TDI Cylinder Heads

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
HERE ARE SOME TEASER PICS OF A HEAD IN REPAIR:
AND, In spite of some naysayers, we still build cylinder heads, better than new.
NEW SERVICES OFFERED!
OUR OWN PRECISION MADE H-BEAM CONNECTING RODS!
PISTON/ROD BALANCING
PORTING AND POLISHING OF CYLINDER HEADS
UPGRADE CAMS FOR ALH, AHU AND PD ENGINES...ENGINE REASSEMBLY PARTS AVAILABLE AT VERY COMPETITIVE PRICING!
AND
QUALITY SHORTBLOCK AND LONGBLOCK REBUILDS! WE ARE MAKING THE 81MM, 2.0 LITER ALH BLOCK!
COMPREHENSIVE ENGINE REPAIR IN MY SHOP
INJECTOR PUMP SERVICE
AND RECONDITIONING CYLINDER HEADS, NOW FOR ALMOST 14 YEARS!

The finished product:


And what it looked like when I started:





Now, here is the same head that is welded up, ready to have the face cut, valve seats cut and the hard-face valve seats installed. Warp was minimal, with a deflection of less than .002" still, the cam will be line bored.




Pit check... first milling


Cutting the seats. The center one is done. Right is not touched yet.


All seats are cut... and only one more step...lap the valves in.

Please understand the reason we performed this service. We were told,"..You can't fix this one...". We only repaired this head to prove a point. We not only fixed it, but that head is still running on an engine block to this day.

The actual cost of the labor would make this type of repair unfeasible, as the cost of a replacement head is less than the cost of the repairs. This cylinder head work was an answer to a dare.

I have a stock and supply of OEM reconditioned cylinder heads for sale I currently have 1Z (AHU) and ALH cylinder heads on hand. Outright purchase is $795, which includes new lifters and camshaft. Average exchange price considering your core is $600-$650

I also have available for those who want to 'shop it all, one stop', I can supply all the replacement parts and pieces to reassemble you cylinder head back onto your engine and I do it at very competitive prices. This includes parts that can break or end up missing down to nuts bolts and screws, etc. Not sure what you need? Ask...

The parts that you will need to reassemble you cylinder head:

1. Head Gasket (designate 1,2 of 3 hole gasket)
2. Head Gasket Kit (intake, exhaust, injector seals, down pipe gasket, manifold nuts)
3. New Head bolts.
4. Timing belt kit
5. Power steering and G-12 antifreeze
6. Vacuum pump seal
7. Turbo line crush washers
8. Lots of free advice and help

For those who have had broken valves, and damage was isolated to the piston and head, I can offer new or reused replacement pistons, rods, wrist pins and individual ring sets or complete sets of pistons/rings.


All cylinder heads are inspected, cleaned and repaired. All are complete with the following:

1.new INA hydraulic lifters.
2.new FEB/Bilstein scintered bronze valve guides and Viton seals,
3.three-face cut valve seats and lap finished,
3.OEM valves,
4.keepers, valve spring seats and springs
5.Camshaft and camshaft caps. Caps are line bored when necessary.
6.Resurfacing of the head gasket mating surface to a 6 RA finish. (Roughness average... glass is 4 RA)

Head comes plastic wrapped for protection. All rebuilt heads carry a one-year, unlimited miles warranty for parts and workmanship.

If you have particular needs, I build to your specs and requirements. I will also rebuild your cylinder head to your specs.

I buy core cylinder heads in any condition and for any TDI, TD or NA style diesel head, exchange or without exchange. Value is according to amount of damage and repairability. I pay for the cost of return shipping charges.

To receive estimate of core value, send a description of the following:
1. any damage to the hydraulic lifters.
2. camshaft,
3. damaged lifter bores
4. camshaft journal cap damage.
5. damaged valves, if known,
6. mating surface damage and
7. valve seat damage.

Pictures are sometimes helpful. If you have pictures, send to:

frankstdis@sbcglobal.net

Questions? Call: 417-232-4634

Frank

"Build it like you're gonna buy it"
 
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KROUT

persona non grata
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Location
JAX FL
Hey Frank I have a question for you. When you resuface these heads do the valve seats need to be redone at the same time.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Krout,

That is a more complicated question than you may think. The simple answer is "YES"

Valve seat cutting and lapping are the last two steps before reassembly.

If you are resurfacing a head, I ALWAYS do a valve job. It's just part of the job.

