That was the PO who was averaging 3700 miles a year. This Westy is the first one that is my only car (besides my company car) and in 2 years I have put around 11,000 miles on it. I hope I haven't jinxed myself here! Jeff Jeff Stewart ----- Original Message -----
> Congrats, you have been driving on borrowed time, and have borrowed a
> lot! 3700 miles a year is pretty easy duty though, but at some point
> the pressure in the cooling system will blow out the seal. Visualize a
> tiny passageway of ever expanding corrosion between the coolant and
> the outdoors. If you can plug it up now, for however it lasts, you'll
> have more years left given your driving duty.
> If you can't successfully plug it, the first time you drive it after
> it's been sitting for a few months will likely be the time it blows.
> I've found these engines do give you several warnings before they
> fail, whether it's coolant leaks, low oil pressure, rod knock, noisy
> lifters, overheating, etc., and it's up to you to heed them. You can
> have a breakdown, or you can plan for a new engine (or you can just
> expect a breakdown, like I did).
> Good luck!
> Stuart
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of J Stewart
> Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 4:47 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Low Compression, Longevity of the WBX'er and $20K Vans
> Not that I doubt you, and I realize it is only a matter of time before
> the gasket totally fails, receipts from the shop that was ripping off
> the PO of my van say "right cylinder head has bad coolant leak". These
> receipts go back almost 10 years and 37K miles!! Jeff Stewart -----