Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

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energyturtle
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Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by energyturtle » Thu May 22, 2014 5:11 pm

Hello everyone. Here are the pics of my head tear down after Colin's last visit that revealed 50 psi on cylinder 2. All thoughts and opinions are appreciated.
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Cylinders 1 and 2
Image
Head 1 and 2
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The blown gasket on Cylinder 2. Checking torque revealed 17lbs on top left head bolt.
Image
Valves seats look pretty good? I think
Image
Image
Notice the odd cut in the top? what is this? It is not a crack? It looks like someone stabbed it at 45 degrees with a screw driver?
Thanks everyone I will continue posting pics of the re-assembly after initial feedback.

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Bleyseng
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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by Bleyseng » Fri May 23, 2014 2:49 am

This is why VW stopped using those gaskets. I'd lap in the cylinders to the heads and run it.
Geoff
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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by Amskeptic » Fri May 23, 2014 9:24 am

Bleyseng wrote:This is why VW stopped using those gaskets. I'd lap in the cylinders to the heads and run it.
NO IT IS NOT WHY VW STOPPED USING THESE GASKETS!!!!

I am not going to allow the mindless conventional wisdoms to flower like weeds around here. Tell the readership here why the VW technical service bulletin deleted the use of those gaskets in the 2.0 engines.
You shall be graded. :study:
You may willfully choose to ignore the reasoning as you wish, AFTER you have posted the rationale.
Go ahead. You have read my rundowns of the technical service bulletins enough times.

Look at you recommending that Energyturtle just lap the cylinders and go, without any mention whatsoever of checking the spigot depths. Do we know if these heads were flycut too far?
NO WE DO NOT. Do we know the damn deck height? HAH? DO WE? What if he botches the deck height because you recommended he delete the sealing rings from the comfort of your computer? HAH?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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energyturtle
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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by energyturtle » Fri May 23, 2014 11:14 am

I am going to launch off an a wild speculation here, something new for me. . . is too.
Technical Bulletin Says: Pistons Seizing.
A) Install pistons with more clearance.
OK, I'm with ya. . .
B) Cut notch in connecting rods (to help cool and shrink pistons).
Fine, makes sense.
C) Delete cylinder head sealing washer (to make cylinders heat up more)
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. They want the heat from the heads to flow into the cylinder barrels as quickly as possible on the big uphill, so the cylinders will expand faster than the pistons, which are also getting heated up on the big hill.
Colin

I have used all the gaskets that came in the kit, as I wanted my engine bone stock. That being said, I am going to order the copper gaskets from aircooled.net. I feel my issue came from a bad torque on the initial install of the heads. I stated I was 1 1/2 turns out on the top left head bolt from achieving proper torque. I feel this was the variable that caused the gasket to fail. Our compression check showed 3/4 were a healthy 138psi compression. I checked #1 myself and it was 137psi. I am confident that with a proper seal on the new copper gaskets i will achieve 130 something. My engine runs fine, no oil leaks, plenty of power, good and cool. All seems well, with the exception of the blown head gasket (I firmly believe it was my fault). Colin.....grade please?
Scottie

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by Amskeptic » Fri May 23, 2014 2:05 pm

energyturtle wrote:I am going to launch off an a wild speculation here, something new for me. . . is too.
Technical Bulletin Says: Pistons Seizing.
A) Install pistons with more clearance.
OK, I'm with ya. . .
B) Cut notch in connecting rods (to help cool and shrink pistons).
Fine, makes sense.
C) Delete cylinder head sealing washer (to make cylinders heat up more)
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. They want the heat from the heads to flow into the cylinder barrels as quickly as possible on the big uphill, so the cylinders will expand faster than the pistons, which are also getting heated up on the big hill.
Colin

I have used all the gaskets that came in the kit, as I wanted my engine bone stock. That being said, I am going to order the copper gaskets from aircooled.net. I feel my issue came from a bad torque on the initial install of the heads. I stated I was 1 1/2 turns out on the top left head bolt from achieving proper torque. I feel this was the variable that caused the gasket to fail. Our compression check showed 3/4 were a healthy 138psi compression. I checked #1 myself and it was 137psi. I am confident that with a proper seal on the new copper gaskets i will achieve 130 something. My engine runs fine, no oil leaks, plenty of power, good and cool. All seems well, with the exception of the blown head gasket (I firmly believe it was my fault). Colin.....grade please?
Scottie
You get an "A". I always knew you were a good boy. I wish Bleyseng could be more like you (yes, I had the elementary school teachers from Hades).

