rabbit diesel - water in cylinder #1 (OT)

[rocco16v at netzero.net (L F)]

Toby-
  The head gasket is no longer "gasketing".  It'd be hard for the head to warp on the engine unless it stretches the headbolts/studs.  Replace the gasket and be on your merry way.
 Never worked on an oil-burner, but head gaskets on a petrol engine are quite straight-forward and I can't see where there would be much difference in the procedure.
  Go for it.

Larry
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: T. Reed 
  To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org 
  Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 11:44 PM
  Subject: OT: rabbit diesel - water in cylinder #1


  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

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