I concur with you Dennis that the size of the boxer engine in these vans is
the weak point and probably
the biggest sore spot for these vans.   If VW had decided to give these van
a larger engine option it may
have fared better but at the time the speed limit in the U.S.was 55 mph and
they probably gambled that
it wasn't worth the effort.

Having said that, if drivers weren't so hell bent on going faster and
faster because that is all they know, these
engines might have done better in the long run.   Not to mention the
typical driver will ignore regular maintenance
on all vehicles and just drive them until they don't go anymore....   Our
throw away society just doesn't lend itself
to maintenance and upkeep.   Patience just isn't cool apparently....

Steven
91 Westy

On Mon, Feb 18, 2019 at 6:03 PM Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> For the Waterboxer the most common cause of sudden coolant in the oil is
> busted head stud or a hole in the side of a cylinder. (Yes it happens).  As
> for the seal at the bottom of the cylinders, unless the head and cylinder
> gets really lose you won't get the catastrophic amount.
>
> Depending on where the stud broke it may require a full teardown and a
> visit to a specialty machine shop. They break due to erosion, torque issues
> and overheating. The engine is likely to have other issues and the vehicle
> support systems added to this event. These are the van that give
> Waterboxers a really bad rap.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of thewestyman
> Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2019 6:53 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Coolant in the oil?
>
> Hi to all,
>
> Someone is asking me to fix his engine with coolant in the oil.
>
> So far I have not seen one with this problem.  I can only think of the
> seal at the bottom of the cylinder not sealing.
> But probably can be some other reason too, that I don’t know.
> Anyone?
>
> Zoltan
>