Cylinder head corrosion

[220bhp]

I have take the head of my 3B to do the head gasket as it was pressurizing the the waterway and blowing out of the header tank,Took the head to a reputable machine shop, who pressure tested it and found no cracks but they say the waterways are corroded and if I don't have them welded and reshaped at a cost of around £500 the head gasket will fail again.
Now I am not sure about this as I think I know the reason for the head gasket failure, like a prat I drove the car once forgetting to fit the cap on the header tank, and this pushed most of the coolant out of the tank and boiled over.
Has anyone ever heard of this scenario on an s2 or any other Audi cylinder head before.

[terrybullwon]

Lou i will pm you later as I am on my phone but can share some insight.

Cheers. James

[s2_bo]

Dont spend that sort of money on head work, you can pick up a replacement head for about £100 so its hardly worth it..

[Acidburn]

Lou - I can get you a decent crack free head ready to fit cheaper than that, i've been telling alex for a few weeks now

[220bhp]

Thanks Pete,I might take you up on that.I have no intention to have the work done,
its just that I have never heard of this happening to an Audi head which makes me very sceptical, I just wondered if anyone has heard of this before.

[Phil Payne]

its just that I have never heard of this happening to an Audi head which makes me very sceptical, I just wondered if anyone has heard of this before.

I've never heard of it on a 20V. I've seen two 10V WR heads perforate in the inlet valve chamber - both were relatively small events and weren't the cause of the engine strip that exposed them. Both were in #1 inlet and caused thick green "snot" - a surprising amount of it - in #1 inlet runner plus a really scoured #1 pot.

With a bit of practice you can smell quite small coolant leaks into the engine - ethylene glycol (which is in most additives to some extent) has a distinctive acrid smell when it burns. I often get laughed at for sitting at the exhaust of a running car and sniffing it, but sometimes there's no other way.

[220bhp]

I can only assume that due to the few replies to this thread that it is a rare phenomenon,if it exists at all,so I have taken the gamble to have the head skimmed and I will post some pics when I get it back and see what people think.

[Rusty]

It's more likely that people haven't had the head inspected when it's been off, I just fitted a new gasket

Sounds like the engine has been run without enough antifreeze at some point perhaps?

[WabTheKing]

I have a 7A head for £150 give me a call on 07976299409 if your interested

Cheers
Will

[SteveH]

There are 'known' issues with the quality of the alloy used on the 20V heads. Some suffer issues through porosity which can be treated, but it's going to cost you £125+ to get it sorted, plus any welding that might be required. Get a 7A head and be done with it.

[220bhp]

Iv taken a few pictures of my most concerns

most important in my view is this picture that Iv added a pic of how close it is to the camber

[220bhp]

[Phil Payne]

Looks like quite an aggressive skim. I think I'd measure the head thickness.

[220bhp]

I have also taken the measurements through the bolt holes and it is still in tolarance at 119 mm on average , the manufactures minnimum is 118.1.
I have a brand new rs2 turbo and manifold, plus injectors to fit so I am a little worried about the slightly raised compression, just wondered if anyone thinks this could be an issue,I am fitting rs2 metal head gasket.

[20vQC]

shoot :O What kind of coolant were you using????