'84 Rabbit Diesel Head Gasket Replacement

1984george · Post by **1984george** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 8:59 pm

Hi folks,

I drive a Rabbit 1.6 Diesel (1984) that is a grease car. It's running great on veggie oil and diesel, but I recently discovered I'm leaking coolant out of my head gasket, and also engine oil. I've decided to replace all my gaskets. Honestly, I've never done this before, but I have a Haynes manual (not the Bentley manual, I know, but I'm on a budget) that does some explaining of how to do the stuff. I just ordered a Diesel Timing Kit that includes a Dial Indicator, Injection Pump lock pin and camshaft lock pin. Also ordered a head gasket set, head gasket and oil pan gasket. I will replace all of it. I will rent a 3 legged puller from an auto parts store. Is that all I will need for tools other than basic wrenches/sockets? And is there a thread on here talking about replacing a head gasket and doing the timing that I can review?

Thanks!

vanbcguy · Post by **vanbcguy** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:04 pm

Hopefully someone else will chime in yay or nay but you might need a triple square driver for you head bolts...

Oh yeah, the head bolts are single use (they deform when they're tightened) so you should get a new set of those too. They're not particularly expensive and are available from a few places.

I think '84 was the cutover year from 11mm head bots to 12mm bolts? If you have 11mm bolts then you should really consider investing in a set of head studs instead, lest you end up cracking your block tightening everything back up.

Best place for setting the timing is probably Vince Waldon's site:

http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?option ... &Itemid=28

FineFrank · Post by **FineFrank** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:07 pm

George,
There are lots of threads describing the headgasket replacement and timing procedures. Try a search first, and then ask questions about specifics.
In addition, please feel free to buy your parts from Jack, the sponsor of this forum. Any question you can't get an answer to here (can't imagine one, myself), he's happy to answer.
As soon as you can scrape the money together, get a Bentley. You won't regret it.
Enjoy your new obsession.

rabbit_man · Post by **rabbit_man** » Wed Dec 23, 2009 11:27 pm

If it's the original engine then it's 12mm, iirc '81 or '82 was the changover year.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:37 am

I believe 81 is the change over year.

You're going to need to remove the head probably with the exhaust manifold on the head. That's the easiest way, but you'll have to undo the manifold to pipe clips. You should also have a straightedge to verify flatness of both the head and block deck. It does not make any sense to replace a head gasket on a motor or head that's not flat.

Depending on what head gasket you got, verify how many notches in the old to new head gasket. There's different thickness head gaskets that needs to be used with the dimension on how far the pistons come out of the block. The 3 notch gasket is the thickest, and should work in all situations.

While the head is out, you may want to have it serviced (guides and redoing the seats etc) before just putting it back on. If you feel like trying, you could try to retorque the head bolts before pulling the head to see if that solves the leaking oil and antifreeze. My 82 has a leaking head gasket that leaks both oil and antifreeze. It's been leaking for a couple years with no issues so far. You may want to even consider leaving as it is until the head gasket goes or it gets a lot worse. Mine just seems to weap just a little bit, not enough for me to get concerned about.

You also may want to run a compression test to give you some indication of the condition of the motor. No sense redoing a head gasket on a motor that needs to have the rings redone, or an even more thourough rebuild. Get some new injector nozzles, heat shields and probably some new glow plugs (Bosch only!). No sense doing all that work and installing worn goods.

You will also want to turn the motor over by a wrench on the crank bolt several revolutions before you use the starter to turn the motor over. Others haven't done this and caused great damage. Also, be careful with the cam lock plate as you don't want to bust the back of the cam with the lock in place and tightening or loosening the cam pully bolt.

rabbit_man · Post by **rabbit_man** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:07 am

82vdub wrote:My 82 has a leaking head gasket that leaks both oil and antifreeze. It's been leaking for a couple years with no issues so far.

HAHAHAHA that's awsome!!

"Normal people" would consider a leaky head gasket an issue all by it self. It makes perfect sense to me though.

1984george · Post by **1984george** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:11 am

Well that makes me feel a bit better knowing other people are driving around with leaking head gaskets. It doesn't appear that my oil and antifreeze are mixing together. The biggest problem right now is that when I took a 20 minute drive on the interstate yesterday, my antifreeze was at the max mark when i left and at the min mark when i got back to my house. I don't get how it could have leaked that much. I can't drive anywhere when I have to put antifreeze in everyday, that gets costly.

In regards to the head gasket, the one I ordered was thickness number 3. I haven't checked to see what my old one was. I probably should today, then if it's different I can change my order before it ships.

I will check out the resources mentioned above. And I will consider ordering from this website in the future if I need anything. I've been treated well so far by partsplusinc, so they are getting my business at this time. Thank y'all for your tips.

btw, did have a compression check and had good compression.

82vdub · Post by **82vdub** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:11 am

1984george wrote:Well that makes me feel a bit better knowing other people are driving around with leaking head gaskets. It doesn't appear that my oil and antifreeze are mixing together. The biggest problem right now is that when I took a 20 minute drive on the interstate yesterday, my antifreeze was at the max mark when i left and at the min mark when i got back to my house. I don't get how it could have leaked that much. I can't drive anywhere when I have to put antifreeze in everyday, that gets costly.

If you're loosing that much antifreeze, something's going on. Don't let that one go unchecked until you find out where it's going. My leak is just a green bubble on the front corner of the head, but no real antifreeze loss. You've got something different happening.

1984george wrote:btw, did have a compression check and had good compression.

What were those numbers?

1984george · Post by **1984george** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:41 pm

I don't know man. Just had a diesel mechanic look at it when I recently had help putting on my resealed injection pump.

1984george · Post by **1984george** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:43 pm

But before I tear the whole thing apart, I'm going to do a hot steam clean under the hood then pinpoint exactly where it's leaking the large amount of coolant. Head Gasket has 3 Divits in it, so I ordered the right one.