is this head garbage?

[damac]

would i even dare take this into a machine shop, i never dealt with this kind of stuff before.   do i take the cam and any other pieces out to reuse or are they mated to the head?  thanks!  this car kinda ran but not well, from a junkyard.  i see not even a touch on the pistons, in fact i think the bottom end from this engine is the base for my next turbo engine to go into a truck im getting.  its in better shape than the one i was running with major blowby in my jetta.

[rallydiesel]

Second pic down could be a problem. Anything is repairable, just depends on how much you want to spend. There is a guy on tdiclub named Franko6 that does aluminum weld repairs to vw cylinder heads. I think he would be your best bet. The other cracks (between the valve seats and the fine cracks in the precups) are not really a big deal and could be left as is.

[rs899]

Probably cheaper to find another head than to get someone to fix that one.  Cracked prechamber, too.

[theman53]

cracked prechambers and worse the crack between the prechamber and the intake valve...Very bad. The cracks between the intake and exhaust are acceptable.

Valves/keepers/etc. maybe of some use. Cam will be usable in other heads, as long as you match it to whatever kind of head *mech or hydro* it came out of.

I would also keep the cam caps just in case you ever need one. They are not interchangable, but could be line bored if needed and used in another head.

[burn_your_money]

For a stock beater car I wouldn't worry about reusing the head. I'd probably buy studs instead of head bolts though just because it will likely fair sooner than a head without that crack. It's unlikely to leave you stranded on the side of the road if it does go

[CRSMP5]

with the crack from precup to valve... its junk... if it was onlt the precups no isssue.. but that single crack = fail..

[burn_your_money]

If it came off a running car I would put it back on. I wouldn't buy a head like that though.

[R.O.R-2.0]

there is NO WAY i would ever re use that head, after seeing that huge crack.. its in the WRONG spot, and could leave you with a COOKED engine.

[DRP67207]

Could a crack in that location lead to coolant leaking into the cylinder?  I just pulled my head and found a crack in the same place and am trying to decide on a course of action. I suspected a head gasket, but am now afraid that this might be the root of the problem.   Thanks.

[theman53]

yes.

[DRP67207]

Well, anyone got a cheap 1.6l na mechanical head in or near Connecticut? Looks like I'm in the market...

[theman53]

I may have a TD head, precups are suspect. I will let you know. . . I am taking 3 heads to make one that should be great.

[burn_your_money]

Could a crack in that location lead to coolant leaking into the cylinder?  I just pulled my head and found a crack in the same place and am trying to decide on a course of action. I suspected a head gasket, but am now afraid that this might be the root of the problem.   Thanks.

See in this situation, unless the head was pressure checked first, I wouldn't use it again.

[DRP67207]

Yeah, the gasket looks okay, so I'm pretty sure it's the crack that's leaking.  Thanks for the the offer theman53, keep me posted.  Sorry for the thread jack, hope the OP has figured out his own situation.

[CRSMP5]

007 aka red kubvan in dec i told the owner when doing a waterpump his headgsket was suspect.. very little but noticable pressure in the coolent system at start up... like the hg was about to fail.... so in jan pulled the head to find same crack... no idea where he got his reman head.. no good trustworthy used ones to be found...


back in 07 my 1.6td b3 wagon onway home from ky started to  pressurise the cooling system after i hit 5psi... till that point no issue.. 5psi.. t would empty the coolent bottle (hole in firewall would allow my leg to get splashed, im like wtf at this point, how i found out i had a issue)... never overheated it or anything.. pulled head expecting bad headgasket... 2 and 3 cracked the head...

cracked heads like that may work.. but not worth melting something down..