Rabbit died after a long pull up a big hill

[tthayer]

I took the rabbit on it's inaugural run tonight and got about 80 miles in before it crapped out. I was doing a long hard pull up a hill in 3rd gear (4 spd), and the coolant expansion tank developed a nice hole right under the cap. All my coolant boiled out and got sucked into the intake. I didn't notice anything until I heard a ticking and the engine started loosing power pretty steadily. I pulled off the side of the road and the engine died right there. It appears my alternator wasn't working, too, as I didn't have enough battery to try cranking it after I got some coolant back in it. The engine lost no oil during this debacle, but it doesn't want to catch on cranking now. It sounds like something got pulled into the intake and damaged a valve or the headgasket is gone again.

Here is what I did wrong:
No air cleaner
Didn't give the car long enough to break in the headgasket and retorque the head bolts
Took the car on a long trip to a far away land (the beach, down Highway 26 in Oregon)

Please don't do these things. Towing and the cajoling of friends into helping you get your rig back home is expensive.

FWIW, the state troopers were really awesome about the whole thing. Yay for sitting in the back seat of a police car!

[rabbitman]

I'd say the HG leaks due to a warped head These things get hot fast with no coolant!!!

Does it crank fast?

[tthayer]

I dreamed about this plenty, and I came to the same conclusion. Warped head is most likely the problem. When I filled it up with water after all was said and done, I don't think I filled the rad properly and so the top hose was probably just filled with steam and air.

These guys are local and their prices look fair: http://www.aluminumheads.com/Volks.html

[tthayer]

That is, of course, unless some kind vendor on this forum can source one for less than $350.

[Dakotakid]

Yay for sitting in the back seat of a police car!
[/quote]

Was that WITH or WITHOUT cuffs?

[tthayer]

Some state troopers stopped and put out some flares and tried to give me a jump. When that failed, they called for a tow truck and my GF and I kept warm in their cruiser. $125 for a 10 mile tow later, I appreciated having good friends to call in a pinch all that much more.

[Rabbit on Roids]

some of the hill climbs on 26 are stupid hard, and im not drivin a n/a diesel either.