For the sakes of £40 id have it tested, for piece of mine id change the belt anyway (thier not supposed to be retentioned iirc). the new engine will need a cam belt kit (j4 belt setup on the jp4) as ill be using different cams and lifters. I know the engine has been hammered. it was out of my mrs old car that i wrote off and tbf it owes me nothing and the previous owner to that was my mate who give it grim death anyway. It used 4 litres of water the other day within 45mins on track at mallory park.

I do see where your coming from but the engine will be kept and stuck in a 1.1 shell later in the year. in which case ill be taking your advice and cutting corners maybe

Why do you need a new cambelt? Besides you need to take it off to do the head...and it's a piece of piss to fit. You don't need to skim it unless it needs doing, you can check the outside for cracks using a flat metal surface, run it across your head and if you see any shadows, dark spots, then it's cracked outside...if it's the inside you'll have to get a new head anyway cus you can't skim it out.

Just giving my 2 cents, it's worth just doing the head than swapping the engine cus at the end of the day you know what's happened to your engine, if you get a new one you'll have to replace cambelt anyway and other stuff to make sure it's good condition.

Took a head off one before, its not just £12 though

need headgasket
head bolts
cambelt
skim and pressure test

and it would still be a 106k gti engine

8.5 hours for a head gasket can do an engine swop in 3 hours and the new engine tu5jp4 only has 26k up it and a big valve head

It took us 8 and a half hours to replace the head gasket last time but yesterday we discovered that you don't even have to take the inlet manifold off, you simply lift up the head, clean it and replace the gasket.

It'll take 2 hours maximum to do all this. It's better than replacing a full block when it's an easy job to do for £12 for a gasket...you don't even need to replace anything except for the head bolts using this method.

Oil change not necessary because that's why the oil filter is there, any old gasket or any foreign shit will get caught up in there and you will already be changing the coolant when you drain it.

cheers

[Edited on 02-06-2009 by Root]

cba get the tools out and fault find ill just replace the engine when my hand is better. then i might just sell the engine in bits as it cost me nothing really

Not sure, I got to my dad's today at 7am, just got home...finished cleaning up the pistons and I had to refit a valve, then replace the head gasket. Luckily there was no damage to the head.

The manifold is smoking now though from the oil that's spilt on it when we took the head off.

But the best way to know what the problem is....is to get your tools out :P lol.

I needed screwdrivers, socket sets, socket extensions, star-shaped hex keys, torque wrench, knuckle, it was a nightmare.

I've got a jp4 engine waiting to go in at home but im not able to do it at the moment but i was curious what the problem maybe incase its something else.

I know the donar engine and car stood for a while before i built it. Their was mayo build up then but i has since flushed the system getting rid of that. altho i didnt do the rad?

Is my rad not effective? blocked? not hold the amount of water it should be?

[Edited on 27-05-2009 by DAZ1985]

Ah well :(

I've not heard that one before, I know that mayo on filler cap can be head gasket, but sometimes (especially in cold times) it can be condensation in the engine causing it.

Only way to know for sure is to strip it out and replace the head gasket (at least).

...my dad's gonna strip mine and I'll spectate so I know what to do next time :D

I have no mayo, but the oil out of the rocker is breathing heavily if i kick its arse

I'm also having problems, got mayo on the filler cap and a little up the dipstick (definite head gasket or head destroyed if it's in dipstick).

I'm having all sorts of problems with it heating up to 95 degrees quickly, then I have to pull over, let pressure out the coolant tank and continue my journey. Continuously topping the water up. It's a nightmare, going to strip it very soon and replace it

ill give that a try

failing that?

when you atart it after a few mins take the cap off see if air escapes. if it does then its gone.

Im abit confused about this as the symptons suggest the headgasket has gone/on its way out but i just want to double check

Its on a 106 and i have suspected it going for a while now

I fill the system up, bleed it, heaters go warm, fan kicks in but it warms up very fast. now if im stopped in traffic the water will just piss out of the header tank, with the fan on and the temp guage not in the red

Now i removed the stat to keep it down abit and now can sit in traffic longer before it overheats, which is better but still not the best. If you drive it hard for a long period of time obviously the temp will go up and eventually when you stop its pressurises but it is alot better with no stat in

Headgasket?
Radiator?
Heater matrix?

any ideas?