Club 80-90 Forums

Hi, I had a small amount of water escaping from my 1988 T25 1915cc engine but I could not find the leak. After a long trip from Susex to Bordeaux and back over the summer during which I replaced the water pump, I decided to bleed the system to get some anti freeze into it as the water always seemed rather lacking. Not long after that I have had severe leaking and now I think it must be the head gasket on the drivers side of the engine.

My question is can this be done with the engine in situ and if not is removal of the engine something I can do at home on ramps and axle stands? I am pretty handy having replaced my complete exhaust system including seized studs and one sheared requiring drilling and tapping. Can't add pic at moment so I will try tomorrow. I took a video and it looks pretty bad, water bubbling out around head. I wonder if previous owner had put some gasket seal or gunk around head and the antifreeze dissolved it.

Any recommendations for garage or help around Haywards Heath area, just south of Gatwick. Can't drive far now...

Thanks in advance .

Andy

Yes it's possible in the vehicle but IMO easier with the engine out.
taking the engine out is fairly easy, you lift the rear of the vehicle on blocks of wood or ramps and using a fence post across the hatch you can drop the engine down to the ground on ratchet straps around the inlet manufold.

lots of help here if you choose that route, good excuse to check or change other bits and check clutch and oil seals.

you may be unlucky and have a head stud snap, if so again help is on hand to solve that.

If you chose a garage do yourself a favour and get it trailored to one that specialises in this, don't go local, the bill will end up far too high, there are a couple who post on here.

That does not look like the weather to have taken the engine out, outside!

Especially in just your pants.

Thanks Itchyfeet, is there an online guide to removing the engine. What needs to be disconnected or removed before dropping etc. I have a Haynes manual but a step by step would be great. cheers, Andy

Smosh wrote:That does not look like the weather to have taken the engine out, outside!

Actually that's the engine going back in but yes by then end of the day there was not much feeling left in my fingers.

CovKid wrote:Especially in just your pants.

who wears pants anymore?

AndyFrenny wrote: I have a Haynes manual but a step by step would be great. cheers, Andy

the haynes is a step by step...with pics
There's no big deal in removing VW engines, as they come out complete..exhaust and all.
All that you do is unbolt it from the bell housing and the engine mounts.
disconnect a few wires
...two petrol pipes, the gear selector rod and a coolant hose or two.

AndyFrenny wrote:Thanks Itchyfeet, is there an online guide to removing the engine. What needs to be disconnected or removed before dropping etc. I have a Haynes manual but a step by step would be great. cheers, Andy

Don't know of a guide but I can give you a brief outline of what I do and I have done it on my own more than once ( I may come back and add some stuff as I remember) , other do it differently, my reasons are as follows...
If you are leaving the gearbox in place then the engine has to slide back off it, to do that the oil filler tube needs removing, to do that you need a modified spanner, small hands and a lot of patience without removing the exhaust, tinware and engine bar so that's what I do, it will have to come off to do the head so may as well do it while the engine is supported and you can get to it.
if you want to take gearbox out also you can remove the engine more easily but then you have a lot of work to do with it on the ground and it's a heavy lump, hard on your own.

1 disconnect battery, clear a space for all the stuff you will remove, get a digital camera and photograph every step.
2 disconnect all wiring to carb and dissy noting what goes where, remove trunking to carb and fuel lines, (a twist drill shank of the right size seals them off) remove carb, use a rag in the carb to prevent you dropping anything down, carb linkage comes off easily, then stick the rag in the manifold so nothing will go down there, keep carb upright.
3 remove alternator connections, may as well remove alternator.
4 Disconnect vacuum servo pipe to inlet manifold, be careful it is easy to break. Disconnect oil pressure switch wires from loom and water switches from thermostat housing.
5 disconnect water pipes, many of them to the engine, can't list them all it will be obvious, if you are saving coolant use a bowl under. remove the top up tanks. easier to remove thermostat housing also or it catches on the
6 underneath, remove exhaust silencer and tinware ( I remove the whole exhaust as I have stainless bolts so it's easy)
7 get it up on ramps or block of wood, fence post over hatch, ratchet straps around inlet manifold and take the weight.
8. another piece of wood and a strap around the gearbox or jack under gearbox.
9, now the engine is supported remove engine bar and carrier, remove dipstick so you don't break it.
drain oil and remove engine oil filler.
10 remove two top bolts to bell housing and two nuts from studs underneath, then the engine can slide back off the gearbox by sliding the fence post back, you may need to drop the engine and box slightly.

Well thanks everyone, that is very helpful and gives me the confidence to get this done. I think the head is truly buggered. The video I took shows lots of water bubbling out and what looks like lots of deformed metal and/or rust. If there has been a lack of anti freeze then there will be lots of ruat i expect nut just in the engine. Time to replace water pipes and a few other things whilst it is out. Could be blocking the drive for a bit...

Like I=itchy feet says - very simple. Only 'improvement' to method I'd suggest is for this step:

itchyfeet wrote: 8. another piece of wood and a strap around the gearbox or jack under gearbox.

From our wiki:

2 pieces of 3x2 timber pushed into the outer CV shells they will support the box at exactly the angle for removal and fitting and mean that you don't need to remove the gear linkage.

This works great - used it a couple of times, much more stable than a jack/strap- in pictorial form:


Cheers,

Alex

AndyFrenny wrote:Well thanks everyone, that is very helpful and gives me the confidence to get this done. I think the head is truly buggered. The video I took shows lots of water bubbling out and what looks like lots of deformed metal and/or rust. If there has been a lack of anti freeze then there will be lots of ruat i expect nut just in the engine. Time to replace water pipes and a few other things whilst it is out. Could be blocking the drive for a bit...

If its been run with no antifreeze expect head studs to be rusted, when they rust to the nuts then the studs snap off, there are some tricks to try and free them up, if the nut doesn't 'crack' off when turned and it feels springy, then thats what will happen.

You may also find the liners stuck to the head also, if that happens you need to pull the head and liners off the pistons, you risk snapping rings so this must be done with great care, another reason to work on the engine out as you can tip it up onto its side to work on. If you snap rings you need to replace, cheap enough but liners need glaze removing.

you may be lucky and it will all come apoart ok, if so you need to decide if you will be changing rhe lower liner seals?
some people claim they dont need to be changed but there are also horror stories of them failing after a head is replaced as they were not changed, its not rocket science to do them but pistons with liners need to come off, i.e. Gudgeon pins out.

still feeling confident?

Oh crap. No, not feeling so confident but if I can get the engine out I can then get the jobs done if I cant do them myself and I wont be paying for the engine removal at least. I have a bad feeling about this but has to be done or a very large garage bill. I have a good selection of tools but no doubt I will be short of something. Now to find the right time to do this when I am not disturbed by family chores.

Thanks everyone, no doubt I will be asking more questions as work progresses.

You have the right attitude

So I now need a shopping list before I start dropping my engine.

I was going to order this from JKampers

Engine Gasket Set VW T25 1900, 2100cc Watercooled 1983–1992
JK Part Number: J10361 OEM Part Number: 025-198-009/B

I also read that it is worth changing the starter motor bush. Not long ago it had a new starter motor but I didnt fit it and I would not like to guarantee the bush was changed.

http://www.justkampers.com/shop/1133011 ... 11137.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any other advice on things to change when the engine is out?

Thanks, Andy

Oh and might be a stupid question but if I take the weight on ratchet straps how do I lower the engine as the ratchet straps don't have a slow reverse as far as I know.

A