I've put this off long enough.  I got a few trips from my van this summer,
but on the last day I drove it, it backed up the coolant in the reservoir
(behind licence plate) three times in one day.  I would pull over when the
blinking low-coolant light turned on, drain the coolant out into a bottle,
start the vehicle, open the hot pressurized tank, and pour the coolant back
where it belonged.

Yesterday I took the valve covers off and used a torque wrench to inspect
the tightness of the nuts on the heads - well, all the easy to get to nuts
(so all but the two behind the air intake - I have only removed the air
filter box so far).

I have only done one side so far, but I found one of the bolts in the
centre of the head to be slightly under spec (37lb).  I recall Dennis Hayes
saying (email below) that this managed to solve head gasket symptoms 50% of
the time if done soon enough.  I doubt I have been soon enough, but how
does one tell.

I am prepared to do the head removal but boy would I be happy if it was as
simple as tightening some nuts.  Would I be overly hopeful to think that
this minimal nut tightening this late would save me having to remove the
heads?

Tom

84 Vanagon

On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 2:19 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
 wrote:

> One problem with relying on the sniffer tests is that they are looking for
> un-burned hydrocarbons. In order for this to work in addition to the leak
> you also need a combustion failure in the leaking cylinder. While cracked
> or
> loose heads may also cause a combustion issue you are in deep trouble by
> the
> point the sniffer tests pick it up. Keep in mind if those gasses can get
> out
> in some cases coolant can get into the cylinders. Antifreeze into the
> cylinders and then into the oil can cause some real damage. Long before
> antifreeze in the oil is visible the stuff becomes extremely corrosive and
> can quickly destroy bearings along with crank and cam surfaces. It can also
> destroy pistons by blowing out the tops and destroying the ring lands.
>
> If the engine has ever been overheated, (even before a rebuild) or has had
> the heads off for any reason loose heads can be the cause. I probably have
> a
> better than 50-50 success rate in fixing these issues just be retourqing
> the
> heads if the problem has not been left so long that the head seals (inners)
> or the tops of the cylinders have burned or pitted away.
>
> Dennis
>