FUJI-HEAVY

well I pulled the thermostat and started it up and the bubbling is hardcore now. It runs like sh*t and I've further noticed that my muffler seems to have large amounts of rust holes, out of the top! The rusty muffler and drips of water coming out of the exhaust seem to me to be more than usual condinsation. I'm pissed. This thing is turning out to be a lemon and my wife... . Looks like a head gasket is undeniable at this point. So whats the best way to do a head gasket. Drop the motor or do it in car. I'm going to do a compresion check next just to confirm and the old man is coming to inspect and administer his 2 cents.

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O.K. So I had a previous thread dealing with a possible blown head gasket and the feedback was limited but generaly said it probably was a head gasket. Here's the situation. I did some work on my 85 GL-1O turbo wagen a few days before christmas and at the end of the work decided to throw in a new thermostat. Well, a 5 min job became a half day job when one of the bolts was siezed in and broke off. After trying to easy-out it I was forced to tap it out and clean the thread and yada, yada, yada. I just had to vent that. Well a few days later I was set to head to the ski hill and checked all my fluids and noticed the coolant was low. I topped it off but opted to not take her to the hill. When I got back I drove around always checking for leaks and checking the engine when I arrived anywhere. I got home and could hear bubbling in the coolant reservoir. On a suggestion from my dad, I waited untill she was cool and removed the radiator cap to see what happens on start up and look for movement indicating the water pump was working once the thermostat opens. Well, the first thing to happen was a bubbling of air for about 5 seconds and then coolant pushing out of the radiator. Now the thing is that everytime I drive her, she pushes coolant into the reservoir and when cool, draws it back but seems to loose a bit everytime. Like i said before, when I stop from a short cross town trip there is bubbling noise from the reservoir. Here are some diagnosis: - No water or "foam in the oil". - No white smoke from the exhaust. - No oil in the coolant. - Very little heat inside the car now since problem started. - The engine temprature gauge reads the engine is cooling better than before. I just wonder if anything could cause this pressure excluding the cylinder gases. Could a stuck, faulty thermostat combined with the water pump do this? what about the turbo? Could the turbo be pressurizing the system through some kind of leak? I plan to remove the thermostat all together today to see what happens. It appears that the system is gaining pressure some how but the engine is cooling allright. I'm confused. Thanks for taking the time to read this long winded account but I wanted to lay down as many details as possible to assure correct assistance. Steve M.

Dude, you do not sound like a blow hard. If anything you sound totaly calm. The road flare was proper road safety and more than most people would have the sense to do. Sounds like the jeep owner was messing around too fast in the snow, thinking the worst he would do is end up in a snow bank, except some one was already in there. Your friend is lucky to be alive and you are going to have to start a file on this including your doctors reports, adjuster reports, blue book values, ect. Every bit that it will take to get you back to something that makes you just as happy. Look for equal condition vehicles across the country and even in Canada and then include the price of shipping it. This is a collecters car that anyone here would kill for! I will sign any petition stating that this is an extremely rare find of an extremely quality car in extremely excellent condition. I hope I spelled extremely right. Steve M.

Is there any chance that it's something else. A stuck thermostat wouldn't cause this kind of back pressure, would it? The top Rad hose is warm after warm up so I'm assuming the Thermostat is working. What about a clogged radiator? I know I'm grabbing at straws but I don't want to believe it's the head gasket.

The last thing I want to do is a head gasket. How do I find out what side the leak is on? Compresion test?

I had a similar experience. Last winter a friend offerd to sell his Grandmas 84 subaru to me for, like $600. (Canadian) in payments even. Well I grabed it and she was magnificant. Every receipt since his Grandma bought it at the dealer and it looked just as good. One night we got snow and some sucker in a jeep slid into it parked in front of my house at 3 a.m. and did some good damage. The insurance company in British Columbia (i.c.b.c = *********************s) covers everyone and so being in the middle, try to screw everyone equally. The agent said the same thing about covering repairs up to the cost of replacement and suddenly started pulling advertisments for "mint" 84 gl's out of his rump roast. Well, I was forced to take the small amount of cash and never did find as nice a car and so added a bunch more cash and bought my 85 GL-10. The first suby never had a problem, my second has never not had a problem. Fight the insurance co. tooth and nail. They will screw you and you'll never be happy. Keep your existing Suby and insist they repair the damages and make sure to drop the "...well my laywer was saying...&...I have to talk to my laywer..." as much as possible. FIGHT THE FIGHT, FOR US ALL !!!

