Head gaskets and rings

[hiho]

Hi all,

Myself and a friend have three GLD's that im preparing for roadworthy, yes i am a lucky man!!

All three need front discs (7-8mm remaining) and engine mounts (not sure which).

One has 210,000 and a great engine.

One has excessive blowby. It was rebuilt recently with rings, bearings and a rebuilt head. I questioned the p.o and he didnt hone the bores (why!!!!). What I was planning was to remove the head, sump, pistons/rods, inspect the bores and probably give it a hone. The odometer reads 644,000kms. "This motor is a dud" i can hear you say. Well probably. Im just after some feedback from those who may have rebuilt these motors before. We have a spare motor that came out of a 1980 model with either 110,000 or 1,110,000kms on it.

The other one has 220,000kms and a blown head gasket. Apparently it ran well before the head gasket went. Ive been told that when the head gasket goes, then the head is stuffed(craked and or warped). Is this true? Is replacing the head gasket difficult, special tools etc. I have the Tractor Manuals Golf manual and diesel supplement to guide me, also the haynes manual is in the post.

My options are:
1. hone/rebore the motor with blowby and replace the head gasket on the other
2. put the good head on the good block, put the spare engine in the place of the blowby motor.
3. replace head gasket and live with the blowby in the tired motor.
4. Buy a 1.9TDI with 5 speed
5. Buy two 1.9TDI's with 5 speeds
6. Buy three 1.9 TDI's with 5 speeds

Any help with the more realistic of these options would be greatly appreciated!

Matt

[imported_brackie]

Hi all,

Myself and a friend have three GLD's that im preparing for roadworthy, yes i am a lucky man!!

All three need front discs (7-8mm remaining) and engine mounts (not sure which).

One has 210,000 and a great engine.

One has excessive blowby. It was rebuilt recently with rings, bearings and a rebuilt head. I questioned the p.o and he didnt hone the bores (why!!!!). What I was planning was to remove the head, sump, pistons/rods, inspect the bores and probably give it a hone. The odometer reads 644,000kms. "This motor is a dud" i can hear you say. Well probably. Im just after some feedback from those who may have rebuilt these motors before. We have a spare motor that came out of a 1980 model with either 110,000 or 1,110,000kms on it.

The bores are probably glazed or excessively worn (oval perhaps). The po probably whacked in the rings hoping that it would fix the problem. If you want to fix it properly you'll have to pull it down and mic the bores to check for ovallity and degree of wear. If you want to take a chance and hope that the new rings just need time to bed in, rig up an extra breather and drive it hard for a while http://vwwatercooled.org.au/vwforum/viewtopic.php?t=211

other one has 220,000kms and a blown head gasket. Apparently it ran well before the head gasket went. Ive been told that when the head gasket goes, then the head is stuffed(craked and or warped). Is this true? Is replacing the head gasket difficult, special tools etc. I have the Tractor Manuals Golf manual and diesel supplement to guide me, also the haynes manual is in the post.

Depends on how it blew. Diesels have little tolerance to overheating. If it was just "mildly" overheated then the head may not be warped. A replacement gasket and a careful re torque should do it. If a crack in the water jacket caused the overheating then throw the head away as it will almost certainly be warped.
Pulling the head is no great issue. You need to make up a locking pin for the injection pump and a plate to lock the camshaft. If you do decide to take it on, let us know cos there are a few tricks that will keep you from grief.

My options are:
1. hone/rebore the motor with blowby and replace the head gasket on the other
2. put the good head on the good block, put the spare engine in the place of the blowby motor.
3. replace head gasket and live with the blowby in the tired motor.

FIX THEM ALL They're getting too rare to abandon.

4. Buy a 1.9TDI with 5 speed
5. Buy two 1.9TDI's with 5 speeds
6. Buy three 1.9 TDI's with 5 speeds

7. (You) buy four 1.9TDIs with 5 speeds and give one to me

Any help with the more realistic of these options would be greatly appreciated!

Matt

I have a number of head gaskets. When you come to do the job look at the notches on the tab between #2 and#3 glow plugs. This indicated the thickness of the head gasket. Ignore at your peril!

[peter_j_g]

Hi,

You are indeed lucky, having 4 of them! Having moved from Australia to Europe 6 weeks ago, I've seen only one mk1 golf on the road here! And this is a country (Finland) where the mk1 golf was the best selling car for years! I've been looking for a good mk1 diesel for sale anywhere (private import from another EU country is easy, just fill in the form and pay the tax), there have been a couple for sale in Germany but they are all at least 3,000 euro!

Back to the topic....

I've rebuilt several diesels over the years and it's not that hard. Before doing anything do a compression test! Has the one with blowby got the extra vent pipe from the breather tube to the sump? This was the subject of a recall on these cars many years ago. I can also strongly recommend fitting the plastic shield over the camshaft, this helps a lot. Finally are you sure it's blowby from the rings? It's also possible that your mixture is too rich. There is an adjustment screw on the top of the injection pump. Try turning that slightly - only 1/8 turn at a time as it is very sensitive. Then test drive the result - you'll soon pick what the setting should be. Too "rich" and you'll get lots of black smoke and the "blowby" problem, too "lean"' and you'll have no power...

Head gaskets are known to blow, I've had one go with no damage to the head, just replace the gasket and you're back in business. As brackie says, these engines have little tolerance to overheating, so a cooked motor generally means a warped/cracked head. Removing/replacing the head is quite straightforward.

You should fix them all, they are such a great car!!!

By the way, I've just bought a 1.9 TDi Passat wagon, but more on that in another post...

Regards, Peter

[20v kit car]

dont forget guys the later gld need to have the cyl heads bolts renewed as these were a stretch bolt...cheers stevev ..ps hiope finland is good pete..dig out a couple of aircooleds for me will ya cheers steve

[imported_brackie]

dont forget guys the later gld need to have the cyl heads bolts renewed as these were a stretch bolt...cheers stevev

Steve.. To my knowledge the 1.5 motor always had conventional bolts. The stretch bolts came in with the 1.6 motor. Was the 1.6 ever imported here? I don't think so. I had a '81 Audi 100 diesel in Perth. After my young bloke flogged the guts out of her I had to pull the head. It had stretch bolts and I had to import them and a head gasket from Canada! Bought a 12 point inhex socket too if anybody ever needs to borrow it

[syncro]

No 1.6 diesels were ever sold here.

[gtimk5]

I always replace the double hex 11m/m head bolts with a headjob(?). They are cheap and available. Engine blocks can crack, thus the number of petrol conversions. One more suggestion, I would always rebore and fit o'size pistons, been caught before!!

[imported_brackie]

How much are pistons in Oz?

[gldgti]

agree with 2nd last - rebore the suspect ones (somewhere that will do it nicely, slowly and properly) and o/s pistons are a good idea too.

that "mixture" adjustment is the max-fuel governor adjustment... keep in mind that if you adjust it out too far, the car wont produce any power.... you might not even reach max revs... infact, dad just adjusted this way out to teach my sister to drive on his golf, so that she cant over-rev the engine, hahaha...

like evyone has said, pulling off the head is easy.... and diesel golf bits are easy to get too, as far as engines are concerned anyway... pistons, rings, gaskets etc are all available easily... dad likes to use http://www.vsiimports.com.au

you can even get a brand new head if you are willing to pay the $$$.

valve retainers for the 3 groove valve's are HARD to find, but you can use ones from a Lada...

[gtimk5]

The 3 groove spring retainers are the same as 1200-1600 aircooled vw motors I think