Hello Everyone,

About 2 months ago my 90 Vanagon's left head sprang a leak and having heard
all the discussion on this list about head problems I thought that I would
park the car and have Christmas and repair it later when my wallet had
recovered.

Well yesterday I got the courage to pull it to pieces and amazingly the
head was in PRISTINE condition with NO corrosion pitting at all! The Rubber
head gasket had split causing the leak. I have owned the car for 3 years
and regularly changed the coolant so the heads must have been replaced just
before I bought it. (They both have a considerably brighter aluminium shine
than the motor)

My question is, is it worth taking the other non-leaking head off and
replacing what seems to be a perfect setup or should I just do the leaking
side and save some time and aggravation for no real gain? Also, is this
split rubber head gasket a common problem and if one side has gone does the
other one follow soon after?

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Scott Atkinson
Perth, Western Australia
90 Vanagon
89 Range Rover TDI (almost)
76 Range Rover 3.5 Gas guzzler
Scott Atkinson
Computer Systems Manager
CSIRO Land and Water            Email:  Scott.Atkinson@per.clw.csiro.au
Private Bag                     Phone:  +61-8-9333 6206
PO Wembley  WA  6014         Fax:    +61-8-9387 8211
Australia                               Web:    http://www.clw.csiro.au
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