[Vwdiesel] Heater box, head gasket

[Sandy Cameron]

At 11:24 AM 25/01/05 EST, you wrote:
>
>> Who in blue blazes had the bright idea of installing these ornery spring
>> clips up in behind and on top of heater boxes where only someone with
>> fingers like the likes of Freddy Kruger could reach them?
>> 
>
>  Ahh, the catch is you're only supposed to install or remove them 
>when the heater box is out of the car!  ;-) 


Never replace more than the absolute minimum to hold it together...hot glue
if necessary.

The price we pay for the diesel privilege.

******************

My adventure in vented cooling systems ended yesterday when enough
antifreeze seeped into a cylinder to briefly lock it up when starting!

Drained it last night, ran it dry for a minute or so to dry it out. The head
is ready to come off today, If I can figure out how to disconnect the oil
drain line for the turbo.

I might just cut it and splice with hose and clamps afterward.
It has a flex section halfway down, perhaps I could cut that out and replace
it with a section of hydraulic hose and clamps on re-assembly.

I noted an interesting warning in that Shop manual pdf (near the end), says
NOT to remove a head from a hot engine......?
That should be meat for a new thread.

Another thing I'm going to replace on goldie is the injection pump (I have a
good TD spare)
When I was slipping the T-belt off, I noted it was running a bit to the
outside. I never run them tight, so after I got the belt off, I checked the
play in the pump shaft.
I can hardly believe it was still working, and not leaking!

I wish I could post a little movie somewhere to show how bad the runout can
be, and the pump still function.
The history of this engine (bought on the side of the road a few years back
for $250, car included) has been told, but briefly, a volks Canada reman,
accy's from the one it replaced, 
has about 70,000 miles since I put it in. At the time, I replaced the pump
shaft seal as it was leaking so badly it would not draw fuel from the tank,
and leaked dry when stopped.
The seal cost less than $10, took a few minutes to replace, and has never
leaked since, even with the shaft wobble. There must be repercussions to the
pump vanes and armature, but it still works!.

But since she's getting a new head gasket (stepping up to a 2 notch from
present 1 notch)
I.m going to replace the pump with my spare, and send the spare injectors
out for overhaul too.(all TD)

Not enough time or energy to do them myself. 

I would really rather drive than fix.

Sandy