[Vwdiesel] Head Cracked between valves...Seeking Advice

[James Hansen]

And james sez:
If the sight of cracks between the valve seats bothers you, you can peen 
them.  Peening is a cosmetic measure, strictly for looks... I peen mine 
out of principle, but it really accomplishes nothing other than making 
you feel like you are doing something positive... and nothing blows up 
because of it either.

The gasket will be leaking at the hole on the front, center- there is a 
copper ring there, or was, it probably fell out already.  That's the 
most common leaker at that oil passage.

Pressure testing is the definitive test. A machine shop will bolt a 
plate to the head, and pressure up the combustion area.  you could do 
this, with a flat piece of steel, a drill press to make holes, and a tap 
to thread the center hole to pressure it up.
The better way is to have checked if you had bubbles in the coolant 
return line before disassembly. I have yet to see one leak through the 
head cracks.  I've heard of it, where the cracks were so deep they 
leaked to coolant, but man that engine must have been flogged.  My 89 
Jetta td lived the Italian tuneup, with lots of advance, overspec 
injectors and waaaay overfueled... and it never cracked the head and 
it's still running with it's present owner at over 590000kms.

Oh, and the seats won't fall out.  I've never even heard of that 
happening on a VW diesel head, even on the internet where cows are 
reported as flying on a daily basis.
On a later type 2 aircooled that is a different matter... you just look 
at those wrong and they drop out.

-james


Doyt W. Echelberger wrote:
> Ok, that's considerable experience talking....so far it has been Val, 
> Kneale, Mark, Brian, and Mike.
> 
> Val sez "pressure test it." Mechanic agrees this is a good idea and is 
> talking to a machine shop that might be able to do this. This may be the 
> bottom line on the whole issue. Thanks Val, that is a major guideline.
> 
> Kneale offers sources for a replacement. I'll look them over if the 
> pressure test tips the scales that way.
> 
> Mark sez head is OK, common characteristic. Encouraging. Hope the pressure 
> test says the same thing.
> 
> Bryan sez "....peen over the cracks and sand" and "look closely at the head 
> gasket, and pressure-test the oil cooler."  Looking I can do, but having 
> difficulty imagining HOW to pressure test the oil cooler. Do I take it off 
> the car first? ALSO, how do I tell which openings in the old head gasket 
> are coolant and which are oil supply channels? They all look pretty much 
> alike to me right now. Certainly my mechanic will know.
> 
> Mike sez half the diesel VW customers of his mechanic have oil in the 
> coolant, and run without problems, and his own experience was probably due 
> to high pressures in the coolant channels during an over-heat. Well, I 
> encountered problems trying to run it with oil in the coolant....so this 
> may be a valid reason to post. MY worry, and recent experience, is that the 
> oil in the coolant leads to deterioration of the rubber hoses that link the 
> radiator and the heater core to the engine. It took several years, but they 
> failed. I became aware of the deterioration when they got soft and rotten 
> and blew many tiny pin-hole leaks which disabled the car. Some of those 
> hoses were VERY expensive! And that is why I am trying to get the oil to 
> stay out of the coolant.
> 
> I hope to see additional responses. But nobody said trash the head (yet).
> 
> For the record: I contacted the mechanic with info you all supplied, and he 
> agreed to investigate pressure testing the head. He said what worried him 
> was that the one of the valve seats might drop out of the cracked areas and 
> fall into a cylinder and totally trash the engine.
> 
> I'll  let you all know what we do.
> 
> ........the NA 4 cylinder diesel engine my mechanic has in his shop is from 
> a 1982 Audi 4000S, engine number 068.103.373 F, showing 4 Audi rings and 
> the number 70 under the motor number (larger than the numerals in the motor 
> number.) Anybody know if it is a 1.6 or a 1.9? And would that head work on 
> my block?
> 
> 
> Doyt
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Doyt Echelberger
> Ohio, USA
> 
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