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Date:         Mon, 11 Dec 1995 17:51:58 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         smitht@unb.ca (Tim Smith)
Subject:      Re: DIY Head Gaskets, (Long) Please Check!

Vanagoonites or whatever we decided on. Would anyone who has done this job please read and approve/correct this long message(sorry). Area I don't know about are the cyl barrel gasket stuff, and general advice on the sanity/mechanical worthiness of this CHEAPO approach to DIY gaskets, parts are 2 gaskets, $30/ and a tube of goop, and likely some 13mm nuts etc. It worked for my gushing '85, (gaskets/goop) and on the '87 (JBWeld/gaskets/goop) for 4+ and 1.5 years each. Thanks all, Tiny Tim.

DIY Head Gasket Procedure, Mk. I ----------------------------------------------------

OK, as memory serves me, done on an '85 1.9l engine.

Park it on a surface you can work on, can be dirt, just put a sheet of something down to scrabble around on and catch the loose nuts.

Drain the coolant into a container, by opening the drain bolts between the pushrod tubes on each side. need 6mm Allen head screw. Open the reservoir cap to let in some air, watch for the flood, maybe 2-3gals. Open the front radiator bleed screw, behind upper grill on passenger side to fully drain.

You may wish to consider a good rad rinse now, since the system is ready for it. ie top up with fresh water, add rinse chemicals and run for 1/2 hour/til hot. then flush with clean water. Best place for a rinse kit T-adapter is up front, under spare tire area, where there already is a splice connector, just replace with T and flush, DO NOT LEAVE THE T IN PLACE!!!

Dispose of all liquids suitably.

CLEAN the engine thoroughly, GUNK it, wire brush/scrub it, hose it and wipe it clean, NO LOOSE DIRT near the heads/block, NONE. I get paranoid opening engines up, as you can see :>

Get comfortable underneath and remove the exhaust system. You can disconnect at the CAT I _think_ and just take off front rear, and side pipes. Breaking the nuts off with a nut-cracker is far more desirable than stripping the studs in the engine block or bending/breaking a weakened pipe. Pipes are $100++ each, take care! Seems like more effort, but pays dividends in WD-40/heat/time/damage. F*ck one single stud and you are too! Oversized studs/trips to dealer/Helicoil.... get the picture? A good quality small nutcracker is worth its weight in gold, easy to use. Check every exhaust support bracket, they are ALL esential and are dealer only items unless you hit a junkyard find. Put them on the parts list as you go if broken. They can be welded if just cracked through, welded! not brazed.

Take off the aircleaner and airflow control complete, loosen the band clamp around the big air hose, pull off the other hoses, and unplug the wire connector. Then unsnap the clips and remove. NOTE: when reinstalling DO NOT PINCH any of the FI wires under the unit, against the metal supports as this will meltdown your entire FI harness, $1150 at dealer!! (Hi Joel ;>)

Do passenger side first, pull off plug wires, and clean off the heads a bit more as you likely missed some!!.

Undo FI injector system as a unit, no need to disconnect wiring or fuel lines, OH, did you disconnet the battery before beginning :), if not do so now! There are two bolts/injector, once off tug gently to get the units off the head. You can remove the inlet tubes from the air distribution manifold, black with 4 1.5" rubber/cloth tubes, this helps get things out of the way.

By now the head should be completely visible, and not connected to anything except the block. If I forgot something, you figure it out. Draining the engine oil is an option, as the pushrod tubes stay in place in the block. If the van is badly tipped sideways/overfilled you may spill oil out the tubes.

Remove the valve cover, get a new gasket! Then start loosening the 8 big nuts that hold on the head. Start loosening 1 turn or so each, working around the head crisscross style the avoid warps. When all 8 bolts are about 1/4" off the head try to push the head off by grabbing 2 pushrod tubes and pushing off with your thumbs. Did you make sure this area of the head was clean/clear too? No grit where the tubes insert into the head? Good.

Look from above now and grabbing the water jacket do the same trick of pushing with your thumbs. What you want to do is pop off ONLY the head, leaving the seals next to the case intact. One less area to wonder if dirt got in. They head may need coaxing off, nylon hammer is best, small block of wood and metal works OK, don't jiggle the water jacket! If you have to pry, use a thin blade between the head and big gasket, and work around to break the grip, gently does it, don't add to the problem. Once the head is loose all around, then take the 8 nuts off.

When you have the heads off an inch or so, stick you fingers in and make sure the cyl barrels aren't coming with it, didn't happen to me, but check! Don't pull the heads off, push them with finger+thumbs in the gap. Less likely to tug the entire side apart that way.

