Head removal

[Graham]

Could anyone list how many items are connected to the head so i can count them as they come off, such as wires, pipes, cables etc, i will use this to form a checklist, i have removed the turbo air pipes and timing belt. Is it best to leave the injectors in the manifold and just move the wires to one side, what is the best way to depressurise the fuel bar. is it best to remove the coil cover and all of its wires or can they be moved to one side. and does anyone have the tool to remove/ refit valve guides, i was thinking of making one, but am a bit wary of knocking out guides.
If anyone has any BTDT's to help me they will be greatly appreciated.
Graham

[Stick Insect]

Graham, plenty of snaps with a digital camera may help a lot.

David

[Graham]

Graham, plenty of snaps with a digital camera may help a lot.

Will do, if i remember, the race is on.
Graham

[Rob W]

Good luck for making GTi Graham,im sure you will do it.

[sal_s2]

I've done this recently, I removed the front panel then the aux rad.
The coil packs came off complete by removing the 4 allen headed bolts, unplugging 2 white and 2 black plugs and the earth wire. There are another 6 or 7 plugs to undo along with loads of vacuum,water and breather pipes.
My power steering pump was noisy so I took it off but you may not need to.
I undid the nuts from turbo to downpipe, removed the wastegate and took the head, exhaust manifold, turbo and inlet manifold off all together then seperated everything off the car.
I disconnected the fuel lines from the flexible pipes which go from the fuel rail to the bulkhead. Loosen them slowly with a rag to soak up the fuel that will come out.
Before you do anything disconnect the battery.

[martinjs]

Agree with sal, leave the manifolds on, much simpler, but get a mate to give you a hand lifting it off...weighs a ton

would be best to change the water pipe that feeds the turbo which goes from water manifold across front of engine whilst head is off, plus thermostat etc etc

think theres a list of the recomended things to check/change in an earlier thread when doug did his.

good luck

martin

[martinjs]

here you go graham, everything you need to know should be in this thread.
http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1393

martin

[S2central.net]

To add my tuppence quickly to this...

Lift the head with manifolds attached - heavy but much less stressful

Make sure and get all the same rated cylinder head bolts (12.9 from memory)

Change the thermostat when you are down there

Also change the link hose from stat housing to water rail and the link hose for water feed to the turbo - its just above the stat.

Check the PCV and ISV hoses carefully when you have that lot off

Have the head/block mating surfaces scrupulously clean when fitting the new metal head gasket.


Paul

[Doug_RS2]

Remove the wastegate. Undo the turbo to downpipe nuts, undo the water and oil lines at turbo side, undo the turbo to EM nuts and remove turbo. There is one awkward nut on the DP but if you grind down a short ring spanner it will go over the nut and then a tap on the end of the spanner with a hammer(you need a length of something to get at the end of the spanner) it will loosen it and it will be easy enough to take off - just time consuming as you are only able to get a 1/3rd of a turn.


I took the inlet manifold and water manifold off the head before I removed the head - not hard to do. If you do it this way it is easy enough to lift the head with the EM on it off the block yourself.

I removed the fuel rail and left the injectors on the manifold.

Remove all EM studs before going to the machine shop.

[91_S2]

Check the PCV and ISV hoses carefully when you have that lot off

Paul

Paul,

I can't figure what PCV is an acronym for. I have even culled through a bunch of old posting with "PCV". No joy.

[S2central.net]

PCV = Positive Crankcase Ventilation

Which is a fancy name for the variety of breather pipes, valves and gubbins which allows combustive blow-by gasses and oil vapour from the crankcase to be regurgitated by the engine.

It is also the fundamental reason why our intercoolers collect small amounts of oil over time as the oil vapour does not get effectively burnt off or collected anywhere else on the stock engine...

Maybe now you wonder why there are so many threads about air/oil separators and the whys and wherefores of deleting the stock PCV system.

The oil vapour in the intake tract is horrible as it makes for dirty air and can increase the likelihood of knock at high boost, as oil is the last thing that the engine wants to ingest.

Paul

[Greg_S]

But its a double edged sword since having the vacuum on the crankcase can help to produce more hp

[S2central.net]

Yeah - but I'd rather have something else (like the exhaust pipe) provide vacuum to the crankcase - not the input to my turbo.

<thread morphs into evacusump discussion> :rock

[91_S2]

PCV = Positive Crankcase Ventilation

Paul

Cheers Paul. Great explanation. It was even comprehensible

[Graham]

Cheers for all the advise, my bits should have arriverd yesterday but havnt, will be here soon fingers crossed. The job sounds a bit of a nightmare but i am sure i will manage. Hopefully today i will either have spun the engine and through some miracle there has been no mass collision of metal, or i will have the head off and apart. Once again thanks
Graham