Feel free to use a razor blade on that delicate aluminum to scrape down any sharp edges in the combustion chambers that come from nicks or gouges. You may do a little 1/2 mm bevel on the ledge between the bowl and the quench area when you are done. Follow Bleyseng's advice to lap the barrels and cylinders to see if they have a good contact pattern. If you see an area where they are not contacting fully, the sealing surfaces have been damaged and you will need to flycut, which could change sealing ring thickness numbers in a hurry.

Your cylinder contact areas where they meet the head must be smooth. If you see a nick with a raised edge where the cylinder meets the sealing ring, scrape it with a razor blade so that it is smooth. It is made of cast iron, so it will be tougher than the aluminum by far.

Clean all head studs with a die or a wire brush. Oil all threads and run a nut up them until they are friction free, this is important. Your lower studs are inside the valve cover area, do NOT use sealant on them at this time until *next morning final torque*. Do your head torque in five stages. Follow the Bentley diagram, but do both heads simultaneously, mirroring the current nut with the head nut on the other side of the engine. That means you torque #1 in the sequence on the right side, then what they call #3 left side. They are mirror opposites. When you do #3 right side, it will be #1 nut left side according to the Bentley, i tiNK. Do first pass to 10 , second pass to 15, third pass to 23 ft/lbs.

Before you go to bed, go do them all up to 40 ft/lbs. This mimics a heat cycle and helps to bed in the copper sealing rings. This totally improves your long-term clamping.

*Next morning*, or when ever, start with the last nut!! #8! Loosen to below 20 ft/lbs, then bring it up smoothly to 23. Then do the same with 7/6/5/4/3/2 AND ITS MIRROR OPPOSITE simultaneously.
Each lower nut, you will remove completely, only one at a time! remove the washer, apply sealant to washer and stud threads, then torque up to 23. Hold it at 23 for at least fifteen seconds, it will do a ooze migrate. Check everyone again 30 minutes after you are done. This is the most-enhanced procedure I know of.

If you have ANY questions let me know.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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energyturtle
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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by energyturtle » Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:04 pm

Hello all......I am really bad about reporting back as I have been driving the bus EVERYWHERE. The head gasket issue has been fixed by following Colin's advice exactly. The power is amazing. I am no longer afraid of hills at all. I have put close to 1000 miles on it since the head gasket fiasco. I went for a drive today, as I do everyday, and went to a 10 mile flat, straight piece of highway that has little traffic and no police presence. I could not resist the urge to try and go FAST. I hit 88 MPH with a little pedal left based on gps speedometer, head temps started to climb into the 430F range so I let her coast down. I got back home and popped open the engine bay, all looked and smelled just fine, like that good no burning oil, hot aluminum smell. I preceded to open the cover to the AFM and give it a little nudge CW. It still slows down considerably at 1/4 inch CW and stays steady at 1/4 inch CCW. I have yet to adjust it because it is running so good, but it tells me it wants MORE gas? Oh what to do?
Scottie

