UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

okay ive had my polo over a year now...its done a fair few miles with a nasty oil leak at the front of the head, it leaks over the alt/arb mount area

what im asking is...is it usually the headgasket that requires replacment?? or am i looking at something more nasty

if we are talking just a headgasket..is it as easy as it looks and do i need new bolts

im pretty confident i can do this okay, but any tips or extra parts needed would be a great help

steve

yeah it sounds like it's the head gasket replacement is easy if you have the right tools(torque wrench and multispline socket).if your gonna do it yourself then i'd recommend changing the cam belt and water pump while your at it.as for the head bolts some people say you don't while other say you do,all I recommend is if the head's been off before then change them as they may have stretched.

Yeah, it'll almost certainly be the head gasket, it's quite common. Changing it is easy as pie really.. I wrote a guide to doing it, it's floating around somewhere in one of the mechanical forums. Shouldn't take more than a few hours. It's a good idea to change the bolts, yes, as they lose their elasticity over time - think how much pressure they're put under and then kept like that for over a decade
I'll second that point about doing cambelt / waterpump whilst you're there - they don't last forever, as I have discovered in several incidents now..

i was planning to release the downpipe joint and remove the head complete with manifolds and carb etc

is that a good idea?

i also need to replace the rubber gasket under the carb while its off

steveo3002 wrote:i was planning to release the downpipe joint and remove the head complete with manifolds and carb etc
is that a good idea?

yeah at least that way you'll only need to renew the headgasket and it will give you something to pull on to release the head from the block just have somebody give you a hand to carry it

Yeah, that is the easiest way to do it, if you're sure that none of the other gaskets are worn and that the head is going to be straight when you remove it (no real reason it should warp if it's not overheated, it's the first time you're removing it and you remove the bolts in order..). It's how I did it last time, and it does save a lot of faffing about.

am i right that the headbolts dont officially need replacing?? i realise it makes sense , but im on a budget

steveo3002 wrote:am i right that the headbolts dont officially need replacing?? i realise it makes sense , but im on a budget

The budget will go out of the window when one snaps in the block.....

Replace them - Not that much money and lots of peace of mind

Mm.. a lot of people here know that I will do just about anything to save a couple of quid, but some things really just have to be done. Just think about it.. I don't know how old your car is but if it's a mk2 it must be at least 15 years old, possibly anthing up to 23. That's 15-23 years worth of an -insane- amount of pressure put on those bolts, and, reinforced though they may be, they are just steel bolts. Steel bolts not only become brittle and prone to snapping, but they also lose the elasticity that holds them tightly in the block. The threads also get clogged up with bits of grit, which, however much you scrub them (and yes I have tried, toothbrushes, pipe cleaners, soaking in petrol, everything..) will not come out of the threads, and this affects the torque at to which you tighten them. You'll end up with some considerably less tightly screwed in than others, which isn't good for the head at all.
If it comes to it, a head gasket oil leak isn't the end of the world. You can always wait until it's leaked out the rest of this dipstick's worth of oil, give you time to earn the extra tenner that the bolts will cost, and then you'll be safe in the knowledge that you really shouldn't have to remove the head again for any reason, which has to be a good thing

yeah fair point..not worth snapping one in the block over £10 is it