Still only 5500 miles a year.  Advice still holds!

 

Stuart

 

From: J Stewart [mailto:fonman4277@comcast.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 6:56 PM
To: Stuart MacMillan
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Low Compression, Longevity of the WBX'er and $20K Vans

 

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

 

  _____  

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 -----