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:12 pm

energyturtle wrote:Hello all......I am really bad about reporting back as I have been driving the bus EVERYWHERE. The head gasket issue has been fixed by following Colin's advice exactly. The power is amazing. I am no longer afraid of hills at all. I have put close to 1000 miles on it since the head gasket fiasco. I went for a drive today, as I do everyday, and went to a 10 mile flat, straight piece of highway that has little traffic and no police presence. I could not resist the urge to try and go FAST. I hit 88 MPH with a little pedal left based on gps speedometer, head temps started to climb into the 430F range so I let her coast down. I got back home and popped open the engine bay, all looked and smelled just fine, like that good no burning oil, hot aluminum smell. I preceded to open the cover to the AFM and give it a little nudge CW. It still slows down considerably at 1/4 inch CW and stays steady at 1/4 inch CCW. I have yet to adjust it because it is running so good, but it tells me it wants MORE gas? Oh what to do?
Scottie
Glad to hear it is running well. If you move the wiper CCW and the engine speed goes UP, that is telling you it wants more gas. If the idle speed stays steady when you move it CCW, it is good almost rich. I like just a little bit of lean if it is not 117* outside.
Colin409onSiskiyouPass
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Blowm head gasket repair at 600 miles

Post by 72Hardtop » Mon Aug 11, 2014 9:38 pm

The gaskets were added into the bulletin because VW knew they were a weak link in the transfer medium. If someone fly-cut your heads to much take that up with them because VW never would have done that and then use gaskets to provide a band-aid fix.

The gaskets are thinly layered pieces of aluminum and when combined with heat & time they burn thru. The bulletin was the perfect opportunity for VW to have them removed since they knew the heads needed to come off for the other items listed in the bulletin to be done.

VW makes no mention of using them if the heads are over fly-cut. In fact, they make no mention or recommendation of even using over fly-cut heads in the tech bulletin.
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Weber 40mm Duals - 47.5idles, 125mains, F11 tubes, 190 Air corr., 28mm Vents
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42x36mm Heads (AMC- Headflow Masters) w/Porsche swivel adjusters
71mm Stroke
Web Cam 73 w/matched Web lifters
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Re: Blowm head gasket repair at 600 miles

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Aug 12, 2014 6:27 am

72Hardtop wrote:The gaskets were added into the bulletin because VW knew they were a weak link in the transfer medium. If someone fly-cut your heads to much take that up with them because VW never would have done that and then use gaskets to provide a band-aid fix.
It was more technical than that. Simple physics.
72Hardtop wrote: The gaskets are thinly layered pieces of aluminum and when combined with heat & time they burn thru. The bulletin was the perfect opportunity for VW to have them removed since they knew the heads needed to come off for the other items listed in the bulletin to be done.
Their removal was part of a specific series of operations to prevent scuffing of the 94mm pistons
72Hardtop wrote: VW makes no mention of using them if the heads are over fly-cut. In fact, they make no mention or recommendation of even using over fly-cut heads in the tech bulletin.
. . . because the tech bulletin was addressing a specific issue.
VW absolutely mentions flycutting to restore the sealing surface in their deep engine manuals. They have a specified maximum head cut depth as well. They did not recommend sealing rings if overflycut, because, at the time, they were making heads by the thousands.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by 72Hardtop » Tue Sep 09, 2014 3:45 am

The expanding and contracting overtime allowed for the gasket to break free/burn thru at a weak point. The gaskets ability to move heat from the head to cylinder is no different than without it...given they (gaskets) were made of aluminum. They were in fact removed as being proved to be a weak link given they were NOT actually part of the head or cylinder but in fact an awful interference fit item. And barely that.

Using the gaskets at any time is unwise.

Proper way? Lap the heads to the cylinders.

If the heads are over flycut guess what? Buy or source heads from somewhere that aern't over cut.

Tech bulletin:

Engines, P/N 071 100 031AX, 039 100 031 B/C/DX, have been modified to improve heat transfer an increase durability. These changes effect Engine codes: GD, GE, CV.

The following improvements have been introduced as of remanufactured Engine number 89000.



To eliminate seizing of pistons, increased piston/cylinder clearance from 0.03mm ± 0.008mm to 0.045mm ± 0.005mm.


Eliminate aluminum seal 021 101 341A between cylinder and cylinder head.


Eliminate paper gasket 021 101 341A between foot of cylinder and crankcase.


Install 1.6mm aluminum shim 071 101 341, with adhesive D 000 400 at foot of cylinder to compensate for removed paper gasket and aluminum seal. Illustration 1.



