1.9 DG Head Gasket

[cheesy]

Hello,

Last week, while on holiday in Cornwall, the van blew a head gasket -leading to an epic recovery home! One of the studs had sheared. Aware of the WBX corrosion problem I was a bit annoyed as the previous owner had a recon engine fitted approx 4 yrs/ 7k miles ago. Took head off, no corrosion inside and luckily stud had sheared off 2" clear of threads (dodgy stud or incorrect torque??) Anyway, I'm going to replace all of the studs, and just wondered if there's anything I should be aware of or if there's anything else I should do while I'm at it. Any tips or advice would be gratefully received

[Fritz]

Chessy, If you have found the problem and you feel you can solve it cheaply then do so , all I can say is don't be replacing any thing that doesn't look suspect or can be re used.

Try to find good quality gaskets and seals from the like of Brickyard.......also Halfords sell the high temp gasket sealer for about a Fiver a tube.....

Regards


Fritz,,,,,

[croc]

Try to get the proper adhesive/sealer for the rubber head gasket.
I rebuilt engine, new barrels/pistons, and installed that new gasket with 'ordinary' gasket sealer - it blew out 2 weeks later!
It needs an adhesive type on the flat face and good quality gaskets as suggested. VW make one but about £26 small tube, Brickwerks may have what you need.

[Aidan]

vw classic parst in germany have the real parts for the engine too so proper studs and valves are obtainable no need to use pattern parts

[cheesy]

Hello

Cheers for the replies fellas. With reference to the sealant, somebody at work has given me a tube of Hylomar. Is this upto the job of sealing the head gasket? Also the piston liners came out with the head. What sealant do I use when refitting these?? I'm not at the rebuild stage yet, I just want to gather all spares and info. No real rush as I've now come to terms with the fact I'll be going to V-Festival and RTTH in the Zafira!! Rubbish!!

[danjavantey]

would you need to get the head skimmed if the gasket has blown?

[Mocki]

would you need to get the head skimmed if the gasket has blown?

not on a wbx, no, the head gasket is inside the recess of the head, ontop of the barrel, the water jacket is often refered to as the head gasket on the WBX, incorrectly.

dont be changing any headstuds that look ok, it will end in tears, just cos ones gone, and you can get it out, odds are you will snap another and wont be able to get it out, then its dooooooom all round

[croc]

Hi cheesy
cant say definite about the Hylomar (blue) sealant. It is a good sealant for normal gaskets and hoses.
I used blue silicone on the rubber head/water jacket and that failed spectacularly on one head!
I think the proper stuff might be like a Loctite adhesive/sealant - comments from others???
I used the special sealant included with the single sided head gasket kit from GSF.
When I first fitted the new liners/pistons I had the full gasket kit (GSF) and sealant not included!Hence the subsequent gasket failure with the silicone on the rubber gasket.
As you have found, if this rubber gasket fails and coolant lost on the road there is no way to make running repair to get home!
Also NO to head skimming on these engines.
The liners have a metal ring gasket in the head recess (x4) and also have a small o-ring seal top and bottom. This is to stop coolant getting into sump at bottom and probably corrosion of metal head gasket at the top.
Haynes says grease the rings to help them stay in place on assembly - this works.
I also used some ordinary grease on the o-rings and in the head recess to help them slide into place.

I am not an expert on these engines but have learnt fast after having to remove/rebuild engine 3 times in a few weeks. We have just returned from France, Spain, Portugal trip of 2700 miles without a fault, no oil used and no water top-up needed, (1.9DG WBX). So my comments here are what has worked for me - hope it helps.

[croc]

Forgot to mention, the proper sealant is yellow, both original and the one I got in the single head kit (GSF).
There may be traces of this on the old gasket.