On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 4:35 AM, Andrew Grebneff <goose1047@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 11:25 PM, Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > OK, let's think about this in a logical manner.  The original 1.9l
> Vanagons
> > had plain steel pipes.  The piston liners inside the engine are cast iron
> > with steel studs holding the heads on.  Any way you look at it the van is
> a
> > multi-metal soup.
> >
>
> ...hence the head-corrosion problem?
>
> I guess it doesn't really make any difference which antifreeze you use, so
> long as you actually use the stuff.
>
> --
> Regards
> Andrew Grebneff
>

That is exactly why the heads do leak on this era German water-pumper
engines..  Heat+ dissimilar metals+a conductive solution to connect it all
together=a recipe for corrosion.  The 993 Porsche motors have the same
problems as a WBX.  Change away with your antifreeze/coolant mix...your
motor is still attacking itself.still it is probably the best thing to keep
the fresh coolant in there.

  I wonder if anyone has ever experimented with installing  sacrificial
anodes like are used in the marine world?  A couple of small bits of zinc
somewhere accessible in the coolant circulation system might mitigate the
corrosion problems you WBX owners encounter in the head area?

  Don Hanson