It might only be .002" I take off, but that changes the valve projection height.
The projection of the valves I set as close as I can to .5 mm. It depends on how many miles and what kind of miles on the head,but if you resurface the head and don't do a valve job, the following problems are very likely...

1) poor valve seal
2) questionable valve projection.
3) no concentricity of valve to seat
4) premature guide failure
and...
5) you'll be telling me that I make a crappy head and asking for a refund.

Doing an overhead cam engine is like putting a puzzle together. It has to be done in the right order and you have to do it all, start to finish.

If you replace a guide, and despite some people's opinions,TDI's EAT guides... you have to do the seats. In my opinion, if you remove the head, you should touchup the seats.

The other concern with valve to seat contact is a matter of heat. That is how heat is transferred from the valve; through the seat. If the contact is uneven, the valve and/ or the seat will heat unevenly. That will force the valve off center and wear out the guide and cause valve burning, if the heating is severe enough.

The question of why I do a resurface at all... I don't want anyone saying it was my cylinder head's finish that was the cause of their gasket failure.

When you remove a head, there will be dents in it from the metal of the head gasket crushing into the cylinder head material. I feel it is best to remove that deformation in order to get a factory-fresh mating surface. After all, you can remove over .020" and still have a good operating head. I usually take off about .002-.004"

What about the guides I say wear out.. First the Bentley book is WRONG. They say that the guides are worn out at .051". Stack up 25 sheets of copy paper. That is the wobble they say is OK... NO WAY! Uneven seating of valve to seat causes the seats and valves to wear unevenly. They drop into place with a sliding, scraping motion. That wears out your seats and valves...not good.

Thanks for asking. Sorry if I'm too detailed. I've got a head I'm assembling now. I'll take pictures to demonstrate the important factors.

Frank
 
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KROUT

persona non grata
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Location
JAX FL
Thanks Frank you make it very aparent you do know your stuff.

Detailed is a good thing keep it up.
 

LanduytG

Vendor
Joined
Sep 5, 2001
Location
Greenfield, IN
TDI
99 NB 82 Westfalia Diesel
I have one of Franks heads and I will have another whenI need it. You don't have to worry about it being right. The days of some that say a TDI head can't be rebuilt are over.

Greg
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Thank you, Greg.(Landuyt) That's a high compliment.

But actually, there are limits. If you can see all four sides without having to rotate it, they generally aren't rebuildable.

I am looking for more AHU (1Z) heads at the moment. Doesn't anyone have one laying around 'out back'?

I'll offer a competitive price for cores, with or without exchange.

"Build it like you're gonna buy it"
 

KROUT

persona non grata
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Location
JAX FL
I have one my customer might want to sell. He had overheated the engine and colapsed the rings and melted the side of one of the pistons. How much do you pay with shipping and I will let him know.

The head has no visble damage at all but you will want to check for cracks he got it real hot. Never poped the head gasket.
 

paramedick

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Location
Versailles, Kentucky
TDI
2015 Audi Q5 TDI
I installed one of Frank's heads recently. In fact, I'm convinced that it was a head I had previously pulled off another car. The differences pre/post rebuild were amazing.

Just to show you my confidence in his abilities, my spare 1Z head is on the way to be massaged back to optimal health. That will be followed by an ALH head.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
KROUT said:
I have one my customer might want to sell. He had overheated the engine and colapsed the rings and melted the side of one of the pistons. How much do you pay with shipping and I will let him know.

The head has no visble damage at all but you will want to check for cracks he got it real hot. Never poped the head gasket.
Krout, I've seen few heated that badly... I would pay to ship to me. When I look at it and figure what needs done (probably EVERYTHING!), I'd offer a core, but if it's cracked badly or otherwise ruined beyond repair, I still give a consolation price... scrap metal. Sometimes I can use the springseats and keeper.. a few valves out of it.

If they want to send pics, I can look, but can't make any promises from pictures. If he doesn't like the offer, I can ship it back, my expense.

Frank
 

KROUT

persona non grata
Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Location
JAX FL
cool frank I'll let him know. He heated bad enough only one cylinder had compresion 40psi the other 3 had 0.
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
paramedick said:
I installed one of Frank's heads recently. In fact, I'm convinced that it was a head I had previously pulled off another car. The differences pre/post rebuild were amazing.

Just to show you my confidence in his abilities, my spare 1Z head is on the way to be massaged back to optimal health. That will be followed by an ALH head.[/quote

Thank you, Bruce.
 

