[urq] Cylinder head gasket replacement in situ...

[Keith Lloyd]

Well done L-A
I guess you are relieved?
You can relax now and enjoy!
All the best
Keith

'87 WR
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Louis-Alain Richard" <laraa at sympatico.ca>
To: "'urq'" <urq at audifans.com>; <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 5:37 PM
Subject: [urq] Cylinder head gasket replacement in situ...


Hi everyone,



I finally did the head gasket on my urQuattro yesterday. I've followed
Geraint's and Scott J suggestion, and did it without actually removing the
head from the engine. We just removed some bits (p/s pump, throttle bracket,
injector cooling fan), and some brackets (wastegate to bellhousing, downpipe
to transmission) and that was it. With a jack under the downpipe, we raised
the head about ¾ in over the block, just enough to free the head gasket. We
cleaned the surfaces with a steel rule wrapped with rags. I also emptied the
12 cylinder head bolt's holes with a length of clear pipe and mouth suction
first, then I inserted a length of butcher's cord (cotton cord, very
absorbent)  in each hole with a long screwdriver. I am now quite sure each
hole was clean and dry.



The old head gasket was almost like new, except for black carbon marks
between cylinder 1-2, 3-4 and 4-5. It was clearly undertorqued, but evenly
undertorqued ! So I guess we goofed on the job last time (spring 2008), and
made sure we didn't this time. We oiled the threads and the head of each
bolt, we cleaned the mating surface where the washers would touch the head
(as specified on the instructions sheet) and torqued all that with a good
3/8 in  Snap-On tool. We settled for the "recent" procedure : 29 then 44
ft-lbs, plus 90 degrees and another 90 degrees.



After that, 4.4 liters of new oil for ½ hour, a bottle of engine flush to
remove any trace of coolant on the bearing shells and another oil change.
That new oil was as black as a 20k miles oil change on a diesel, thanks to
that Engine Flush stuff. After that, 2 new filters, another 4.4 liters of
good mineral 20W50 and oil pressure is good. I've changed coolant too even
if the old one was still clear-blue and relatively oil free. Engine started
on the second try and idled smoothly without white smoke. A strange noise
was coming from the front of the engine, but it turned out to be a too-tight
power steering belt. New plugs to be installed later this week, at the same
time as a compression test to validate the work.



Now, I should drive it a bit to see if the repair will hold.



Louis-Alain

1983 urQuattro



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