Blown Head Gasket - Eh?

[Gizmoman]

OK,
I have an 82 VW Westy (originally had the 1.6 non TD in it). I purchased this from someone who had put in a 1.9 AAZ and did a decent job.
The van ran well but as always - still a bit under powered. I built a boost controller and raised the boost from 10 to 15 psi and slightly increased the fuel.
It ran much better and I kept a close eye on the water temp gauge and made sure it never went into the 2/3rds zone. I don't have an EGT sensor or an intercooler and knew I was messing with trouble but tried to be "nice" by watching the water temp (silly me).
I drove it back and forth to work and on several camping trips in the Sequoias with no issues.

A few months ago I was heading up the long steep grade from Riverside to Barstow (CA) and about 200 yards from the top it went "pop" and abruptly died. My temp instantly pegged. To keep this short, I was able to re-start it within 15 minutes. It ran rough and there was white smoke as I limped it over the top and down to a cafe at the bottom of the grade.

I am finally tearing it down and couldn't wait to get the head off so I could see where it had failed. My problem now is - I don't see anything wrong The head bolts were 100+ ft lbs when I broke them loose and I have inspected every line left from the metal HG (3 notch) - they are all continuous as far as I can tell.
There was no water in my oil and no oil in my water.
I'm stumped.
BTW - when I was removing the manifolds one bolt was missing from the turbo where it bolts to the manifold - if anyone has a spare (12 point head) i'd appreciate a PM. Also the bolts that held the intake on to the head were slightly over finger tight - I'm amazed it even ran like this.

Anyway, I am hoping a few of you Gurus can tell me what I am overlooking. The van started several times after this happened and other than quickly overheating and billowing white smoke and feeling like it ran on 3 - it did run.
Could the head be cracked and I can't see it? I even separated the metal HG so I could look between the plates - spotless.

Any ideas?

[theman53]

Maybe it jumped time? The aaz were also known for the crank gear failure. While you have it out get it machined for the D sprocket crank gear from the AHU.

[burn_your_money]

What turbo do you have? There are 2 different style bolts for the AAZ.

Was the coolant being pressurized by combustion gasses?

[libbydiesel]

That last pic shows a K14.

Get an AAZ timing cover.  The early metal ones are a joke and there's no reason the AAZ cover won't fit. 

I'd be curious to see a picture of the driver's side mount and carrier bar.  Someone did some work to make that fit.

[CrazyAndy]

Have you mechanically checked the head and block deck for warpage with a straight edge?  Furthermore, does your turbo spin freely, and are you sure the tail pipe smoke is pure white and not bluish?  How about those piston rings; you could have cracked one, causing the cylinder to lose compression, therefore causing the smoke AKA unburnt fuel and the sensation of running on 3 cylinders.  A bit of a stretch on the last hypothesis, but not discountalbe.  Finally as theman53 says, did you check your pump and cam timing before pulling the head?

[libbydiesel]

In case you weren't aware, it also looks like you have a 1.6 injection pump and pump mounts.  Also, your supply and drain on your turbo are not clocked very well.  I'm aware of what it takes to clock a k14 in a vanagon and you can't get it very close with the metal tube off the drain like that. 

[Gizmoman]

Wow these are all great responses - fast too!

I'm new to this engine and didn't know the PO personally. Wish I had been wiser before jumping into this but it's my problem now. As I said before, he did a decent job but it's far from perfect.
I'll get the turbo info tomorrow (its defiantly a tiny thing). It spins free but I did notice a little bit of side-play if I put my finger on the wheel and wiggle it. It may have been fuel getting past a cracked ring as well - I'll find out as soon as I get deeper into it. Something made it get hot quick so I never ran it longer than I had to. Didn't check timing before the tear-down . The belt wasn't loose but it wasn't tight either. Could that mean I tore it down when all I had to do was time it? Oh well, maybe I lurk too much on this forum and subconsciously wanted to take my engine apart.

I didn't put a straight edge on the deck or head and will do so tomorrow after work. I would think though that if it was warped and lifted off the deck, the gasket would show some sign of it. As you can see in the photos - it looks like it was sealing just fine.
Parts for this are going to be tough to find here in San Diego. Not like I can go to the pick-and-pull and nab something. I'm fairly crafty though and with some help from this forum, I hope to have it straight soon.
The plan is to install an EGT, water to air IC, and whatever it takes to be rock-solid dependable (a bit more poop wouldn't hurt either).
I'll get back to you tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks everyone - without you folks, I'd be SOL for sure!

