If it is a head problem it is not showing in the cylinders.
 I didn't include that when I did this preliminary diagnostic this evening I
did not totally re fill and re-bleed the cooling system.  The pressure tank
was empty after my boil-over incident.  I simply poured in enough water to
fill it and then started up the motor...so the bubbles coming into the
pressure tank may (fingers crossed) have been some air coming from the hoses
and empty cooling passages....But the over-full episode kinda makes maybe
wishfull thinking.

  Might be time to go get that $300 used motor I've been looking at....It IS
a vw...every vw should have a spare motor, right?

  This van came to me with a full-time blinking coolant light and I couldn't
get it to stop...The previous owner said he also had tried but gave up and
just let that sucker blink all the time.  I put some tape over it and having
been driving without a problem for over two years and about 40k
miles...watching the temp gauge and checking the coolant level every oil
check...which means every fill up of gas...I always check my oil...left over
from my air cooled days, I guess.

  Is there a way to check the integrity of a head/head gasket when the leak
is not letting coolant into the cylinders?  Or do I pull the head?  Takes
about 4 hrs, but could there be a flaw/fault that I wouldn't see by eye?
Ugg, was not planning on this deal..
  Don Hanson

On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 7:36 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:

> Sounds like a blown head gasket or cracked head, either letting combustion
> gases into the cooling system. The combustion gases are 1000s of psi so it
> takes only a tiny and brief breech for a small gas bubble to get through and
> then expand in the much lower pressure cooling system. The fact that coolant
> doesn't yet leak the other way doesn't matter to this possible diagnosis as
> that takes a larger problem.
>
> When you say your temp led doesn't work do you mean it doesn't blink a few
> times every time you turn on the key?
>
> Mark
>
>
> Don Hanson wrote:
>
>>   Hi all, recently I've noticed my cooling system is being weird.
>>   Don Hanson
>>
>>