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done it, took the plunge brought it!! Let the fun commence, thanks for all the help, will post more later!

Liz

 A recon DG 1.9 petrol can be fitted all in for £1200. That's an engine that if looked after will go on to complete 250,000+ miles no problem.

 Theres some scare mongery in this thread and it's sad to see it. Making remarks such as engines being very very very expensive is BS. £1200 sounds expensive if you drive a Fiesta around, but pushing you anywhere on the globe for another 200,000miles in a sleeper is peanuts. Rem,ember what you're buying it for and expect bills higher than your regular shopping cart or roller skate hatchback. Then enjoy.

 The water in the footwell I'm guessing is on the drivers side? This was common for the T3 and comes from the aerial pillar mounts. The only good remedy is to buy a complete new aerial for £8 on ebay etc and not just buy the rubber mount gaskets for an absurd amount!

 Remember, prices of parts reflect both the german engineering and what the vehicle will do for you. I'm in West Africa and the Gold coast every year and often use bush taxis that are T3s. Some of these have covered over 500km and still trundle along with 10-15 inside and 5-10 people sat on the roof.

Pro.

thanks all for all your advice, much appreciated, we have fallen in love with the vehicle already and are aware that it will cost us a bit but for the love of it I'm sure it'll all be worth it.  It drove beautifully home about 40miles last night and whilst yes there is rust  for the age it's doing remarkably well - we are considering a respray - anyone know of any good bodyshops??

My next task is to find a crank case breather cap - which requires replacement - any clues?? I will have a trawl later today.

Thanks again

Liz

PS: if anyone fancies coming to see the VW then we are hosting a ukcs meet in june 2nd to the 4th - see the meets and rallies page - we'd love to see other VW's and their owners !

Liz

hmmmmm

regarding prodisc's comment regarding the details on the wsserboxer flat four this engine has a design flaw (head pitting against the water jacket)   volkswagen themselves had to bow down to their customers and offer replacement engines for customers because they were failing while under warenty!!

scaremongery is a  bit harsh....more realistic.... not sure i believe these engines could do 250,000 miles without a major rebuild or a water jacket seal failing and £1200 would be a recon as said not new so the problem of the heads leaking again due to corrosion will eventually happen again.

all this information is avaiable on 80/90 and the brickyard

Jakers glad to hear you bought the bus and have joined us vw fanatics

by the way vw show this weekend at Battlesbridge on sunday hope to see you there in the bus

cheers

Well I'm not about to waste breath on your disbelief that a Wasserboxer won't do 250K on an original engine. That was a conservative estimate so not to provoke disbelief, but if you'd take the time to travel through Africa you'd find these vans along with Toyotas are clocking upwards of 500k and still running. Remember these areas refine used engine oil by sifting with stockings and a service kit is far far beyond anyones monthly wages. Anyone lucky enough to run a bush taxi won't have anything else on their mind but oil changes ans taking peoples money. If the engine were to die an alternative such as a pug engine would go in, but as  VW owner that unmissable sound of the flat four can still be heard 24 hrs a day on 20+ year old vans.

Why for the life you'd disbelieve a contributor to the forum who is a twice yearly visitor to Africa supporting blind children is beyond me. Arse and head up comes to mind.

 The engines fault was and is the head bolts running through the water jacket. The air cooled like many aircooled engines has the head bolts runing externaly to the cylinders. When the water jacket was added the bolts then and now run 'through' the water jacket, which if not flushed and re-filled with the correct additive will corode these now 'submerged' head bolts. The head bolts then expand with rust, restricts water flow and cooling capabilities, and finaly cooks the head gaskets leading to your expansion tank steaming like a kettle and iminent total engine failure.

 When this happens the head bolts are probably beyond extracting fromn the crank casing, although if time is on your side this CAN be done and may not mean a new engine.

 It's not scare mongery and I agree Andy at the brick yard is a wealth of information, but the No1 piece of advice in preventing all this talk of leaking heads and expensive engine changes is to look after the cooling system and in turn the head bolts. Generaly if the water temp gauge goes clear of the red warning light to the right, I'd walk away. Gauges I agree are succeptable to mis-readings but having cooked an engine myself whilst touring Europe, I know first hand what this water jacket thing is all about. As for pitting, I've not heard that one on 80-90, brickyard or JK, but will look into it as part of the ever increasing learning curve of owning a VW camper...

