head gasket gone, what bits will i need.

[coolrado 0]

looks like a good start to the new year :cry:

for the last couple of weeks when i have started the car after leaving it a couple of hours it starts with a misfire which quickly cleared after about 5 seconds, it was also loosing a small amout of coolant which i had put down to a leaky coolant flange, as i had no noticeable loss of power and no sludge in the oil, i didnt think it would be anything serious but this morning on the way home the coolant light came on shortly followed by the dreaded plume of steam from the exhaust and a misfire, luckily i was just down the road from home so managed to limp home.

 

i have been meaning to do some work on the engine as its had a bit of a rattle mid revs since i have had it which wasnt sorted by new tappets and i was led to believe it was probably the big ends, i was also thinking about getting the whole engine balanced up as well but what else should i get done while its off the road as i would rather do it all at the same time?

 

also what head gasket should i get? would an OEM VW one be best or would i be better off getting an uprated metal one?

[Shaggy 0]

just get an "Elring" Corrado G60 Gasket set from GSF... they seem to do the job nicely i fitted an Elring Gasket about 15000 miles ago and touch wood thats been fine!

[Supercharged 2]

All G60 ones should be metal now...

[coolrado 0]

so apart from a head skim which i can get done during the week i will need:

from AVS

the head gasket set

camshaft cover gasket

10x head bolts

cambelt

 

£89.69 so far........not bad

 

i allready have a new oil filter, oil, thermostat and coolant as i was just about to service it (kind of glad i put it off now).

 

any other bits i need to order while i am at it ?

[_leon_ 0]

camshaft gasket is included within the head gasket set.

 

g-werks sells the elring gasket set and head bolts with washers at a very reasonable price (just got them myself as changing head shortly) - far cheaper than vag. get a new tensioner with the cam belt. Apart from your fluids thats about it as far as i know. Being anal as I am i've got new manifold studs, nuts, cam shaft bolt and washer etc - just new fixings really.

[coolrado 0]

camshaft gasket is included within the head gasket set.

 

g-werks sells the elring gasket set and head bolts with washers at a very reasonable price (just got them myself as changing head shortly) - far cheaper than vag. get a new tensioner with the cam belt. Apart from your fluids thats about it as far as i know. Being anal as I am i've got new manifold studs, nuts, cam shaft bolt and washer etc - just new fixings really.

cheers

yeah think i will order the manifold studs and nuts as i think one is missing on the exhaust manifold, do you get new seals for the injectors with the head gasket set?

i'm not sure if its worth ordering the bits before i remove the head just in case its something else, but then again even if i have to replace the head i will need a new head gasket.

[_leon_ 0]

and youll have to replace the head bolts.

 

not sure about the injector seals - i'll check tonight as i have the kit at home.

[coolrado 0]

ta, yeah i have just ordered the head bolts

and my mate said he has a box full of the manifold studs so i dont need to order them

 

this is what i just ordered

 

1 x 056109119A Genuine Cambelt (056109119A) = £9.56

10 x 06666 Head Bolt (06666) = £5.80

1 x 917.835 Elring Head Gasket Set (917.835) = £53.63

1 x 12403 Thermostat Housing (12403) = £3.20

1 x ZEF561 Beru Lead Set (ZEF561) = £16.83

------------------------------------------------------

Sub-Total: £89.02

Free Delivery (UK Mainland): £0.00

VAT @ 17.5%: £15.58

Total: £104.60

 

not too bad compared to previous cars i have done, especially the mr2 and the bond bug.

 

are these torque figures correct for a g60?

[_leon_ 0]

where did you get that diagram?

 

dont forget your cam belt tensioner.

 

are the beru leads decent - just got crappy halfords ones at the moment

[coolrado 0]

sorry yeah i only replaced the tensioner a month ago due to buying a cheapo one which made the belt rub on the cover, i have the halfords leads at the moment too but i usually replace the leads anually and halfords no longer do the silicone leads for the g60 and now only sell the copper versions for twice the price, i had heard a few good things about the beru's before and as one of the leads pulled out of the connector the other day i needed to get some anyway

 

diagram is from http://www.volkswagen.msk.ru

[_leon_ 0]

my head gasket set has 8 of the injector seals in - etka confirms there are 8 as well. hope that helps

[peteTDI 0]

change the crank bolt and washer if your still running the standard one

 

http://www.the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23101

[coolrado 0]

my head gasket set has 8 of the injector seals in - etka confirms there are 8 as well. hope that helps

 

cheers, nice to know.

