Sup all, I'm in the process of replacin my headgasket from the a6 composite to a y8 metal one. Some issues i had was when i pulled the spark plugs, the 4th one had more oil on the threads and ep around the electrode, moreso than the others which i think is normal. Also, I have the head pulled off and all of the exhaust valves are black, but the intake valves are a powdery white. I have pics of this but for some reason my comp wont read em. I'll try to get em up later. Is this bad? My setup is in my sig. thanks!

 

If the spark plugs have oil on the threads, then you need to replace the rubber seals that go on the bottom of the valve cover for each spark plug hole.

When I did my rebuild, (if I remember right) my valves were the opposite. White valves for the exhaust and a lil black for the intake. The white **** was caked on there, and I couldn't get it off for the world in me. So I just threw them back in as is

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sporkcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

When I did my rebuild, (if I remember right) my valves were the opposite. White valves for the exhaust and a lil black for the intake. The white **** was caked on there, and I couldn't get it off for the world in me. So I just threw them back in as is </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea ur right, he's got it backwards. Seen the same caked on white stuff on 350 chevy motors as well. I think its safe to say its normal.

 

Yep its caked on there, havent tried any removal. Looks like this:


Edit: Upon further use of that common sense stuff, i realized it's the exhaust valves that are caked wit whiteness. Duh, lol.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 89SiPimpin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Edit: Upon further use of that common sense stuff, i realized it's the exhaust valves that are caked wit whiteness. Duh, lol.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What does the whiteness mean?

 

Looks normal for an old engine!

Maybe run some cleaner through it when you get it back together.... SeaFoam or injector cleaner.

Are the top of the pistons all caked up too?
My guess is that they are.

 

Top of pistons are fairly clean. I seafoamed it maybe 500 or so miles ago. Did it through the vaccuum line and crank case.
Should i try to clean the valves at all before putting the head back on? Is it a big deal? I plan to sometime soon get aftermarket valve springs and retainers, maybe I'll just not worry about it right now and buy some new valves too when i get those?

 

Also, anyone have pics of about how clean and free of the old gasket i need to have the head and block before i can replace everything, this gaskets bein a real biyatch. Thanks!

 

Ha I was just out in my garage and have my engine head off as I am typing... same white stuff on mine, i was just going to ask about it. I too need to clean the gasket material off but am having no luck with spray on gasket cleaner like my auto teacher told me.


I have been told not to use a razor but i dont know what else to use.

 

I get as much off as I can and then clean it all up with fine sandpaper on a rotary sander.
I used to use a razor, but you get a nick no matter how hard you try not to.

 

to get all of the head gasket off I always used a rotary tool with a fine grain sandpaper attachment. always worked and was very quick at getting all of the excess material off.

 

just get the thing resurfaced for 40 bucks!

 

That'd be great if i felt like goin through all the trouble to pull my block and take it somewhere, which wouldnt cost $40 either, not around here.........
Guess i'm gonna use the rotary tool idea. Thanks

 

ahhh i never knew you had to take out the engine to resurface a head :sarcasm:

 

well the head's the easy part to get resurfaced. its the block that u still gotta do all the gasket scrapin from.

 

Ok, reinstalled everything, but now i cant get car to start. My presumtion is that the cam timing is off, and i adjusted the valves to spec relative to this cam timing. The first time i cranked it, it turned over, didnt sound right, so i turned it off immediately. Looked and realized that the timing belt had come off because i forgot to tighten tensioner. Fixed that, set block to TDC, and set cam at where i believed to be TDC, tried to start it, didnt work, moved cam over a tooth, tries a lil harder, but still wont start. I woulda tried more, but i gotta get up early for class tommorow. Can anyone give any input, or also post a pic of the cam gear at TDC? I know the two lines on the outside of the cam gear are supposed to line up with the head, but I gotta still be off somehow. Thanks!

 

bump

 

Anyone? I need a pic of a cam gear lined up at TDC. Thanks!

 

Bad angle, but you get the idea. On a6 camgears there's a 3rd mark that lines up with the pointer on the plastic there.

 

Wow, didnt know that. Thanks a ton man. Now to go try it.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

K, Got that all lined up. Adjusted valves to spec. Ended up findin out that my dizzy was bad, so swapped that wit a friend. Now it tries harder to start, and it'll only start if i give it gas, like foot to the floor while cranking. Then once started, it runs incredibly rough, we tried messin with the ignition timing but it didnt help much. I think i f'd up my head when the timing belt slipped off that first time. So we're gonna do a compression test to see if anything shows up there. Any ideas? Thanks. I am sad

 

U got the spark pllug wires in the correct order? Just a thought...

 

Yea, that was my first thought, that it was spark. Plugs and wires are all in right.
What would be symptoms of bent valves? I know i wont know until i pull the head, but i'm tryin to rule out all other alternatives before goin through that process again.

 

You can check if your valves are bent by just pulling off the valve cover and looking at the valve retainer heights when the cam isn't pushing down on them. So if you see the intake valves from say cyl1 (we'll say intake valves 1 & 2) aren't returning to the same seated height then you know one or more valves have bent under.