Oil Cooler?????  Sounds like the most likely place for oil and water to
mix...and the easiest to fix!!!
Karl Batzler
-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Rodriguez <DRodrig420@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, January 18, 1999 5:55 PM
Subject: Re: need help, oil in coolant (bit long)

>It sounds to me like there is oil getting into the water jackets around the
>cylinders.  That would be the most likely place for oil and water to get
>together.  But that would mean either a cracked block or head, or a bad
head
>gasket.  I assume you checked the oil level, considering the large amount
in
>your coolant tank.  Were you down any oil?
>
>-Dave
>'88 GTi 16v
>'88 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg
>
>
>In a message dated 1/18/99 12:41:41 PM, most@UCLA.EDU wrote:
>
>>Before you all tell me I've got a serious problem on my hands, let me
share
>>the good news.  This problem is not with my gool ol' '87 non-GL camper for
>>which a few of you last week said that I need a new throw out bearing.
>>Rather, I just purchased an '87 GL camper on Saturday morning in Portland,
>>OR and drove it to Los Angeles (1000 miles) arriving here last night.
With
>>some strange case of vanagonitis, I saw an ad on the internet Friday
>>afternoon, flew up Saturday morning with a one way ticket, and was on my
>>south by 1pm (after "fixing" a driver's side power window that had been
>>stuck in the down position since last summer).  I'll present the details,
>>but the bottom line is that I see 1/4" to 1/3" layer of oil on top of the
>>coolant in the refill tank behind the license plate.
>>
>>Before you feel sorry for me, I got a good enough deal on the new vanagon
>>such that even if I had to replace the engine, it would be worth it.  The
>>body isn't pefect, but there's no rust and the blue plastic is still on
the
>>drain surface over the stove.  The appliances were NEVER used.
>>
>>Anyway, here are the important details for the current problem.  There are
>>160,000 miles on the original engine.  The PO told me that it has been
>>"sitting" for the last 2 years (I don't if this means that she didn't use
it
>>much or at all, and I suspect that something close to the latter could be
>>true).  She did say that she had the head gasket job done at about 140K,
and
>>as I look, there are no external coolant leaks at the head gasket (or
>>anywhere else for that matter).  The valve covers are HEAVILY coated with
>>black oil deposits, and the right side leaves a spot of oil on the ground
>>3"-4" wide after being parked for a while.  Before I drove away from
>>Portland, she told me that she had just added some oil, and the dipstick
>>read above full.  It didn't look too bad though.  I did NOT see any oil in
>>the coolant when I left.  In addition, the coolant level in the expansion
>>tank was lower than I'm used to, but it was in the normal zone (on my
other
>>'87, it usually stays full).  The coolant level in the refill tank was
>normal.
>>
>>During the drive down, the engine performed flawlessly.  It ran like a top
>>for all 1000 miles and purred better than my other '87.  I was driving for
>>long stretches at about 65 mph.  However, here's when I first noticed the
>>problem.  At about 750 miles, I saw the coolant light flashing.  I pulled
>>over, saw no leaks, noticed that the coolant level was just low enough in
>>the expansion tank to cause the coolant level warning light to flash AND a
>>small layer of oil on top of the coolant in the refill tank.
>>
>>I decided to add water to the coolant expansion tank, and I filled it to
>>just above the upper hose.  The refill tank was at the max level, so I
>>didn't add any to that tank.  I then drove the next 250 miles without any
>>more flashing lights or any other problems (but I did drive a bit more
>>slowly keeping it between 55 and 60).  The temp. gauge stayed in the
middle
>>as before, and when I checked the coolant levels this morning, the
expansion
>>tank was at the same level as when filled 250 miles earlier, and refill
tank
>>was full with the layer of oil as described at the beginning of this
e-mail.
>>The oil does not appear to have changed color at all, but I'm not sure if
>>that's relevant.
>>
>>So, my question is what's going on here?  I know that this can't be
>>diagnosed for sure without seeing it, but the list wisdom always seems to
>>figure things out nonetheless.  Is it possible that some seals dried up
from
>>lack of use?  Is this something that has a chance of being repaired with
>>anything significantly short of an engine rebuild/new engine?  It ran SO
>>perfectly down here, that it's hard to believe anything's wrong, but I
know
>>better.  Had it not been for the warning light, I wouldn't have noticed
the
>>oil until the next time I checked the coolant.
>>
>>I have a funny feeling that the answer to my question may be shorter than
my
>>description.  In any case, thanks for listening and for any advice.  I
could
>>sure use some.
>>
>>David
>>
>>temporarily with 2 vanagons and no parking spaces
>>'87 non-GL camper 140k
>>'87 GL camper 160k