 

 

change the crank bolt and washer if your still running the standard one

 

http://www.the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23101

 

i have had one sitting around for ages just hadnt had chance to fit it, now looks like a good time i suppose.

[g60ff 0]

@coolrado - Recently my car's been doing exactly the same thing as yours started to do, I spoke to a couple of people and they all said it sounded like the head gasket. Got a couple of studs mising from my exhaust manifold which is blowing so thought it was a good excuse to get it all done at the same time. Just ordered all my bits from AVS, went for a new oil pump as apparently its usually a good idea to change it.

 

Going to get my injectors serviced as well as i doubt they're in the best shape after 180k miles!

[coolrado 0]

@coolrado Got a couple of studs mising from my exhaust manifold which is blowing

 

yeah i stripped the engine down last night and two of my exhaust studs on the left hand side where also missing, one of which has snapped off in the head.

the only thing that stopped me takeing the head off completely was one exhaust stud, the lower second one in from the right as you look at the car from the front it looks like i will have to get the nut splitter on it tonight.

[coolrado 0]

i ended up having to get a hacksaw blade to the last stud through one of the holes in the manifold which took ages but i couldnt get it off any other way.

 

its quite clear where the head gasket had gone, but what really suprised me was the condition of the bores and valves,

this is the first time the engine has been apart and the bores are spotless with no scoring and even have the original honeing marks on them, the inlet valves look like new and the exhaust valves only have a very fine layer of carbon on them we couldnt even find any evidence of wear on the valve stems with the micrometer.

i can only put the condition of the engine down to good oil (Shell Helix plus) being used in it since it was new, my mr2 had done half that mileage but the bores where glazed and the valves badly worn but i didnt know the history of the engine on that and didnt really use quality oil in it either.

 

anyway the head is costing 20 quid for a skim and 20 quid to extract the 2 broken exhaust studs as they have broken off below the surface.

[dnac 0]

It must be the gasket season!! My question on is my head gasket gone or not has finally been answered today, got in it after work, it started on three, then decided enough was enough and let me know the gasket had gone by letting out a big cloud of White smoke all the way home :cry:

 

So I am gonna order my bits tommorrow

 

One thing, is it necessery to get the head skimmed, or does it depend on condition?

[davidwort 0]

only if it's distorted, which is usually from overheating when you loose all your coolant.

[coolrado 0]

its usually worth getting it skimmed anyway, the head on mine wasnt warped as the temperature didnt really get very high when it went but where it had been leaking a bit of water to one of the bores it had erroded the head a very small amount, the guy who is doing the skim said it was about a thou out and it would probably be fine without a skim but for 20 quid its worth it just to clean the mating face up properly.

 

i will post some close ups tomorrow of the bores and valves to show their condition.

[g60ff 0]

Must be the season for it, been doing my head gasket this week. Took the head apart yesterday and all seemed ok couldn't see any problems with the head gasket but the car let out big puffs of steam when starting after it had been run for a while, anywho, heard from the garage pressure testing, skimming and removing studs from the head today and turns out the head is cracked between inlet and exhaust ports on number 1, head scrap. Great!

 

Luckily I'd found a G60 in a local scrappy on the weekend, first rado i've ever seen in a scrap yard and there were two! so been up there getting that out today hoping it's not the same, looks as though it's only recently been rebuilt so should be ok.

 

If you've had exhaust studs missing definitely get it pressure tested to make sure you're not wasting your time as i'm pretty sure that's whats ruined mine.

[coolrado 0]

 

If you've had exhaust studs missing definitely get it pressure tested to make sure you're not wasting your time as i'm pretty sure that's whats ruined mine.

 

they werent actually missing on mine they had been snapped off just below the surface of the head.

if you need to get any new exhaust studs and nuts for your head get them from ECP as the VW ones are just crimped copper nuts, the ecp ones are copper k-nuts which are a much better design for an exhaust as they wont shake loose, VW also wanted 15 quid for 8 copper nuts :cuckoo: they dont supply the original style ones either according to the parts desk.