On Sun, 10 Nov 1996, Paul Holmdahl wrote:

> Muir's book indicated the possibility of a faulty head gasket.  In a 
> previous chapter titled "Driving for Longevity", he suggested anticipating 
> problems before they leave you stranded on the side of the road.    I'm not 
> trying to imply my Syncro is anything like a Subaru, but here must be some 
> general similarities.  Here are the symptoms:
> 
> 1.)  Need for coolant in the overflow tank
       Bad sign. You have a problem.

> 
> 2.)  Tendency to run hot (?) at times.  Especially when tooling around the 
> city or when I pull off the highway (perhaps that's normal)
> 
> 3.)  Exhaust emissions, are, at times white or somewhat gray after the van 
> has warmed up.
> 
> 4.)  The smell (an educated guess) of coolant when the heater is run.

       REmove rear seat, and rear floor. Easy to do. Look for
       leaks. Very possible the valve on the heat is leaking. Pull
       on the hoses side to side, when engine running hot, and look
       for coolent leak at bolt flange.

 
> 5.)  The overflow tank has a bunch of black crap stuck to the interior wall 
> (which may be a stop leak compound the pervious owner added)
> 
> ****  Aside from the above concerns, she runs well.  I just want to think 
> more like Muir and take care of possible problems early.
> 
        Good idea!

>      On the opposite side of the scale, I changed the oil recently and it 
> was black as an ace of spades.
> 
> If it is a blown head gasket, is it possible to replace it without dropping 
> the engine ??

        Yes
> Paulo
> 
> paul.holmdahl@lawson.com
             Eric Zeno