to think
> the gaskets just all of a sudden turned loose (I'd even removed the tins
> to look for evidence of leaks when I did the hoses, and saw none).
> Could it be that the heads and or gaskets were already loose or
> whatever, and the cold weather made them looser and so they leak?  If I
> run the engine a little while, the leaks dry up, suggesting to me that
> temperature plays a role -- expansion, contraction ..... .  So, could
> the heads be sealed better even with the temperature difference between
> normal fall temps and the quite cold temps we've had lately?  I'm just
> trying to understand why this suddenly showed up, and wonder if it being
> coincident with the cold weather is more than a coincidence.
>
> How much should a fix cost?  If I need heads milled, am I better off
> having a local guy mill them than buying rebuilt heads?
>
> The engine only has 30K on a rebuild, according to paperwork I got with
> the beast.
>
> Thanks, David
>