Holding the cylinder head in both hands high above your head, parade about the yard while crying ecstatically. You will impress your neighbours with your primitive man-machine thanks offering ritual, and they will not disturb your contemplation from then on. Hurling the heads against the nearest wall is simply too crude and brutish, and loses some of the mysticism.

Now have a good look at the head where the rubber gasket sat, get ready for the $600 question, do I need new heads. Scrape it clean/clear with a popsicle stick, use a stiff brush, nylon or wire, and put a shine back on the seal area without putting in major scratches. Check the inner seal area but don't use the wire brush here, seal is thinner and less compliant. If the pits in the head are deeper than 1/8" I'd think about good used heads or getting them weld filled by a REALLY GOOD WELDING SHOP, then machined flat at the same place, could cost what good used heads would cost, check prices carefully.

You can try filling pits with the JBWeld fill'n'smooth technique, you may end up doing the heads again after a week if it doesn't take for you. It's lasted 17 months for me so far. Again, the time spent in preparation is well worth it, get the heads absolutely free of crud where you are going to epoxy, spread it smooth and flat with NO air pockets, NONE. Take your time squeegeeing in the epoxy to ensure the best possible bond. A surface nicely roughened by sandblasting bonds well. Get it FLAT and SMOOTH, use a good metal straight edge of some sort for the squeegee, and do a dry run to make sure the edge will move all around the seat area without hanging up on a tiny bump etc. in the casting. Let cure 24hrs.

While that's setting up clean up the rim of the water jacket of crud etc. popsicle stick scrapper, fine sandpaper etc. Get it clean and shiny. Wipe out any debris from inside the water jacket, be neat. Check out the condition at the top of the barrels, should be OK. I re-used the inner gaskets (or were there any there?). I said cheapo 'member?

When ready for reassembly, use Loctite/Permatex high temp silicone goop, reddish brown colour, can't remember type. No Locktite? get the best you can find, I don't use GE silicones, except for my bathtub. Ask around, if they had JBWeld, they likely have Loctite stuff. Or buy the dealers goop $$$.

Apply the goop inside the new headgasket rim, NOT TOO THICK, just enough so that it will seal the gasket to the water jacket, not ooze up then break off and plug the coolant passages. install the gasket onto the water jacket and get it properly seated all around, not trapped lips etc.

Then run a bead around the head where the gasket seats, again not too much. If you had good heads/JBWeld/arc fixed a smear would do, mild pitting try the squeegee method, plus a bead after the pits are packed. Don't count on the head gasket to do this for you, DIY.

Slide the head onto the studs, OH, did I mention... get the studs absolutely clean/dry before reassembly, and clean the base of the head nuts and the area of the head they seat against, SPOTLESSLY. Then smear some goop on the stud threads, and put a small bead on the base of each nut before you spin it down to the head. Coolant will leak out around the nuts if they are not properly gooped. Tighten crisscross, starting nearest to centre and working out, VW rec. two torque levels, I usually take it slow, few turns, then move on. Bring the nuts up to full torque eventually. DON'T plan to retorque them when the goop dries as you will defeat the nice seal you created. You want all this to happen while to goop is still soft. Check the full torque stage 2-3 times, as the goop oozes very slowly and will let off the clamping force. When the goop that oozed out onto the water jackets (it will :) ) gets tacky/stiff, you better be done. Don't forget that you have to fight with the push rods etc. It will pay you to take off the rocker arms and do the pushrod stuff AFTER the heads are set-up properly, less simultaneous fiddling. I can't remember, but I think I did it this way.

and, my favorite line, re-installation is the opposite of these procedures.

Do the other side, the pain here being the water pump/belts/pulleys and tight space to work in. Look for coolant weepage here carefully, maybe time for a new pump while you are at it, sure saves labour.

Once both sides are done and dry, fill up the system completely, doing the best you can without the engine running, then borrow a pressure tester and pump it up to 15psi for a leak check. Let the pressure sit for a while, and look carefully for head leaks, at gasket and nuts. If you find a leak, repeat the ritualistic procession around the garden, but this time end by hurling the heads to the pavement and jumping on them.

If they are dry, do the rest of the re-install, add new coolant, bleed properly, then try it out. Remeber, there are likely many vans that drip in a controlled/bearable manner. A few drops are not catastrophic, indeed, you've likely bought several months time to sell your family and buy a new engine from VW. Addictive little suckers, these wasserboxers :).

Good luck, Tim Smith


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