VanaBuddies

Glad to admit that I've kicked the habit of being a member of the
WasserLeaker's club.  My red van is back on the road and competing for some
of that highway space.  The symptom was from a crack developed between the
exhaust port going to the spark plug.  Coolant would steam spew and leak
depending on the pressure and temp.

I took it around a few shops here in Rochester and the best repair shop
around got to do the work.  They could take me right away and have a nice
big shop.  Their method was to remove the engine and work on the bench.
They were going to redo the head gaskets on both sides but after
investigating the heads closer they discovered that the other (good?) head
also had a minor crack starting.  So the remedy was for two new head - ouch
$$.  Since the engine was out I also got them to replace the clutch as well.
All components were the original 1989 parts with 103,000 miles on them.
Head gaskets were still OK and did not leak - from there.

The shop labor was not too bad at about $600 but they manage to rack up
$1350 of new parts.  I was kind of expecting this kind or cost, but I'm a
happy camper again.  This did not score popularity points with the wife
though. (she just doesn't appreciate that German engineering like we do)
Hopefully nothing else will go wrong for a while :-)

Thanks for all the listee support during this turmoil.  I do not wish this
rite of passage on anyone.

Happy Cheers,

Joel Cort
89 Syncro Westy