Head gasket loosing coolant from side of head?

[Vitwagen]

Hi All, I've FINALLY managed to register here!

So, I have an AAZ, loosing coolant from the corner of the head/block, the corner above the Vac pump. I assumed that it was one of the plastic flanges leaking, but I've resealed both and still it leaks?

Someone has suggested that it would be unlikely for coolant to leak from the gasket here? there's no oil in the coolant, but it looses half a litre over about 50 miles.

Any ideas before I replace the head gasket?

Thanks Guys, Awesome forum.

Steve

[Vitwagen]

Cheers Andrew, I've used new o-rings, and they are sealed perfectly, the old o-rings were knackered. Because of the layout, it's quite hard to see there, as it's right up against the firewall, but it's not the flanges now.

Deffo looks like head gasket now though, as I've had some more symptoms appear this evening - pressurised coolant, and the level in the expansion tank drops massively if you rev the engine.

I guess the head will be coming off in the next few days.

Incidentally, this started after a minor overheating 'happening'...

[Vincent Waldon]

Incidentally, this started after a minor overheating 'happening'...

That's an important detail... heads like to warp just a bit when they get hot... and the factory spec for allowable warpage is a mere 2 thousandths of an inch.

[Vitwagen]

I had worried about warping. The plan is to get the head off, and get it checked & skimmed if needed. should be getting it off tuesday, so hopefully will know more then. Thanks Vincent.

Oh, and thanks for your web pages too, I didn't fully pimp my glowplugs, but it did help!