To improve heat transfer, oil groves on both sides of the connecting rod to allow oil splash to cool bottom of the piston. Illustration

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

The bulletin clearly states to "improve heat transfer & increase durability". Both being seperate issues dealt with in (1) instance (bulletin). The seizing was dealt with by increase of piston/cylinder clearance and the increase in heat transfer was dealt with by 'V' notching of the rods.

The hottest area will be right at the bottom of the pistons. Removing heat there (V notch) will aid in lowering the heat elsewhere. Had VW not ordered for the removal of the cylinder head gaskets at the head we'd still see gaskets being burned thru even with the other offered corrections. They were bad idea from the begining of which VW ultimately ordered for their removal.
1972 Westy tintop
2056cc T-4 - 7.8:1 CR
Weber 40mm Duals - 47.5idles, 125mains, F11 tubes, 190 Air corr., 28mm Vents
96mm AA Biral P/C's w/Hastings rings
42x36mm Heads (AMC- Headflow Masters) w/Porsche swivel adjusters
71mm Stroke
Web Cam 73 w/matched Web lifters
S&S 4-1 exhaust w/Walker 17862 quiet-pack
Pertronix SVDA w/Pertronix module & Flamethrower 40K coil (7* initial 28* total @3200+)
NGK BP6ET plugs
002 3 rib trans
Hankook 185R14's

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:56 am

72Hardtop wrote:The expanding and contracting overtime allowed for the gasket to break free/burn thru at a weak point.
Only if the engine was overheated. This is not a chronic failure point. I have too many miles of serious driving with nary a head sealing ring failure to buy into this "over time" deal.
72Hardtop wrote: The gaskets ability to move heat from the head to cylinder is no different than without it...given they (gaskets) were made of aluminum.

Using the gaskets at any time is unwise.

Tech bulletin:

Engines, P/N 071 100 031AX, 039 100 031 B/C/DX, have been modified to improve heat transfer an increase durability. These changes effect Engine codes: GD, GE, CV.

To eliminate seizing of pistons, increased piston/cylinder clearance from 0.03mm ± 0.008mm to 0.045mm ± 0.005mm.

Eliminate aluminum seal 021 101 341A between cylinder and cylinder head.

Eliminate paper gasket 021 101 341A between foot of cylinder and crankcase.


To improve heat transfer, oil groves on both sides of the connecting rod to allow oil splash to cool bottom of the piston.

The bulletin clearly states to "improve heat transfer & increase durability". Both being seperate issues dealt with in (1) instance (bulletin). The seizing was dealt with by increase of piston/cylinder clearance and the increase in heat transfer was dealt with by 'V' notching of the rods.
Yes. Cooling the pistons was half of the recipe. Getting the cylinder walls to expand more quickly was the other half of the recipe. Removing the head shims increased the transfer of combustion chamber heat to the cylinders more quickly. Now you can just state "The gaskets ability to move heat from the head to cylinder is no different than without it", but that does not make it so.
Read up on how VW used a washer on the temp sensor II to help prolong cold mixture enrichment. Just a washer. Like a head sealing ring, just a little washer slows the transfer of heat.

I will give you "increase durability", what the heck, why not. But at the same time, I have hundreds of thousands of miles of head sealing ring-equipped Type 4 engines that have never failed. When I take the heads of the BobD, I will let you know if it had the sealing rings.
72Hardtop wrote:The hottest area will be right at the bottom of the pistons.
Who sez? The top of the piston (the crown) is the hottest area! The bottom of the piston just happens to be the place that we can best try to cool it.
72Hardtop wrote:Had VW not ordered for the removal of the cylinder head gaskets at the head we'd still see gaskets being burned thru even with the other offered corrections. They were bad idea from the begining of which VW ultimately ordered for their removal.
Sheer speculation, Your Honor.
Colin :cyclopsani:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by 72Hardtop » Fri Sep 12, 2014 6:25 pm

Amskeptic wrote:
72Hardtop wrote:The expanding and contracting overtime allowed for the gasket to break free/burn thru at a weak point.
Only if the engine was overheated. This is not a chronic failure point. I have too many miles of serious driving with nary a head sealing ring failure to buy into this "over time" deal.
72Hardtop wrote: The gaskets ability to move heat from the head to cylinder is no different than without it...given they (gaskets) were made of aluminum.

