>After reading about all of these head problems I'd like to understand what 
actually 
>happens (especially before it happens to my '87 Westy)! Can anyone tell me:
>
>What happens inside the engine? It sounds like liquid from the cooling 
system gets
>into the combustion area of the engine. Is the failure always that the head 
warps
>and disturbs the seal with the head gasket or are there other similar failures
>with the same effect?
>
>Are the heads defective when they leave the factory and it just takes a 
certain amount
>of mileage for the problem to appear?
>
>If they are defective from the beginning, is there anything you can do in 
terms of
>maintenance or driving style to prevent the problem from showing itself or 
is it
>pre-determined and just a matter of time (mileage)?
>
>Is there a way to detect in advance if the problem will happen? Maybe an 
oil analysis?
>
>If the problem occurs, what is the correct way to fix it? Do you have to 
get new
>heads? Re-machine the old ones?
>
>After fixing it, what's to say that it won't happen again?
>
>Thanks for putting up with my mechanical ignorance! We're about to make a 
trip from
>North Carolina to the Southwest for four weeks and I'm trying to get 
everything in order
>but I feel pretty helpless about the head thing. Our '87 has 69k miles on it.
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>Jeff H.
>
>

i dont think anyone responded to these very valid questions... so here they 
are again.