Replacing Cylinder Head Gasket

[Sidspud]

I'm sure that I've read on here somewhere that it is recommended that you replace the cylinder head gasket before chipping or generally upgrading our engines.

With this in mind, I contacted my local dealer for a price (£550 + VAT!!! :eek2: :eek2: ) who promptly told me that they would not recommend carrying out the work.
They reckon that it causes more trouble than it cures.

What would you recommend? I'm loathed to part with nearly £650 if I don't have to. I'm not even sure if I would need to change it. When did the paper gaskets get replaced by the metal ones?

Will 280-290bhp blow a paper gasket on full boost?
My car has a full Audi service history and has been well looked after, but it's still 10 years old and has done very nearly 130,000 miles.

[S2central.net]

You will be absolutely fine on the paper gasket. I run 1.4 bar on my ABY with the original paper gasket at 118k miles. Have run this over 6 months now with no probs.

You don't need the metal gasket for chipping with the standard turbo, but the folks with plans for chipped RS2 or bigger turbos that are pushing 1.6-1.9bar will definitely give the head gasket some stress.

What does a dealership know about chipping an S2 anyway for cryin' out loud ?

Obviously they have plenty of other work on and don't wish to have headache of an S2 head gasket removal getting in the way of all their mundane (but lucrative) services on the fleets of repmobiles.


Paul

[Sidspud]

Thanks for that Paul. Very reassuring.

In that case, give me time to fit my new RS2 IC and my new Porsche brakes (which should have arrived today, but went to the wrong address ) and then I'll be back in touch re ordering a new go-faster chip.

Thanks again.

[Audi Parts Guru]

Originally posted by S2central.net
What does a dealership know about chipping an S2 anyway for cryin' out loud ?

Obviously they have plenty of other work on and don't wish to have headache of an S2 head gasket removal getting in the way of all their mundane (but lucrative) services on the fleets of repmobiles.


Paul

Agreed

[audiman]

Same as Paul, paper gaskets are good for about 300bhp. Mine went due to its age and condition more than anything. 145k miles and it had been seeping water down the side of the block for about 2 years! Don't worry about it.

Don't let Audi do a job like that. They will rip you off, any skilled mechanic could do this job. Its not a hard job, its just a lot of work unbolting everything and bolting it all back up. I'm 22 years old and i managed to do mine myself. No probs doing the job. Turbo and everything had all been off before so the bolts weren't seized (this time).

One thing i would sugest if you do have the job done is replace all the exhaust manifold studs and nuts. When i replaced the manifold i found that 3 or 4 had broken off, due to the warp in the manifold. Dont forget to do this is its a pain in the **** to drill the studs out with the head on. Trust me.

[Greg_S]

AFAIK they sell you metal ones now anyway dont they?

[audiman]

Yeah. Paper ones are no longer purchasable! (nice spelling)

[Graham]

The layout in the S2 isnt too bad for a head job, as most of the cr*p which makes it run is down the sides , whereas a crappy car such as a renault 5gt turbo, the engine is sat way low and all the pipes, cables etc. are on top, the worst part on an S2 is the manifold studs, (as with all cars) as they sieze solid.
So when did the S2 get a metal head gasket? Did the S2 get a metal head gasket, i thought all aby's came with them
Graham

[spink]

As far as i know all 3b's came from the factory with paper head gaskets.
By the way my mate had a quote to change the head gasket on a 3B at Kim Collins 800 quid!Saying that he did a good job on everything else he did for him

[audiman]

No, not all ABY's were fitted with the metal gasket. I think that some where around 1994 they changed in production to the later type gasket. Anything after this is metal AFAIK. Don't hold me to that. I dont think there is anyway to tell. Maybe a dealer could tell from engine number??

Its a ball aching job. My dad said to me that if a customer asked him to quote to the pound on how much to do it then he wouldn't! There are so many things that could (and do) go wrong. For example if the four nuts and bolts that hold the turbo on to the manifold break, then they are about £6-7 each. Thats per stud and per nut!!!

Also things like warped manifolds, very common. Mine did that and broke off some studs in the head.

[Dr H]

Those turbo nuts are only £1.57 +vat from VAGparts

Martyn you can pay me that fiver later

[audiman]

I know Martyn is a lot cheaper, but when a customer is waiting for their car back, having to wait the best part of a week for bits tends to make them unhappy!!

To myself it wouldn't matter as i know the savings that i can make by using,

https://www.VAGparts.com

yes thats.....

https://www.VAGparts.com

Martyn can also now pay me for more free advertising.

[Audi Parts Guru]

You can only get one head gasket for the 3B/ABY/ADU engines now.The part number is 034 103 383AD

[martinjs]

i found it easier to leave both manifolds and turbo on, just split turbo to d/pipe joint. there was only 1 nut which was a pain to remove (1 holding d/pipe to turbo next to e/manifold) but a bent spanner cured that, apart from that i found it fairly straight forward.

martin

[Martynf]

So , that's a fiver to Leigh and a fiver to Tom, in the post guys!

Cannot tell if an engine has a metal gasket from an engine number, its a case of what it has fitted....