gld mk1 head gasket... how hard can it be?

[deskpotato]

Hi guys, my little mk1 diesel has blown its head gasket.... ridiculous quotes for repair on what is a $1000 car at the end of the day. however, since owning it i have put a lot of love and money into this car and was wondering just how hard is it to replace a head gasket?

i hear a lot of talk thrown round in the forum thats its very easy, but the mechanic i spoke to feels differently. he was saying that it may require "shims" to fit or the new gasket will just blow again. he also said there would be many parts that would also need replacing such as bolts, other gaskets etc.....

however, this car has a 9 month old head.. thats a NEW head which cost over $900 so im skeptical about his "shim" claims... also, he offered to buy it from me which also leads me to thinking that the engine may not be in such bad condition.... conversely, he did advise me that owning an older diesel car is not a great idea as repairs are expensive and i would be better off buying a 4 cylinder petrol car, which is good advice, but i would greatly miss the fuel savings from running this car, its paid for itself in cheap running and would continue to do so if fixed.

are there any walkthrough pages anyone knows of on how to change a head gasket? i have some mechanical aptitude but not a lot... is this surgery too much for a novice to attempt?

any help would be greatly appreciated... also, please only reply if you are sure you know what you are talking about, ie: you have done this before, yourself.... cheers, will.

[smithy010]

I've never done it before, but i know the drill. (and i'll be doing it soon).

It depends on how mechanically oriented you are i guess. Given proper time and care any goose could do it.

I have no idea what the guy was saying about shims.. You can get different sized head gaskets though, depending on how far the pistons protrude from the block.

I reckon probably the most difficult part is sticking the head back on and retiming it.

But we'll let someone who's done it before give judgement.

Head bolts need replacing, but that's about it.

[deskpotato]

well smithy, thats very encouraging... thanks for pointing out the reason for the different sized gaskets too.... i will keep you posted on how i progress...first step will be to get another workshop manual, cant find mine anywhere.... regards, will.

[gldgti]

hey mate.

first. DO NOT SELL YOUR DIESEL GOLF. keep it. in a few years, you'll thank me, no matter what it costs you to fix it now. trust me, theres a reason us perfectly sane, reasonable people are driving old diesel vw's.

sounds like your mechanic might be leading you on a bit, since your $1000 car is really worth more htan that. a running registered mk1 diesel golf is worth at least $2000, if that makes you feel better.

now, to the head gasket.

with the aid of the mk1 diesel haynes manual, or better, you will complete this task easily at home, providing you have sufficient tools.

its an easy job, and the diesel engine "blows" headgaskets for many reasons, paramount of which is that its not torqued properly, or that the incorrect gasket has been fitted.

annoyingly, you can only get the right gasket by measuring the piston projection above the deck of the block, once the head is off. so, you might need to have it apart for a few days...

once you get your manual, come back with more qns. i've done this several times, its a cakewalk!

[cetane]

1. DO NOT SELL YOUR DIESEL GOLF!
2. Get help and advice from those who have done it before. THEN renew the head gasket.
3. They fail for a variety of reasons. When you have the head off it's essential to find out why...You must prevent it from happening again (in reality the actual gasket is very robust....it's the way in which it is fitted or some other factor of the running condition of the engine that causes failure).
4. Get a workshop manual, make or borrow the locking tools for the camshaft and injection pump, tighten the camshaft bolt up 10flbs higher than recommended and renew the timing belt while you have the head off. The gasket has a number of notches cut into it just above the injection pump. These indicate its thickness. Fit a new gasket with the same number of notches. Use a straight edge to check for warpage. Skimming is not a good idea but you must clean the faces of the block and the head thoroughly.
Don't go back to that "mechanic" ever again!

[deskpotato]

thanks for your replies guys... yup, i dont reckon selling a car that pays for itself in fuel savings is a very good idea...i used to have an el falcon and this car costs me about $50-$55 a WEEK less to run.

i bought it as a "stop-gap" until i could find a new car, but now its grown on me to a point where i cant part with it....

the reason the gasket blew is because it blew a welsh plug, which of course made it lose all its water and blow the gasket before i could pull over safely. apparently it had been fitted with a petrol welsh plug which is 3mm whereas the diesel takes a 3.06mm..... (as my mechanic told me)

i spoke to a diesel fitter today, who is also a bit of a vw efficianado and sounds like fixing it wont cost more than a few hundred or so... so, its good news so far and i will keep you all posted as to how the operation goes.. cheers again, will.


p.s. i wouldnt mind hearing more about the locking tools you mentioned tho... any idea where i might find these? could you post a pic, perhaps??? ty.

[gldgti]

camshaft locking tool =

take one 100mm length of 50x5mm flat bar, and using an angle grinder or similar, gradually grind down one of the long edges until you can slot the bar into the channel machined into the end of the camshaft which lines up with the top deck of the head (with rocker cover removed) at TDC no. 1.

pump sprocket locking tool =

take one 50mm lenth of steel or aluminium tube approximately 16mm in diameter, and cut a slot down its length to form an open sided cylinder. expand the tube to the necessary diamter using pliers or some such, so that it snugly fits into the hole in the injector pump sprocket and the hole in the pump mounting bracket which line up at TDC no. 1. slight over expansion allows the tube to compress slightly upon fitting, so that it is a nice tight fit.

[cetane]

Use the vBulletin search facility for key words, "lock camshaft" and "lock ip". You find most of what you need to know in the results.

[gtimk5]

I assume that you are using a VW workshop locally? Maybe pm me who it was??
Not sure if you have ever been to see me?
Good luck with it all the same.
I fitted a brand new deisel head (sourced and supplied by the owner) 8 years ago with new bolts and I think it was soft as it blew 2 gaskets in 3 years. Not due to overheating either...
Andrew