Replacing headgasket, any pointers?

[Wiseguy91tsi]

Head gasket blew on my 91 TSI. Before I started I wanted to know if anyone who has done this can give me some pointers. Maybe a spreadsheet on it?

 

[SOADweskey]

Get a chilton or haynes manual. It is pretty much like any other head gasket. Get some pb blaster for stubborn bolts especially on the turbo and exhaust. Also be sure to use new head studs, ARP only cost a little more than stock so most of us just use them.

 

[Wiseguy91tsi]

Get a chilton or haynes manual. It is pretty much like any other head gasket. Get some pb blaster for stubborn bolts especially on the turbo and exhaust. Also be sure to use new head studs, ARP only cost a little more than stock so most of us just use them.

Good idea I'll do that. So I'm guessing the turbo needs to come off as well? I also need to replace the nock sensor. Anyone know the work time on a job like this?

 

[doayamaha]

For just doing a head gasket you can just unbolt the turbo from the manifold un plug everything and get the wire harness out of the way remove power steering to make room to get at the timming belt and don't forget the brace for the intke manifald that should get you about ready for the head to come off except the t belt and cover and head bolts of course

 

[Dsm4lyfe12]

I took my motor out after my head was off it was ugggllyy i was only going to do a head also...

 

[Tyeler18]

We are in the process of doing a headgasket on my friends talon right now (mine's next). We pulled the motor for ease of getting at everything, but we had the head pulled before we pulled the motor. It's actually pretty simple, just make sure you label everything and use baggies for bolts etc. I'd say the timing is the hardest part, since with the engine in the car it's more difficult to get the belt on.

Depending on how mechanically inclined you are this is an easy day project assuming you have all the right tools. Knock sensor will be very easy to access once the heads off. My other tip (since I see a lot of people not doing this) is to leave the exhaust and intake mani's on the head. I don't know why, but lots of people seem to think they need to pull them off before removing the head. There is no problem leaving them on the head though.

Good luck.

 

[Wiseguy91tsi]

I've never done work on any talons. I mainly deal with 5.0's I've done a lot with them. But everything is pretty cut and dry. I'm just worried about the timing the most. I've read that all I have to do is align the 2 nipples on the pulley and compress the tensioner and slide the belt on. And the timing will be set. I'm not sure if this is inaccurate.

 

[FearlessNick]

I'm doing my head gasket this saturday. As well when I have my head off I'm going to clean up on my intake manifold like crazy. The guy that owned it before me ran the thing very lean. So I'm pretty sure the inside of that thing is very dirty!

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

Pointers (Of course AFTER you drain your engine of fluids)

1 : Remove the entire timing assembly and pulley assembly

2 : Be ready to replace your timing belt and do a full timing job

3 : Remove your Exhaust manifold and Turbo

4 : Keep the Intake manifold on the head.

5 : Remove the head bolts from the block from the outsides in.

6 : Clean the surface of the head and Block

7 : Check the surfaces of the Head and Block for flatness

8 : Apply the new head gasket

9 : Lower the head onto the car with the Intake Manifold ON. You do NOT want to try to put the intake manifold on the head with the head installed.

10 : Make sure the head seats flat, using the dowels on the head to line everything up

11 : Apply your head bolts/studs finger tight.

12 : Tighten the head bolts/studs in sequences/patterns. Start from the outside in at 35FLBS, then torque from the Inside Out at 60FLBS, and finally torque from the Outside in with a criss-cross pattern at a final 85FLBS

13 : Install your timing components and pulleys

14 : Install the Intake Manifold/turbo

15 : Pray you got it right and start your car.

This is the basic process in vague detail and assuming your engine is in GOOD condition, without cleaning or polishing required.

 

[Tyeler18]

I've never done work on any talons. I mainly deal with 5.0's I've done a lot with them. But everything is pretty cut and dry. I'm just worried about the timing the most. I've read that all I have to do is align the 2 nipples on the pulley and compress the tensioner and slide the belt on. And the timing will be set. I'm not sure if this is inaccurate.

Make SURE you count the teeth between the cam gears. This royally screwed me up when I followed the VFAQ's guide and also why we pulled the motor. On the exhaust sproket starting at the first BELT tooth above the timing mark you should count 39 teeth all the way around the top to the intake sprocket AT the timing mark. The VFAQ doesn't mention the amount of teeth between the two, so I just tightened the belt on and had all out of wack compression numbers because it was off a few teeth.

 

[gearhead07]

MAke sure your gasket surfaces are very clean and no left over old material.

 

[GST4g63T]

I would say (leaving the engine in) timing and getting the pulleys are the hardest part. Like stated pick up manual, this was the first thing i ever did, mechanical wise, changing the head on my old GSX. Good luck, have fun. Take your time do everything right the first time will save you a headache in the long run.

 

[MITSUMURDOK]

I just did the Headgasket on my 95 Tsi, wasn't as bad as I feared. If you are going to use headstuds, make sure you chase the threads in the head. Also I'm not sure if this applies to 6 bolts, but I could not get some of the washers on the head studs after the head was on( the springs were in the way). To save you having to pull the head back off(like I had to on my 7 bolt) put all the washers on the head before dropping it down. I used some of the assembly lube that came with the studs to hold them in place. As others said, leave the manifolds on, just unbolt the turbo.

 

[Wiseguy91tsi]

I don't have the tool that is used to decompress the timing belt. Is their anything I can use on it? It's just a hole, my friend said trees a tool for it but I called autozone and they don't carry it.