I've been having overheating troubles recently. I changed the thermostat and right after noticed that my radiator was loosing antifreeze. There are no visible leaks or drips, no signs at all of antifreeze dripping out. My dad suggested starting and running the vehicle with the rad cap off to look for movement of the fluid to show if the new thermostat is opening and antifreeze flowing. He said to also keep an eye open for bubbling when I first start it up, as that may be a sign that the head gasket is gone. Well, I just started it up and right away there is bubbling and the antifreeze wants to force out of the radiator. Is my head gasket gone?

Well after todays investigation the bad bad noise turned out to be the tensionar pulley on the drivers side. It was no more. The bearing had shatterd and the cog was spinning frealy and chewing into the plastic sheild! The car was still running strong despite this! Areal testiment to the design of these vehicles. Tommorow, new wheel bearings, seals, and finish the install of said destroyed pulley.

I had that hose by the thermostat go on me and damn if it didn't take a long time for me to find it. Should have come here first. The real *************** was tightning the new clamp on in such a tight spot. That was a fun 3 hours.

Thanks for the help guys. I'm pulling the wheel bearings today. Did you know the wheel bearings are the same as the vanagons inner bearings. Jus a little FYI. The #2 noise has me freaked now as it grows worse and I wish it would just do it's thing and at least break so I can find out what is breaking.

I would say if you have the radiator off, might as well take it to a rad shop and get it cleaned out. I did this to a suzuki samuria I had and it made all the difference. I plan on doing mine out of my 85 GL-10 this spring as I have had some problems with slight overheating.

Thanks for the help. The #2 problem is the big one. It's more of a screeing noise. I'm almost sure it's not a rod bearing as I just spun a rod bearing on my 73 v.w. van and it sounds nothing similar. It's definitly something closer to the surface of the engine and more a constant noise than a knock. To give an idea I thought it was something like a bearing in the pulleys like the belt tensioner or maybe alternator but the sound is more in between the alternator and distributor, right over the head.

On further thought, could the sound from problem #2 be tranny related? Is my torque converter coming loose? Is my mind becoming lost. Yes thats it I'm losing my mind. Please help before I freak out and buy a honda. That was a sick joke I know.

I recently revived my 85 gl-10 turbo wagen and some problems from before are bigger problems now. Problem #1: The grinding noise from the front wheels is most likely the wheel bearings, right? I'm sure thats it as the car has 240,000 km's on her and sounds like thats it, so this isn't a real problem but I'll be doing them tommorow. Any tip's or tricks for the procedure, are appreciated. Problem #2: There is a terrible noise coming from over top of the driver side head between the distributor and the alternator. I thought at first maybe the bearings on the belt tensioner or alternator where going but other opinions have confirmed that the noise is coming from further back than the alternator. The sound is getting worse. Starts nasty at idle but as I speed up it's less apparent. Sounds like another bearing is shot but where? The sound is real bad now and I'm sure something will give soon. Timing belt or sprocket? This one I haven't a clue on. Problem #3: When the engine is cold after first starting and maybe the first half hour it surges on acceleration. This is the turbo model so is it a vacum leak or fuel injectors? Problem #4: Electrical: The passenger front power lock doesn't work now. Is this because of a relay or? The power windows move very slow. Is this due to a need to grease the tracks or are the motors also wearing out. Also... I have the digital dash and the lights on the left side of the display conk in and out. Ground problem? In dash? Also, also... The cruise control worked before but doesn't now. Relay? Buttons or wires? So thats all I can think of now. What a pile of crap I have ahead of me. I don't expect all the answers but any insight on any of the problems at hand would help me to get to the ski hill this winter and make me look good to the wife.