Well, I did say that the engine only has 30K miles on a rebuild,
according to paperwork I got when I bought the beast last spring.  I
have no idea where the rebuild came from (paperwork just states under
"parts" that a "longblock engine replacement" was a part of the work
done).

So, you are saying either new heads or mill these, at minimum?  thanks,
Dave Mc

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 8:44 AM, B Feddish wrote:

> You haven't mentioned how many miles were on this motor, that may
> factor in
> as to what you want to do.  Taking the heads off is a big job whether
> you do
> it or somebody else does it. If I were to go that far there is no way
> I'd
> just slap a new rubber gasket and some sealant in there and put it all
> back
> together. This is of course if there are allot of miles on the engine.
> I
> would at least have the heads done while they were out our better yet
> put on
> some new ones. Yeah, the heads are expensive but so is taking them off
> in
> terms of time.  Then again if you are budget conscious and you are
> going to
> do the job yourself then at least do the JB Weld thingy with the heads
> while
> they are out.
>
> Bryan
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of
> Dave Mcneely
> Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 9:22 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: head gaskets
>
> So, I should do the head gaskets, or not?  It's very expensive, but I
> want a
> reliable van (or no van at all).  Thanks, Dave Mc
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 6:48 PM, mark drillock wrote:
>
>> This is a typical failure mode. Leaks in cold weather, stops when
>> warmed up, leaks worse as temps drop. May go on this way for years
>> depending on you and it. Mine has. On more than one van.
>>
>> Mark
>>
>>
>> Dave Mcneely wrote:
>>> 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.
>>> .......
>>>
>>> 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.