Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2006 11:46:33 -0500
Reply-To: Jamie Foust <foust@CECLAC.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jamie Foust <foust@CECLAC.COM>
Subject: Re: leak down verdict
In-Reply-To: <00e701c6c78e$63348e70$650fa8c0@DELL>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Thanks for the info. How can I tell if my AMC heads are 1.9l or 2.1l?
-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth Wilford [mailto:kenwilfy@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 10:03 AM
To: 'Jamie Foust'
Cc: Vanagon Mailing List
Subject: RE: leak down verdict
If you are happy with compression and you are not experiencing oil use I
would leave the rings along. I never pull the cylinders if I can help it
and never replace the bottom o-rings on the cylinders either. I would pull
the heads. If they are cracked then replace them with new AMC heads. If
not then take them to a machine shop and have them tested and a valve job
done. I just took off a pair of AMC heads with around 80k on them. They
were still in excellent condition with no pitting! I paid $100 to have them
cleaned up and inspected at the machine shop with a valve job. Machine shop
guy said the exhaust valve seats were a little warped but he fixed that.
Valves were still in good shape with no sign of the fabled valve problem
that some vendors sware AMC heads have (or have had in the past). Of course
these same vendors are quick to offer higher priced heads with their own
"special" valves in them. I'm still trying to figure out how removing one
Italian made valve and putting in another makes any difference except to
jack up the price of the heads.
We have the new AMC heads for $395 each. The 1.9l heads are NLA. You can
replace them with new 2.1l heads but do so only in pairs. I have done this
several times with no noticeable power loss, etc.
Hope this helps,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jamie Foust
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 10:55 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: leak down verdict
I ran the leak down test last night. #3 cylinder has a blown head gasket.
Coolant came puking out in a hurry. Since all cylinders checked out w/ good
compression, I'm going to yank the motor and do both heads and a clean up.
I'll inspect the pistons, heads, and cylinders, maybe do a re-ring and hone,
but I'm happy with the compression results, maybe I should leave them alone.
Heads are both AMC, so I'm guessing they have been replaced - oem should
have been VW. Both drain plugs in the heads were clean and came out easily,
so it doesn't seem that the heads have seen a lot of time on the road.
jamie
