Date:         Sat, 29 Apr 2000 01:01:08 EDT
Reply-To:     EricJSmall@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Eric Small <EricJSmall@AOL.COM>
Subject:      86GL-questions on resealing heads (a bit long)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Well,  Ive bit the bullet and am resealing the heads on my 86 GL.   Although
this was done only 25K miles ago by a VW dealer (including new heads) it is
already time again.  Last October,  just before I was going to put the van
away for winter I  performed my annual cooling system drain/fill.
Immediately I began getting combustion pressure in the coolant.  This was
confirmed using a block tester.  I have been advised that with 180K miles on
the clock that I should not bother with resealing the heads again but instead
replace the engine.... Unfortunately,  I do not have a spare $3K just now for
a new engine.  I figured either it would sit in the garage for a year or two
or I would spend a couple hundred dollars to do the heads on my own.  Whats
to be lost?  I only drive the van about 3K to 4K miles a year now that it is
more or less a toy rather than the daily driver it once was.  If I get 3
years before something major fails, I win!   Is there anything wrong with
this logic?

Anyway, tonight I removed the right head (passenger side) which is clearly
the easier side.  Although I have done most of my own maintenance I have
never "opened" an engine.  This is very much new territory.  It only required
about 3 hours at a very slow pace... looking at each piece wondering if it
looks as it should and making certain I would be able to put it all back
together again.  Basically my biggest concern is not knowing what everything
is "supposed" to look like or how to properly handle and clean parts which
will be reused.  This is where I hope to gain some help from you folks.

As I mentioned these heads were new only 25K miles ago...   so everything
came apart real easy... exhaust and all.  When pulling the head out however
one cylinder did stick in the head.  With a bit of gentle side to side motion
I was eventually able to free it.  I am concerned with that stuck cylinder as
it does not look like the other one around the top, above the green o-ring...
it is a bit rusty colored... not the fresh machined black color of the other
one.  Also the channel where the o-ring rested is not clean and square as the
other cylinder's is.  The o-ring was also badly abrased.  I'm not convinced
that this occurred during my removal. It looks to have been this way for a
while.  I'm thinking that this may have been the culprit leaking cylinder.
Should I be concerned with this condition?  Can I clean it up, install a new
green o-ring (along with the rest of the new seals, etc.) and be good as new?

If I might burden you folks with a couple of other observations...

Before I removed the heads I drained the oil and coolant as prescribed by
several posted procedures.  When I removed the head nuts, however, more
coolant drained.  I was concerned by the thought of coolant getting into the
cylinders.  Could this happen?  Would it be a problem?  There was no evidence
of significant coolant in the cylinders when I was able to look... they were
only slightly wet "looking".  Not even sure the wet look is coolant or even
really "wet".

The piston head is not as I had envisioned... recalling nice shiny American
car pistons sitting on the counter at my local NAPA store I expected to find
the same in my engine... Instead they are black and textured looking.  No
pits, etc. They are clean... they just have a cast look rather than a
machined look.  Is this what I am supposed  to be seeing?

The heads are nice and shiny... no apparent cracks as I plainly saw on the
last set that were removed from my van (cracks between the valves).  What I
think is the exhaust valve is a dry tan color.  The other is dark and a bit
shiny-oily looking.  Around the valves, inside the cylinder area is a bit
dark colored and oily.  Outside the cylinder area is clean and shiny... no
signs of erosion as was clear on my last set of heads.  Does this all sound
good?

Its clear that I must remove the residual black sealer from the outer edge of
the head.  How do I do this?  Can I use gasoline or alcohol?  Im hesitant to
use anything to scrape or scrub the surface.

Aside from the heads I noticed when looking up at the underside of the rubber
boot that connects the AFM/air filter box to the intake manifold that the
boot is very oily on the bottom.  Would this indicate a problem?  I take
great care to keep this engine very clean I wash it down with sponge and
tooth brush (!!!) about 3 or 4 times a year.  I wax the compartment walls and
tin work... you can eat off this engine.  I don't like finding oil!

Last thing I'll ask.... Are there any gotchas which I might not be aware of
in the handling or cleaning of the heads?  Is it ok that they are sitting on
a folded towel on the floor of a clean, heated garage?  Is it ok for the
engine to sit open and exposed to the air, etc until I get all my new parts
and put it back together?

I appreciate ya'lls patience reading this and any help you might offer...
ain't the list great!

Eric
So.Portland, Maine
'86GL Weekender