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
The same statements use to be made about the 1.6 VW Diesel Heads... can't be rebuilt. That was proven to be a bunch of bull!

So, I would trust one of Frank's heads!

My two cents worth!
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
AndyBees said:
The same statements use to be made about the 1.6 VW Diesel Heads... can't be rebuilt. That was proven to be a bunch of bull!

So, I would trust one of Frank's heads!

My two cents worth!
The 1.5's and 1.6's are tedious. Yeah, I can rebuild them, but people don't seem to appreciate the amount of work in those to do a great job.
I'm also looking for some 20v 1.8 heads... yeah, I know... A GASSER! If you know where any are, I'd like to make some core purchase offers for those.

Also I still need some cores for AHU's(1Z). Let me know if you have any. I've got a book of business going and I thank those who want cylinder heads rebuilds, but I do need some cores for 'on the shelf' exchange stuff.
 

edjet

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Location
GA
TDI
2006 Jetta TDi,
Frank, I have 98 that I may be getting in with an engine overheat. The owner lost fluid, temp gauge pegged before he pulled off hwy, car shut down at end of exit ramp. He could not restart. He added coolant and he said it ran out onto the ground. He towed to his regular repair shop. They inspected, added fluid, which the car will now hold. His mechanic said the car sounds different (knocking more) than what he can remember. He is suggesting to the owner to bring me or another Tdi (TNTKNC TDICLUB MEMBER here
 

edjet

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Location
GA
TDI
2006 Jetta TDi,
In Atlanta) to evaluate. What might I expect to find doing a compression check, tear down and rebuild if needed. His shop feel the water/oil cooler is bad, as well as something more in the engine. It does run rougher than it did.

Thanks for you input, may have a AHU head coming your way
Ed
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Still looking for AHU (1Z) cylinder heads. To give you guys an idea, when I say any condition, I mean ANY condition... Here's one that is at the start of being fixed... Only thing done is it's been cleaned.




This head looks like it had a turbo failure. Inclusions of turbo blade and a valve carved out a chunk from between the valve seats on #2. #1 has large pieces of valve that banged up the top of the head. 3 & 4 have been shotgunned with turbo blade.

Tomorrow or the next day, I'll have the head welded and then it gets surfaced, the seats will be recut and new seats installed. #1's exhaust has a big dent and it will either be cut out or pulled and replaced. Then on to the next step.

I'll do it step by step To the completed product.
 

DanEboy

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2003
Location
Commack, NY (Long Island)
TDI
Jetta GLS 2000 Auto
Hey Frank,
How can a turblo blade get into the combustion chamber? Can't come from the intake side...couldn't pass through the intercooler, could it?
From the exhaust side? It would have to go all the way up the exhaust mani against exhaust flow and then sneak into the chamber as the valve was open???
I'm confused, not the first time!
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
The most common turbo failure, as far as I'm concerned is a turbo seal failure. When that happens, the turbo virtually implodes. Something that shatters at 140-160,000 rpm does it very ungracefully.

The action of a turbo failure is one of the most catastrophic events for an engine. When the turbo seal fails, or when the turbo blades explode, the engine oil, which is fed by a direct line from the oil flange, sucked out of the engine,through the intercooler and around into the intake. Even though the pieces exploded from the turbo are quite a distance from the intake, so far as volume of air and travel speed goes, it's extremely short... and dngerous to an engine.

The blades of the turbo shatter very quickly after seal loss. When the shatter, they shatter into very small pieces. Most of them pass through the intercooler with relative ease. Not only do fragments of turbo pass through the intercooler, but the large volume of oil, driven by what is left of the turbo blades, often causes the piston bore to be filled with engine oil drawn from the oil pan. The effect is what is referred to as 'runaway". The engine feeds on the oil from the oil pan.

When enough oil comes into the engine at one time, the runaway stops and the hydro lock begins. Engines stop working very quickly in a hydrolock situation.

Frank
 

Number6

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2007
Location
Madison, Wisconsin
TDI
98 Jetta
AHU with lifter failure

Frank,
Wish I had seen your post before taking my AHU head in today, but we'll see what the machinist has to say. It has damage to some degree to all the lifters, with a hole blown through #2 intake lifter, started grinding off bits of the cam. Also #4 exhaust lifter stuck in place. #2I valve appears a little off-center, but no signs of piston-valve contact. I attempted to check bore sizes on the lifter holes. All were 1.377 +/- .001 inches, except #2 intake was 1.380 in the perpendicular direction. Is that too far out of spec to just drop a new lifter in? (98 Jetta, 120K miles, new to me, not much history available. I do know last oil before I got it was Castrol syntec 10W-40 which was in it for 13,000 miles, which some folks I've talked to think could have been the cause, others think it must have had a timing problem at some point.)
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Number6... I just saw that movie...

