Well i got this van a couple of months ago in california and put over 8000 miles on it since then. There was a few times early on and a couple more recently that there was a lot of bubbling coming from the coolant reservoir. About a week ago it started running really rough on start up and it didn't matter if it was cold or warm as long as it sat for a bit. Then I started to notice some steam out the tailpipe and once i saw that I checked the oil and its looks just like how i take my coffee. a little bummed considering the van is still new to me but I had a great trip bringing it back home to Pittsburgh and sure it would have been nice if i had a bit longer to enjoy it before having to do any serious repairs but I already know I love this thing and am sort of excited to get to to know the inner workings a lot better. Been digging through the forums as much as I can to glean info from other discussions but figured I'd open another discussion and hope to have a helpful dialogue while taking this on. I replaced the head on my 85 diesel vw golf a while back and a lot of other stuff to keep it running so I figure I'll be up to this too.
Removed the seat and the cover today and loved the layout of my new workspace. Being inside in the back or either door give so many options to relieve a sore back. very different than the posture required for my vw. Got as far as removing the ps pump pulley and I couldn't get the nut to loosen up so figured I'd stop for the day and hit the books.
The van never over heated once so hopefully the head isn't in too bad of shape. Gonna call the dealership tomorrow to line up the valve grind kit and start looking around for a decent machine shop too.
Thanks, Niko.