OT: rabbit diesel - water in cylinder #1

[treed2 at u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

Sorry for the non-scirocco post, but I thought I'd tap in to the
incredible knowledge base here for the sake of my friend.

He drove his Rabbit Diesel home and parked it, let it sit overnight and
when he came outside to start it the starter only made a click sound. I
had him check out the ground from the battery which he said looked okay so
I then told him to pull the glow plugs one-at-a-time and try to spin the
starter. When he pulled the plug for the #1 cylinder and tried the
starter he said a bunch of water and diesel shot out of the hole and the
starter would now spin. He put the glow plug back on and the car
started and ran "normal".

So what's the diagnosis? He complained that the car has been loosing
coolant; about a cup every 10 miles. He found a hole in the bottom of the
radiator and epoxied over it as a temporary fix; but it has still been
losing water. It wouldn't surprise me if the car has been overheated at
some point in the past..

I'm thinking the head gasket has failed and/or the head is warped or
cracked. A compression check is certainly in order but he will have to buy
a compression tester.. I'm not sure if he wants to spend the money.

My understanding of diesel heads is that there are such tight clearances
that a warped head is not worth trying to resurface. If this is the case,
what is the going rate for a diesel head? $50? $75?

One last thing-- for those who have done a headgasket on a vw diesel, how
difficult was it.. and did you need any special tools to work with the
injection pump being driven off the timing belt, etc?

-Toby