Hi Ben!

You should go to www.vanagon.com, click on "problems", then select "Head
Gasket Leaks".

You will find lots of information. Soon, repairing Vanagon Head Gaskets will
no longer be a mystery to you.

Others here will also certainly help you as needed.

Cheers!

Marshall Ruskin
84 Westy "Iron Igloo"
Founding Member of "Vanagon's Anonymous"

Hello,
>
>I'm just dropping in to let you all know I'm a newcomer to this list.
>
>Today I received the title for my '85 Vanagon. It's blue, and in very good
>shape with air conditioning and the works. I was impressed.
>
>Anyway, the head gasket is blown, leaks antifreeze REAL bad (not
driveable).
>I understand this is a real common problem on watercooled Vanagons.
>
>From what the P.O. tells me, the heads themselves are okay, it's just the
>gaskets. What should I expect to pay a local mechanic to make such a
repair?
>Where can I buy the parts and at what cost? I have some mechanical
knowledge
>(e.g. I can replace shocks, exhaust systems, fuel lines, replace
>distributors, fuel pumps, set timings, etc), how hard of a job would this
be
>for me to do it myself?
>
>Look forward to hearing from yall!
>
>-Ben Wampler
>'74 Karmann Ghia Coupe
>'71 Type 3 Fastback
>'85 Vanagon
>