Date:         Sun, 04 Aug 1996 21:00:44 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dbax@mindspring.com (Donald Baxter)
Subject:      New Engine (7,500 mile progress report)

I put a new engine installed in my '85 GL last February.  This is one of the
Remanufactured units that VW assembles in Canada.

Just wanted to let the list know that after 7,500 miles, my experience is
good.  I just checked the bleeder valve on the radiator for the first time
since March.  No bubbles, period--nada, nothing. I guess I was a bit
surprised by this as I made a 'temporary' repair to the rear heater valve
with the blue sealant goop--I figured that would leak some--but after over a
year it is still holding just fine.  Hoo-Ray.  Oil consumption is about 1/2
quart in 3,000 miles with synthetic, some of that attributable to the fact
that the pipe that feeds the sump from the filler cap still leaks a bit.

I may replace the rear heater when I do the coolant change this winter--the
valve will not shut off supply of heated coolant as the inside plastic valve
has disintegrated.  When I took this valve apart, pieces of this valve broke
off in my hand as I pulled the two halves of the case apart to seal it.

I'm pretty happy with my $3,600 investment.  I haven't spent the summer
bleeding coolant endlessly.  I run the air conditioner all the time and the
needle remains just a hair above center at the most.  The compressor that I
replaced last summer is working much better this summer than last--I guess
they break in.  I also resealed the ducts so that more air is directed to
the front.  The AC still leaks from the actual overhead unit some, but I
haven't figured out how to take that out.

This fall we'll bang all the dents out of it and get it a new silver paint job.

Donald Baxter
_________________________________________________________
Donald Baxter  Atlanta, Georgia
404.874-3292 (home)  <dbax@mindspring.com>  
404.447.6831 (work)  <dab1@jhk.com>

_________________________________________________________
"Forget Tara, Atlanta is what you would have if Detroit got its act
Together."

          --Paul Goldberger, "Atlanta is Burning," New York Times