Pro.
Post last edited on 06/05/2006 11:35:51

well we are learning fast, the engine needs a new breather housing - it appear that we have to go to vw for this as can't find one anywhere - there is a transporter fully kitted in the local scrappers but engine is out already so no joy their, but we will be hijacking the r&r bed, heater and other stuff.

also we need to fit a new exhaust but have sourced one of these - more jobs for hubby to embark upon!!

will keep you posted as we progress - would love to join you guys on your vw weekend but unfotunately have a caravan park to run so no such delights until we close!

liz

hmmmm again

bit rude prodisc and i still find it hard even with your travelling abroad etc that a watercooled falt four engine will do in excess of 250.000 miles

can only appologise to Jackers for trying to say a 25 year old van means work and expence

if you are not a vw enthusiast (i have been into the scene since my first bug in 88)

the all i wanted to explain was relevent problems with these vw's

not quite sure i can fit my head up my arse but will try later

and vw replaced the engines because of coolent laeks around the jacket due to head pitting not due to stud failure (this problem was hapening within a year of production).

i though forums were for people to air there views on a subject and if i am wrong i will accept it

sorry to find someone so passionate about vw slate off anothers views

just a thought Jakers might get another coment for mentioning this but if you have water in the footwells check the lower windscreen corners they rot out and allow water in

the aerial hole does not enter the cab it sits infront of the bulkhead

cheers

thanks all for your comments and yes good 'friendly' debate is great - didn't want to begin a war in this thread.  Have already discovered the water in the footwells and where it gets in - we are now considering putting in in somehere for a full rust treatment and respray and get the interior done out also?  any thoughts on this or would it be cheaper/easier to do it ourselves??

Liz

sorry me again

this makes good reading should have posted it before...

What is the head gasket problem, anyway?

Tim Smith writes:

Coolant leaks out of the engine, by squeezing under the fat rubber head gasket on the head side. The gasket is flat, no groove or lips, so the path is easy for the coolant to get through. Coolant creeps under the gasket edge from day 1 in a new engine, due to water pressure and the use of a soft gasket material. The coolant becomes trapped under the gasket, and creates local corrosion pockets. This is known as 'crevice corrosion' and is due to bad engineering at VAG. Once the aluminium head starts to corrode in the pockets the 'rust' puffs up a bit alllowing more coolant seepage deeper under the gasket. The process continues until it reaches the outside, whence it starts dripping. The hardening of the rubber with age, and the repeated expansion/contraction of the water jackets aggravate this problem as the van ages. The only fix if leaking is new gaskets and perhaps new heads. Small leaks/drips may respond to BarsLeak. This is one type of head leak, and is definately fatal. This problem may suddenly appear in late fall as colder overnight temps. are encountered, causing the water jackets to contract enough to leak out the weakened gaskets seal. Look for drops of coolant under the van.

The second type of head gasket leak is coolant over the top of the internal cylinder barrels, past an O-ring and large thin metal gasket. This allows coolant into barrels, giving some white smoke/missing on startup, but more importantly loosing coolant and letting combustion gasses into the coolant circuit. This is usually noticed when the overflow tank suddenly fills up with a hot engine, and draws back in while cooling. This leak is less common than the first, and gives longer warning time. It can sometimes be fixed by retorquing down the heads.

You can get more information by reading the following article:

• Green Stuff Considered - Coolants & Corrosion

How do I know if I have the problem?

Jim Davis writes:

Usually you notice little puddles of coolant under the van. By this time though, it's likely been leaking for a while since the coolant evaporates before enough accumulates to drip to the ground.

How do I avoid the problem?

Many people think that frequent coolant changes help to delay the problem. It's also essential that you use phosphate-free coolant. I'd also recommend that you keep the receipts for any coolant you buy as well as coolant changes you have done. This will help prove that you've kept the vehicle well-maintained if the problem does occur.

Adam Galaski of Kirkwood VW has an interesting theory on what causes the problem:

I am a 20-year technician at a small independent VW-only repair shop and came across something that may be of interest to Vanagon owners. Today we had an '87 Vanagon come in for a head gasket reseal, and after taking it apart for inspection, I found the sealing surfaces to have absolutly no pitting whatsoever. (This engine had been replaced, according to the customer,about 75-80,000 miles ago, and the coolant looks like it hadn't been changed in a while.)

What I did notice about this engine is that the assembler did not use any gasket sealer between the head and the gasket. This got me thinking, so I grabbed an old head from under the work bench which still had the gasket stuck to it. I gently peeled off the gasket and noticed that all the pitting on the head directly corresponded to the bead of sealant on the gasket. I showed this to some colleagues of mine from the auto center here and they all agreed that this may have something to do with the pitting problem. This may be the reason that head gasket kits now come with a different kind of sealant (kind of a green jello looking stuff).

Pass this on and see if anyone else may have some feedback on this.

How do I fix the heads myself?

Bob Donalds of Boston Engine has written an excellent technical article on replacing your heads.

• A Gearheads View of Wasserboxer Head Replacement

Will Volkswagen (of America) fix this under warranty?

For a while, there was a warranty, and VW could be made to cover part or all of the cost for these problems. The latest reports indicate that this 'unofficial warranty' has expired, and VW is no longer repairing heads under warranty. Derek Drew found the following on the FTC web site:

should have mentioned www. vanagon.com this extract was taken from their problems page.

well worth a look

Jakers have a go at doing up the bus very rewarding and when someone admires it you can smile and say you done all the work.

as said before join the t25 forums to find your parts and enjoy vw ownership!

cheers