 

[GIRman67]

Jay Racing has the tool to compress the tensioner and they also carry a cam gear holder hope that helps. I got my stuff from Jay, all looks kosher and I will be finding out the quality this Saturday as well

 

[zeekster777]

I like to line every thing up where its supposed to be, then I use white out on the marks to make it easier to see. I always mark everything just to be safe.

 

[turbo tim1]

Pointers (Of course AFTER you drain your engine of fluids)

1 : Remove the entire timing assembly and pulley assembly

2 : Be ready to replace your timing belt and do a full timing job

3 : Remove your Exhaust manifold and Turbo

(I would leave the turbo on it will be supported by the exhaust, oil drain and coolant line.)

4 : Keep the Intake manifold on the head.

5 : Remove the head bolts from the block from the outsides in.

6 : Clean the surface of the head and Block

7 : Check the surfaces of the Head and Block for flatness

8 : Apply the new head gasket

9 : Lower the head onto the car with the Intake Manifold ON. You do NOT want to try to put the intake manifold on the head with the head installed.

10 : Make sure the head seats flat, using the dowels on the head to line everything up

11 : Apply your head bolts/studs finger tight.

12 : Tighten the head bolts/studs in sequences/patterns. Start from the outside in at 35FLBS, then torque from the Inside Out at 60FLBS, and finally torque from the Outside in with a criss-cross pattern at a final 85FLBS

13 : Install your timing components and pulleys

(make sure the cams dowel pins are facing up and line up the timing marks on the cams so they are facing each other. I put the belt on the cams at this point and hold the belt to each cam gear with vise grips and mile pressure this makes it easy to put the belt on the oil pump gear and crank gear.)

Oil pump should be almost line up with its timing mark on its own, as the balance shaft weight attached to it will hold it around close to where it should be. If you clock this 360 degrees out, the oil pump will want to rotate away from the mark, if u put it on like this it will cause a vibration. The other balance shaft you can just line up with no special positioning. Line up the crank shaft to its mark put the tensioner on and rotate the engine by hand slowly 6 times and check all your marks, they should all be lined up. Also if u screwed up your timing you will know when you are rotating it slow. You will have valve interference but no damage and you can back it up and check to see what you messed up and then try again.

I have done probly a million timing belts now and I still check timing by rotating it by hand.

14 : Install the Intake Manifold/turbo

He probly meant install exhaust manifold here.

15 : Pray you got it right and start your car.

(I don't pray, I rotate by hand to check.)

This is the basic process in vague detail and assuming your engine is in GOOD condition, without cleaning or polishing required.

my thought to this post with my revision opinions added to the qoute.

I don't have the tool that is used to decompress the timing belt. Is their anything I can use on it? It's just a hole, my friend said trees a tool for it but I called autozone and they don't carry it.

I like to line up all my timing marks first.
Then just unbolt the tensioner, you don't need a special tool just remove the tensioner. All you need is a vise to compress it again, oh ya compress it slowly it has a shock absorber built into it and if you compress it to fast you can damage it.
once its compressed you can put an Allen key through the hole to hold it compressed so it can be reinstalled.

 

[El Cuervo]

A couple of quick tips to remember. The jay racing timing belt tools kit does wonders. So if you can get it, do it. It makes a timing belt job 10 times easier. Ok. Remember, to remove your timing belt, you will need to remove your driver side motor mount. If you still have your stock old motor mounts, use a support with cushion under your oil pan. The engine might drop a bit if you don't and will add stress to the rest of the mounts. This will also depend on how new/stiff your motor mounts are.
Before removing your timing belt. Its important to make sure that you set the timing to top dead center. Unless you are removing your camshafts. Its a bit hard to turn your cams when the head is off and if you forget and install the head back without timing your cams to match your crank, then you might run into problems with piston/valve clearances. As mentioned above. You can get away without removing your intake and exhaust manifolds. Before starting, its a good idea to soak your exhaust manifold to turbo bolts with pb blaster a few days before starting. Run the car through a few heat cycles and repeat with pb baster. It is very easy to snap those bolts and you don't want to start a sub project within a project.

 

[rlacasse1]

Dude, if you have done a headgasket on any other DOHC engine the you already know everything you really need to know. There are no special tricks, just common sense.

Since you seem the most uncomfortable with the timing then look at Vfaq and see how the timing is done. They have an excellent write up full of pictures, it is very helpful.

Have fun.

 

[Wiseguy91tsi]

Got some new questions. I was looking around the inside of the car. Spotted a phone jack on the passenger side that ran into the drivers side of the car into the wiring harness. Anyone know about this? Also the car has 1000 cc injectors but no safc. I did see a few cables that don't go to anything lying by the computer. One looks like it plugged into a laptop and has 3 cables coming off it. The other one looks like it could almost plug into a computer and also has 3 wires off it.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

I'm sorry... a Phone Jack?... Who owned the car before you? ATT?

 

[turbo tim1]

Maybe they had a radar detector and wired it to a power source instead of cig lighter.

 

[eric_dsr]

Sorry if im repeating this if its already been said. But its really important that
you change your timing belt also sense your going to have everything off
alread and it only adds about an hour to what your already doing and you'll be safe
for another 60,000. If you run into any problems I can send you information
from aldata

 

[standard235]

I've done the timing belt job I'd say 10 times and I can start with the car on the ground n the garage, and have everything off and replaced and back on the ground in 2 hours, alone.

First time was a headache. Remember it's not magic. It's just parts, nuts and bolts. Put them back the way they came out

 

[stukyl28]

Depending on what type of headgasket you plan to use your going to want both surfaces very smooth and make sure there is nothing left over or you'll push coolant into places you don't want it to go!