Two ways to do lifter bores... weld em up or drop in an insert. Especially if there are lots of bores to rebuild, the inserts keep you from warping the head.
The #4 and the #8 lifter bores on yours shouldn't be used like it is. If a lifter gets stuck, then it needs repaired...plain and simple. Get an estimate of repairs before he gets into the thing.

Also, if he's not adept at TDI's, that might cause you some headaches. Although a head is a head, it's not exactly so. Prices of parts... I get the best prices and don't look to make money on the parts. I make a finished product.

Before you let the guy do it up, you might ask him some opinions of the lifter bores, what they'll take to fix and how much everything will cost. He shouldn't have done much yet...probably sitting on the shelf.

My pricing is established. Use it as a benchmark. But don't let him shortcut you. If a lifter bore is questionable now it could be catastrophe later. There are other people around who have had to do the work, once, twice, three times to get it right. Get it right the first time.

You need a new cam, sounds like all new lifters,two, most certainly three valves;maybe more, two lifter bores repaired. With the engine at it's age, you do the guides, too. And I've got pictures of why you need to face the head.

You've got about $$275 in new parts and about $200 in machining. Then you've got a rebuilt head, as long as there isn't anything else going on.

I can give you some options, especially on the parts.

Let me know what the guy says. I bet he hasn't done more than clean it and maybe push the guides out. That's $10 from me.

The oil you are using isn't a bad oil, but especially in your area with COLD winters, you want either a 0 or 5 wt for the lower number. 0-40 or 5-40 synthetic. You want the oil shooting to your turbo NOW! btw: never rev the engine when it's first started. Let oil pressure build just a few seconds.

The cause of all the lifters breaking is from attempting to start the car with a loose timing belt or camshaft sprocket. Each time the engine is tried again, the belt jumps to a new location. New lifters are hit. The slow impact isn't as hard on the pistons, but you have to consider when the occurance started. If at speed, piston tops get crushed and rods get bent. Before you get headwork done, measure piston heights. You might be looking as something more extensive.
 
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mtbr297

Vendor
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
Location
Ft. Worth, TX., USA
TDI
2015 Golf TDI, Seat Leon FR PD 150 6 speed.
Hey thats my head.

Franko6 said:
Still looking for AHU (1Z) cylinder heads. To give you guys an idea, when I say any condition, I mean ANY condition... Here's one that is at the start of being fixed... Only thing done is it's been cleaned.




This head looks like it had a turbo failure. Inclusions of turbo blade and a valve carved out a chunk from between the valve seats on #2. #1 has large pieces of valve that banged up the top of the head. 3 & 4 have been shotgunned with turbo blade.

Tomorrow or the next day, I'll have the head welded and then it gets surfaced, the seats will be recut and new seats installed. #1's exhaust has a big dent and it will either be cut out or pulled and replaced. Then on to the next step.

I'll do it step by step To the completed product.
The head in question had a valve still stuck in #3 piston. When the valve dropped it stuck in piston and took a big chunk out of the head. The turbo had no damage. I would like to see some pictures of this head after it is repaired. It would be a good show and tell.
 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta, 03 TT TDI
Here's an off the wall question...

Are there any cross flow heads for the ALH engine, 8 or 16 valve? Not sure where the intake manifold would go - seems to be an injection pump in the way. Probably have to make new injector lines.

Crazy?
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
FTB....

Heh... Let's see... Gofaster and I were discussing that matter about a month ago... I was embarassed and admitted that I didn't know that VW already has one in production. It's a 16v, and I'd LOVE to get my hands on it. It's in the Euro market at the moment, and is rail injection.

The reason for the 4V per cylinder is a matter of space allowance in a head that maintains the flat profile of the ALH and for that matter, all of VW's diesels.

If you try the spacing with a dohc operating in a verticle plane, there is no room for the injector between the valves, unless you go with a four-valve-in -head arrangement. Even then, it's still cramped. The head is a rail injection, so no injector pump and the injector is reduced in size to accomodate the limited space allowed for it.

