[Vwdiesel] Head gasket

[B & R Decker]

	Does it push water out the top when cold or only when hot. If only
when hot perhaps the fan isn't cycling properly etc. It is my experience
that if one blows a lead gasket the head is usually warped beyond specs. Did
you check the head this time to see if it was within tolerance for warpage? 
Most of the time if a head gasket blows it is time to skim the head. The
machine shop I use has a sanding machine that has a 2'by 4' sanding belt
with water running on it. All one has to do is just loosen the cam enough
that all the valves are closed and the head is ready to true. My VW
machinist says If it's a VW water-cooled head and it is used it will be
warped most times. 
	I bought a Rabbit diesel a while back that the owner was giving up
on. He had a shop put on two different heads and the last time used
Race-Ware head studs. It would instantly put pressure in the return bottle
on startup. I bought it cheap enough that I felt the Race-Ware head studs
would account for most of the purchase price. I plan to use the Race-ware
head studs in a 1.5 engine that I will turbo for my Rabbit pickup. I was
sure that even though they had changed heads twice that it was probably a
head problem so I took a good head I had and installed it with stock bolts.
It did the same thing. Instant pressure in the return bottle. I thought okay
it isn't a head problem so perhaps it is a fine crack in the block. I did
inspect the block, clean and tap the bolt holes. I didn't see any cracks
before installing the head. I decided since it was still pressurizing the
recovery bottle that I had nothing to loose so I got a can of block seal and
followed its directions for use and almost instantly the pressure in the
water bottle stopped and no more water pressure problems. 
Brian Decker
-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of Pam & Doug Boes
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 10:04 AM
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Head gasket

Two weeks ago I replaced the head gasket on my 81' Caddy, 1.6 N/A. It has
Raceware studs. There was no color in the coolant but it was pushing coolant
out the fill neck.

 

It ran fine for two weeks. The coolant level didn't move after the gasket
was replaced. Today I noticed that it is pushing coolant out the fill cap
again.

 

Raceware says to not torque the studs more than 50 ft. lbs. Has anyone
increased the torque on the studs to something more than 50 ft. lbs.? I
noticed the Bentley has some of the stretch bolts pulled up to 65 ft. lbs.
These studs are the 11 mm studs.

 

What other adjustments can be made to get more than two weeks out of a new
head gasket? The head was milled two gaskets ago. The block and head were
cleaned with scotch bright and a wire brush until all the contact surfaces
were nice and shiney. I also measured the protrusion to be sure the correct
gasket was used (3 notch).

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