[damac]

I had a similiar incident on my 1.6td months ago.  Couldn't detect a hint of carnage on the head, not even cracks between the valves after the overheat.  I actually limped it back home 20 miles.  It wanted to overheat quickly on a hill and we babied it.  Every mile had to put more water in because it was spitting it out.  Was yours?

Everything seems cool with mine at home but I am no pro and will actually be taking it in to a machine shop next week to get word.

Also when I took mine apart there didn't seem to be a hint of cross contamination of oil/coolant but I could see the crusty buildip of coolant on 2 cylinders.

So I think were in the same boat and need our heads gone over.


Edit, also for gages because of this incident I am rebuilding both motors in my 2 cars I want to keep and in addition to the factory gages I'm going to install a few of the gages at the link below for egt/boost, oil pressure and coolant temp hooked up to aux airplane alarm buzzer.  These are much easier to look at and read and you can set the threshold for the alarm to go off.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110680292352?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[745 turbogreasel]

I once ran with a bad injector nozzle, and it burned a hole from into the water jacket behind the precup.  popped through with an audible bang, followed by coolant overflow and smoke.

[Gizmoman]

I once ran with a bad injector nozzle, and it burned a hole from into the water jacket behind the precup.  popped through with an audible bang, followed by coolant overflow and smoke.

That sounds very similar to my scenario. As I only ran it for a combined total of 10 minutes after the "pop" I didn't have time to notice much detail. There was some odd film at the top inch of barrels 2&3 though. Oddly enough, I was having some injector issues as well - they had gotten a bit noisy (ticking at low rpm but only under load). Can you explain how I would check for this (pre-cup? I'm also wondering if it's a 1.6 instead of a 1.9 (that's how green I am).
I'll get numbers off the block, head and turbo this afternoon and post them. Man I hope this isn't a 1.6 as the breadbox needs all the HP it can get.
Thank you all.

[Gizmoman]

Maybe it jumped time? The aaz were also known for the crank gear failure. While you have it out get it machined for the D sprocket crank gear from the AHU.

The pulley is tight but I want this to be extremely reliable. I have a mill and lathe, is this something I can do myself? Sounds like I may simply mill a flat on the crank or is there more to it? If you know a source for the AHU pulley, let me know.
Thanks

[theman53]

The dealer has them for sure. It is a .003 to .005 press fit and as long as you can mill it should be fine.

[libbydiesel]

Look on the back of the block.  It should say 1.9TD.  Looks like a 1.9 head.  The use of all the 1.6 brackets, pump and pulleys makes me think it's a 1.9 long block with all the 1.6 bits added.  You're running the diesel vanagon v-belt system, so the crank sprocket shouldn't be an issue unless it was damaged before install.

[745 turbogreasel]

I once ran with a bad injector nozzle, and it burned a hole from into the water jacket behind the precup.  popped through with an audible bang, followed by coolant overflow and smoke.

That sounds very similar to my scenario. As I only ran it for a combined total of 10 minutes after the "pop" I didn't have time to notice much detail. There was some odd film at the top inch of barrels 2&3 though. Oddly enough, I was having some injector issues as well - they had gotten a bit noisy (ticking at low rpm but only under load). Can you explain how I would check for this (pre-cup? I'm also wondering if it's a 1.6 instead of a 1.9 (that's how green I am).
I'll get numbers off the block, head and turbo this afternoon and post them. Man I hope this isn't a 1.6 as the breadbox needs all the HP it can get.
Thank you all.

When I pulled the injector, the nozzle tip was obviously deformed.
I suppose you cold try to pressurise that chamber thrgh the precup  hole if you have everything still installed.

[Gizmoman]

The turbo is a K14. From what I have read this is good for building quick boost. Anyone is welcome to chime in as to if it's the best turbo for a Vanagon. I was running at 15 psi max and it was there a lot of the time (any uphill at all).

The numbers on the block (stamped on a smooth area below injector #3) are 370 015. There is nothing on the back of the block to say it's a 1.9 but I'm hoping it doesn't rule out that it could still be a 1.9 (pleeeease).
A quick measurement with digital calipers at the top of the barrels show a 79.50mm [3.1290"] bore. This should tell what the engine is for sure (1.9 or 1.6).

The pump is a Bosch 149. There is another set of numbers: 01175176490. Hopefully these will help. - If not I have more numbers.

A straightedge on the deck and head shows no light.

I did some searching and found that a 79.5 mm bore makes this a 1.9 (unless you could bore a 1.6 3mm over).

None of the injector tips look deformed.
The pre-cup on cylinder #3 is slightly loose - the others seem quite solid. Is there a flow path to the water channels if this is loose? I did notice a few specks of black/brown stuff in my over-flow tank but it was very little.

Thanks all