Using the gaskets at any time is unwise.

Tech bulletin:

Engines, P/N 071 100 031AX, 039 100 031 B/C/DX, have been modified to improve heat transfer an increase durability. These changes effect Engine codes: GD, GE, CV.

To eliminate seizing of pistons, increased piston/cylinder clearance from 0.03mm ± 0.008mm to 0.045mm ± 0.005mm.

Eliminate aluminum seal 021 101 341A between cylinder and cylinder head.

Eliminate paper gasket 021 101 341A between foot of cylinder and crankcase.


To improve heat transfer, oil groves on both sides of the connecting rod to allow oil splash to cool bottom of the piston.

The bulletin clearly states to "improve heat transfer & increase durability". Both being seperate issues dealt with in (1) instance (bulletin). The seizing was dealt with by increase of piston/cylinder clearance and the increase in heat transfer was dealt with by 'V' notching of the rods.
Yes. Cooling the pistons was half of the recipe. Getting the cylinder walls to expand more quickly was the other half of the recipe. Removing the head shims increased the transfer of combustion chamber heat to the cylinders more quickly. Now you can just state "The gaskets ability to move heat from the head to cylinder is no different than without it", but that does not make it so.
Read up on how VW used a washer on the temp sensor II to help prolong cold mixture enrichment. Just a washer. Like a head sealing ring, just a little washer slows the transfer of heat.

I will give you "increase durability", what the heck, why not. But at the same time, I have hundreds of thousands of miles of head sealing ring-equipped Type 4 engines that have never failed. When I take the heads of the BobD, I will let you know if it had the sealing rings.
72Hardtop wrote:The hottest area will be right at the bottom of the pistons.
Who sez? The top of the piston (the crown) is the hottest area! The bottom of the piston just happens to be the place that we can best try to cool it.
72Hardtop wrote:Had VW not ordered for the removal of the cylinder head gaskets at the head we'd still see gaskets being burned thru even with the other offered corrections. They were bad idea from the begining of which VW ultimately ordered for their removal.
Sheer speculation, Your Honor.
Colin :cyclopsani:

1. Because there are far too many documented head gasket failures to say otherwise. A tree that bears only 1 piece of fruit is hardly a fruit tree.

2. My info comes (2) very close & trusted former VW dealer mechanics. Both of which continued on to own and run their own independent VW shops for 30-40+ years. One (Dennis Hasting-DMD Enterprises) is now retired the other Lloyd Mosher is still running LME Enterprises...he's also known as LittleGiantkiller.

3. Not speculation but fact given the very high amount that I alone have seen first hand. Overheating only aided in it happening sooner as opposed to later. But it is inevitable. Remember VW never equipped CHT gauges in these vehicles. So when would overheating be known if one never had a gauge or an official number to go by? VW also never alluded to a buyer as to what the engines specific temperature had to be before it reached an overheating state. Why? Because the buyer would never know without having a CHT gauge. Then ultimately hurt sales.

In fact, VW boasted in advertisement ads about not having to worry about issues such as leaky radiator, blown water hoses due to being air-cooled :thumbleft:
1972 Westy tintop
2056cc T-4 - 7.8:1 CR
Weber 40mm Duals - 47.5idles, 125mains, F11 tubes, 190 Air corr., 28mm Vents
96mm AA Biral P/C's w/Hastings rings
42x36mm Heads (AMC- Headflow Masters) w/Porsche swivel adjusters
71mm Stroke
Web Cam 73 w/matched Web lifters
S&S 4-1 exhaust w/Walker 17862 quiet-pack
Pertronix SVDA w/Pertronix module & Flamethrower 40K coil (7* initial 28* total @3200+)
NGK BP6ET plugs
002 3 rib trans
Hankook 185R14's

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by asiab3 » Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:25 am

72Hardtop wrote: 3. Not speculation but fact given the very high amount that I alone have seen first hand. Overheating only aided in it happening sooner as opposed to later. But it is inevitable. Remember VW never equipped CHT gauges in these vehicles. So when would overheating be known if one never had a gauge or an official number to go by? VW also never alluded to a buyer as to what the engines specific temperature had to be before it reached an overheating state. Why? Because the buyer would never know without having a CHT gauge.