It cures many of the disagreements I have with the TDI engine, most specifically, injector location is less than optimum and the exhaust exits at a very rakish angle.

The intake manifold goes to the front. VW does do things in an organized fashion. The flow in and out is dramatically improved.
 

Fix_Until_Broke

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Location
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, USA
TDI
03 Jetta, 03 TT TDI
Well - a single CP3 should feed a common rail setup sufficiently for our needs :) Should be able to put that in place of the injection pump. #1 intake runner could be tricky but the rest should be easy. Hmmm, now how to drive the injectors? Might work best on a PD ECU that fires individual injectors to begin with.


Ahh - enough dreaming. Sorry to hijack your thread. Good work on the (cylinder) head service. I think we've got the same philosophy - do it once and do it right.

Happy TDI'ing
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Still looking for some AHU's to buy as cores or exchange. Doesn't somebody have one kicking around in the shed? Let me make an offer on your 'boat anchors'.

Also, for those who have called, written and those that have purchased heads from me....THANKS! I'm always happy to share my knowledge and understanding. I'm also looking forward to working on the PD's when they come up.

The next set of shots is up showing the welding job repairing the gasket side of the head. I've edited the initial comment to include the pictures.

Frank
 
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Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Here are pics of the same head after milling, then finishe milled and seat cut:

Center seat is done, right one not touched...

Now it's ready to lap the valves in...

And this is what attention to detail will get you... SAWEET!


I'm still looking for AHU heads that anyone would like to core out. Doesn't anyone have an AHU (1Z) laying around? I'm also looking for others, but right now, I'm out of AHU's.
 
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mtbr297

Vendor
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
Location
Ft. Worth, TX., USA
TDI
2015 Golf TDI, Seat Leon FR PD 150 6 speed.
Head gasket

With milling the head and the seats and getting a 5mm projection what head gasket do you recomend? I am curious about what gasket is usually installed from the factory on new engines. All that I have seen are 2 hole gaskets. Enlighten me.
Steve
 

Franko6

Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
May 7, 2005
Location
Sw Missouri
TDI
Jetta, 99, Silver`
Hey Steve,

Your trashed out head looks a little different, doesn't it? It's really a lot of work and to tell the truth, this is a very expensive head to restore. The head was through surfacing three times before it was done to satisfaction.

Anyway, to answer the question, what happens when you mill the head is that the hydraulic lifters will compress more. The pistons still project the same amount.

This is a common misconception about headgasket choice. The headgasket thickness is determined by the amount of projection of the pistons above the cylinder block deck. The more the projection, the thicker (more notches) the headgasket you need.

Think of it more like this; The head is flat and the block is also flat. You have to make allowance for spacing between the piston and head, or you will have interference contact.

What happens to the head when it is milled?

A couple of things: First, as the head ages, the tendency is that the seats and valves will hammer and burn . They will tend to sink into the head. The compression chamber volume at TDC is only 24cc's. The valves if allowed to sink until they are flat with the head will lose about .75cc's. That doesn't sound like much until you figure what 19.5:1 compression does.

The volume of each cylinder compressed is 468cc's into 24cc's to create a 19.5:1 ratio. If you take the same 468cc's and compress them into 24.75cc's, the difference of .5mm projection on the valves, the ratio drops to 18.9:1 The .5mm of height on the valve is really quite critical, especailly on sub-freezing mornings.

The valves could actually project up to 1mm, but makes them extremely close to making contact with the pistons. That would raise the compression The effort I make is to return the head to original compression performance.

Second effect of milling is what it does to the hydraulics. This is a negative factor. About .020" can be milled from the head without adverse results. The valves, when closed will be closer to the camshaft and compress the lifters more. There is a limit how far the lifters will compress before they reach their physical limit. If that limit is met, then the valve will not seat, but remain in an open position. A substantial amount of metal must be removed from the head gasket surface in order for that to happen.

The goal is to remove the minimum in order to create a clean surface. If more material is removed then the hydraulic can handle, then dressing down the valve stems can be shortened. Although I do not recommend doing so, the valve stems can be shortened about .025".

So, you can see, milling the head changes nothing about the headgasket.
I would warn you... Don't assume the same headgasket as the last is the right one. Someone may have worked on it before you. The Bentley manual has accurate information and method to deterimine the correct headgasket for you engine. Measure and use the appropriate one. It only takes a few minutes and could save a whole lot of frustration.
 
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