Doing a Head Gasket/Timing Belt for the first time

[canucklehead]

busguy71, if you're leaking from coolant tank, try replacing the sensor on top. they're famous for leaking there (usually in the center).

[busguy71]

no sensor on mine, its pissin out the cap. The small tube from the radiator spits, no steady stream. My friend who is a mechanic said this could be a sign of blowby or something adding pressure to the cooling system, but he's not familiar with VW's specifically which is why I turn to you guys . I drilled a hole in my old cap to prevent blowing this tank too (but only as a temp. fix til I confirm the actual problem)

[jsm]

busguy71 - unfortunately, I did not get it from Jack, as I needed it quickly and could get it easily locally.

(1), (2), or (3) hole head gaskets: the number of holes, or notches, denote the thickness of the gasket, for example, my three (3) hole gasket was 1.61 mm thick I believe. You will most likely use the same thickness of gasket as you already have on the engine. Unless you do a bunch of work to it at the same time which may necessitate getting a different thickness gasket, the thickness of which would be determined by the piston protrusion value (measured from the deck of the block to the top of the piston at TDC). Does that sound about right guys?

Hope this helps you...

Justin

[Fatmobile]

yeah, if it's spitting air through the small line going to the resevoir,... it's a leaking head gasket.
Leaking from cylinder to water jacket.
Not as messy as oil gally to water jacket.

[Buzz]

Usually you'll use the same thickness as before; however, sometimes the previous mechanic used a 3 hole because they didn't want to take the time to measure and you can always use a 3 hole. If the previous one was a 3, best to double-check and get the right one.

[busguy71]

cool, very important information to know! If I get my head decked I'll probably end up getting a 3 hole no matter what then...

The small line was spitting coolant intermitantly, and there was what looked to be black gunk in the reservoir when I got the car (soot from fuel?). Maybe the head gasket was already toast when I bought the car last month...

Time to order some parts