In fact, VW boasted in advertisement ads about not having to worry about issues such as leaky radiator, blown water hoses due to being air-cooled :thumbleft:
What exactly do you define as "overheating"? I've been mulling over this quite a bit- VW does not publish data in their service manuals nor the "guesswork" series. Is there a point at which we can say yes or no to "is this engine overheating?"

Or would you change your wording to "running in the hottest conditions aided in it happening sooner?"
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by 72Hardtop » Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:47 am

asiab3 wrote:
72Hardtop wrote: 3. Not speculation but fact given the very high amount that I alone have seen first hand. Overheating only aided in it happening sooner as opposed to later. But it is inevitable. Remember VW never equipped CHT gauges in these vehicles. So when would overheating be known if one never had a gauge or an official number to go by? VW also never alluded to a buyer as to what the engines specific temperature had to be before it reached an overheating state. Why? Because the buyer would never know without having a CHT gauge.

In fact, VW boasted in advertisement ads about not having to worry about issues such as leaky radiator, blown water hoses due to being air-cooled :thumbleft:
What exactly do you define as "overheating"? I've been mulling over this quite a bit- VW does not publish data in their service manuals nor the "guesswork" series. Is there a point at which we can say yes or no to "is this engine overheating?"

Or would you change your wording to "running in the hottest conditions aided in it happening sooner?"
No rewording...my belief has always been that's it's critical to keep the engine in a high state of tune as much as possible. One that isn't will be working much harder combined with running hotter. One big reason VW did not put CHT gauges in these vehicles was they knew it would freak people out given the majority of people were used to seeing a gauge on a water cooled car showing far less temps.

Keep in mind Colins experience is unlike any or most average bus owner/s (past & present) much like his attention to detail such as painting backing plates while boon docking somewhere lonely.
1972 Westy tintop
2056cc T-4 - 7.8:1 CR
Weber 40mm Duals - 47.5idles, 125mains, F11 tubes, 190 Air corr., 28mm Vents
96mm AA Biral P/C's w/Hastings rings
42x36mm Heads (AMC- Headflow Masters) w/Porsche swivel adjusters
71mm Stroke
Web Cam 73 w/matched Web lifters
S&S 4-1 exhaust w/Walker 17862 quiet-pack
Pertronix SVDA w/Pertronix module & Flamethrower 40K coil (7* initial 28* total @3200+)
NGK BP6ET plugs
002 3 rib trans
Hankook 185R14's

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Re: Blown Head Gasket Repair at 600 Miles

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Sep 13, 2014 10:21 am

72Hardtop wrote: there are far too many documented head gasket failures
Overheating only aided in it happening sooner as opposed to later. But it is inevitable.

Remember VW never equipped CHT gauges in these vehicles. So when would overheating be known if one never had a gauge or an official number to go by?

In fact, VW boasted in advertisement ads about not having to worry about issues such as leaky radiator, blown water hoses due to being air-cooled :thumbleft:
If you look at your documented cases of head failures (sickness), you see them only in forums devoted to figuring out what is wrong (in the hospital). So, if you are in a hospital all the time, you might see a lot of sickness. But in fact, millions of Type 4 VWs did not blow their head sealing rings. And my god you are not going to tell me what is "inevitable". I had 515,000 miles on my original heads, they had exhaust cracks, they had hard lives, they never blew sealing rings. I have visited many Type 4 engines over the years that gave *full service lives* without head sealing ring leaks. "Inevitable" . . .

I have frequently proposed that people commit unknown errors on their VW engines, then blame their engine for the failure!
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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