Head Gasket on 81 Rabbit Diesel PU

[Eddielee]

Am in need of putting head gasket in my 81 rabbit diesel PU but one place is saying 4 notch and the part description says 3 notch?? Can someone tell me what is the difference and how I tell which I need? Are all diesel engines in ALL 1981's the same size?(1.6 or 1.9??) Good with Chevys but VW is giving me a headache-except for the fuel mileage!!

[tawney]

According to the Bentley, there were three head gaskets for the 1981 and later 1.6L diesel: one notch, two, and three notches; the only difference is the thickness. The one notch gasket is 1.4mm thick, the two notch is 1.5mm, and the three notch is 1.6mm thick. You really need to measure how far the pistons extend above the block at tdc in order to determine which you need. Lay a straight edge across the top of the piston at tdc and with a feeler gauge measure the space between the straight edge and the engine block. A space of .67 to .82mm requires the 1 notch gasket; .83 to .92mm gets the two notch, and .93 to 1.02mm should have a three notch gasket.

Using too thin a gasket gets the valves and pistons dangerously close together at tdc, making a misalignment of the cam shaft more likely to be catastrophic; too thick a gasket will reduce the compression which will affect starting and performance.

Good luck,

Steve

[tylernt]

The 4- and 5-"notch" gaskets were probably referring to older 1.5L gaskets, which had from 1 to 5 and were (as far as I know) holes rather than notches. With the introduction of the 1.6L engine they went to 1-3 notches for the gaskets.