Author Topic: Head gasket in upside down? (Read 5484 times)

bvolks73 · « **on:** May 16, 2007, 08:53:43 pm »

My brother has a 1987 TD that is having starting/ heating up issues. It has 501,000 kms on it but was rebuilt at 450,000 kms. The PO said he was having overheating issues after having the head gasket replaced. He said he had to pull over several times on the way home from the shop (about a 20 mile drive) after having it done to let it cool down and hadn't driven it since because of the overheating. The car starts pretty good even though all the glow plugs are dead so I don't think the compression is down at all and it doesn't overheat (nor throw any amount of heat from the heater) while idling but apparently heats up very quickly going down the road. The coolant just doesn't seem to be circulating right and the water pump is relatively new (the PO kept documentation of everything right down to every drop of fuel he put through it). The part of the gasket with the notches that protrudes from between the head cylinder is on the opposite side compared to every other VW Diesel we have (6 of them) and I don't see the word "top" or "oben" so I'm wondering if the shop might have put the gasket in upside down ? I'd like to use it to replace the NA engine in my 85 Coupe instead of putting a head on mine because of it's low mileage since the rebuild.

myke_w · « **Reply #1 on:** May 17, 2007, 06:18:21 am »

You want that protrusion to be on the passengers side of the oil drain in the middle of the head on the front. If it's on the drivers side of the oil drain "hump" then it's in upside down.

jtanguay · « **Reply #2 on:** May 17, 2007, 07:48:31 am »

does it even work upside down??? hmmm it's amazing how many shops just don't have a clue...

bvolks73 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 17, 2007, 08:01:00 am »

I know they work upside down in a gasser. One of my other brother's did it with his Scirocco and it acted the same way. I'm going to have a look at it right now. This only one of many horror stories I've heard about that shop.

jimfoo · « **Reply #4 on:** May 17, 2007, 08:06:24 am »

It does fit, and would seal the cylinders and prechambers as long as it was flipped along the axis of the engine, but a couple passages wouldn't line up right on a hyd head & block, giving quite a oil leak it looks like. If flipped in the other direction, the gasket looks like it would protrude way past the head and look fairly obvious. It may be easier to put on wrong with a mech head, but I don't know as I haven't seen one.

jtanguay · « **Reply #5 on:** May 17, 2007, 09:36:43 am »

you would think that a shop would put it back together, and drive it, then inspect... "um yea we got some oil leaks, and coolant pressure is building up" etc... "lets give it back to the customer... it seems to be running"

yeaa.... smoke some more pot there.... jk :lol:

bvolks73 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 17, 2007, 02:31:28 pm »

Just got back. Too bad the car is 30 miles away. As soon as I looked at it I realized it couldn't be in upside down because the oil return passages wouldn't line up as jimfoo said. I hadn't realized it had a hydraulic head :oops: . With my brother's Scirocco that was the problem. Everything sealed ok but the water passages were partially blocked. Maybe I'll be lucky and it was really air locked or something. I'm going to have to take a day and try to figure out what's going on. I need my car to be reliable to make it to the local VW show 150 miles away by June 9th and would love to use that motor instead of putting a head on mine.

jtanguay · « **Reply #7 on:** May 17, 2007, 02:50:12 pm »

try changing the thermostat... the t-stat i bought from the dealer was crap. it opened slightly @ 100C... hmmm it was an 87C t-stat... :roll: i couldn't figure out why my car got hotter the faster i drove...