When I bought my 85 Transporter the previous owner had an overheating
problem,which turned to be the small steel coolant pipe which had rusted
out and was leaking - the small one with a 90 degree bend that bolts to the
he engine (head as I remember) and has a rubber hose attached to it. As I
remember it is  cross over hose to the other bank of the engine (on the
rear bumper end of the engine) Cost very little to fix - $30 + an hours
labour.

Previous owner had overheated it mildly turned it off immediately, had it
towed home, left it parked for 3 months and drove his other car. He thought
he'd developed the head leaking problem. Over 3 months the hydraulic
lifters bled dry, so when he tested it he thought the dry lifter he was
hearing was a bad connecting rod and decided to sell.

I listened to the engine, using a broom handle to isolate the noise to the
head. Told him I didn't know what it was, but was pretty sure it was in the
head (van's head not his). I knew nothing much about Vanagons - didn't even
know they had hydraulic valves. He said he didn't care what it was, he had
to sell and his price was $1,000. So I paid full price.

I just wanted a Westy, couldn't afford one and this was the next best
thing, a very well maintained one owner Transporter with a nicely made
bench seat folded into a double bed. Now six years later it's been made
into a Westy, thanks to a good deal on a used roof from the Bus Depot (good
people). I've been all over North America and am only on my second engine.
Alan Pickersgill
Ottawa Ontario
Canada
85 Transporter converted to West.
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>> Hello
>> I'm buying an '87 Wolfy with 107,000 miles that has an overheating problem.
>> The current owner says the engine overheats in about 20 minutes.
>> <snip>
>> I first plan to check(fill/bleed) the cooling system and then replace the
>> thermostat.
>
>I would definitely go for the thermostat first, this sounds like the
thermostat
>is stuck, not opening at all. YOu may need to bleed the coolant system
after a
>thermostat change anyway, so do the thermo first.
>
>PerL
>87 Syncro 112i
>
Alan Pickersgill
Ottawa, ON
Canada