FAQ : Cylinder Head & Camshaft Removal + Re-Installation

[Issam Abed]

Quote, originally posted by BoostinBejan »

I had a victor reinz head gasket leak from the back, properly torqued and I decked both my head and block. Once I switched to an erling, I never had a problem again. There are many others that have had this problem with VR.

It is a head gasket? If it is a new OEM replacement part and it is leaking then I am going to go out on a limb here and say it was fault at the installer.
Victor Reinz has been around long before some of you even knew what a MKIV was.
Nothing wrong with there gaskets

(and yes I use Elring as well)

[BoostinBejan]

This is a good thread and I'm not going to argue, but I know multiple people have have had problems with victor reinz. Why chance it?

[abuthemagician]

Is tool 3366 required to reset the timing on my camshafts? I have a camshaft that is a tooth off and need to fix it. The engine is an AUG.

[derekb727]

iamthenach

where did you get the polydrive tool? is it a #10...are there different sizes?

[J-tec]

Bookmarking this thread from the past for sure, great info in here

[stv1der]

i need this...

[VW1990CORRADO]

Quote, originally posted by BoostinBejan »

I had a victor reinz head gasket leak from the back, properly torqued and I decked both my head and block. Once I switched to an erling, I never had a problem again. There are many others that have had this problem with VR.

same here, leaked oil from the passanger side rear. i swapped to elring and all was good. now that the head was off again, i had a spare OEM headgasket, hopefully its good

[stv1der]

damn i just bought a victor kit... i swear to god if that sh!t leaks on me... IDK how you guys took off your cylinder heads all nonchalant...

i have all my bolts catagorized and im still confused on where a few things go- tomorrow im taking off my DP to release my turbo after i drain the oil and coolant. i hope once i have everything off the cylinder head, it just comes off smoothly or else i give up its getting messy-

[.Mad Hatter.]

great thread

[IAmTheNacho]

Quote, originally posted by derekb727 »

iamthenach where did you get the polydrive tool? is it a #10...are there different sizes?

HAHA Sorry for the late response. I bought it off a snapon truck. I think you can get it at some tool supply stores online though. I know there are 10mm and 11mm head studs. I am not sure what tool to take off the 11mm stud requires. The 10mm are smaller port head bolts the 11mm are the larger port head bolts FYI.

[toplessvw]

NOTE: If installing the old chain, align the paint marks with the camshaft marks. If installing a new chain, the distance between the notches A and B on the camshafts must equal the distance between 16 drive chain rollers.
* Hydraulic chain tensioner by sliding it between the drive chain
* Camshafts with the chain tensioner lubricated with engine oil into the cylinder head

I recieved my head dis-assebled and the chain was not marked, am I screwed or can I use the 16 drive train roller method to put the old chain back on?

[turbo2205]

just make sure there are 16 rollers between the cams and youll be good

also note that the 1st roller (starting from the exhaust cam) needs to be right behind the arrow on the cam cap, not directly in line with the arrow on the cam cap

[schwartzmagic]

Quote, originally posted by derekb727 »

iamthenachwhere did you get the polydrive tool? is it a #10...are there different sizes?

HAHA Sorry for the late response. I bought it off a snapon truck. I think you can get it at some tool supply stores online though. I know there are 10mm and 11mm head studs. I am not sure what tool to take off the 11mm stud requires. The 10mm are smaller port head bolts the 11mm are the larger port head bolts FYI.

Back from the dead baby!!!


I have a question regarding the 10mm small port head bolts and the 11mm large port head bolts....



Hopefully I did not miss this somewhere on here LOL.


When switching from an AWP, or any small port head for that matter, to an AEB are you supposed to use 10mm replacement bolts? I'm assuming you because it's the threading on the 058 blocks... Can someone please clarify this?

[kel.draftingservices]

hey, good read. lots of info.

i am wondering, well, i posted this on the audi b5 threads already

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...1#post67252233

will there be issues when replaceing the head assembly? from atw to aeb but still retaining all cams chains of the aeb? before i actually pay for the AEB head i just wanna make sure. thanks a lot.

and another thing? do you have torque chart for the head bolts?

thanks

[KRRZ350]

I had no issues using an 8mm allen instead of the polydrive for removing AND installing, though I'll admit I was nervous as hell since the bolts were very easy to remove, the polydrive really was designed to be used with an allen or polydrive..

We actually cut up a long 8mm allen, in combination with a 3/8's drive 8mm deep socket (my deep 8mm had more meat than my shallow) and an IMPACT 3/8 to 1/2 inch adapter.

[Rac_337]

this should be added to the faq

[zimm0who0net]

Is anyone else having trouble viewing the pictures in this FAQ?

[neo_tt]

help needed,camshafts removed from the head builder and now i am trying to reinstall them but i can get with any way the correct position is there any special method to get them correctly on the arrows with the 16 rollers, if i have 16 rollers i can't get the camshafts on the arrows, if i get correct the 16rollers i can't get the inlet cam correctly on the arrow!

while the tesioner is out i have to count 16rollers first ? i am working on the car too many days without any result
thanks

[zimm0who0net]

It's a bit confusing, but you should start counting at 1. 1 should be the pin in the chain that's on the exhaust side that's directly pointed to by the arrow on the bearing cap (and directly above the notch in the exhaust camshaft). now count pins in the chain till you get to 16. At this point yous should be a little bit past the arrow on the intake bearing cap and a little bit past the notch in the intake camshaft. The reason you're a little bit past is because on the intake side the pin/arrow actually align with a tooth in the gear whereas on the exhaust side they align between teeth (i.e. directly on the pin in the chain)

The strange part (for me at least) was starting at 1 rather than 0, and the fact that the intake side didn't really align with a pin.

Hope this helps...

[neo_tt]

i think there is no way to use the old chain with out any marks , is that right? if i don't have marks on it i have to use a new one?

[zimm0who0net]

You shouldn't need a new chain unless the old one was damaged for some reason which is unlikely.

[neo_tt]

yes but how can i use my old chain without any marking on it? i can't get it correct with the 16rollers, is there any special way to do it ? please give me any ides for that

[zimm0who0net]

Here's a link to some images of my chain:
http://imgur.com/a/huh6s#dRVmP

Might be a bit difficult to see exactly what you want there, but it should help. Note that you can click on the "View Full Image" under image options and get the full resolution image and zoom to your heart's content...

[neo_tt]

thanks a lot, this is very helpful but is exactly what i can't get with my cams and chain! with this position your mark on the valve cover its correct right? if you have and a photo with the cams on the first cylinder it will help me
thanks

[turbo2205]

thanks a lot, this is very helpful but is exactly what i can't get with my cams and chain!

x2! ~1yr ago, I tried at LEAST 10x trying to get the mark on the intake cam lined up as in his pics, but I couldn't get it perfectly lined up. I'm wondering if there's a lil trick to it as well.

[zimm0who0net]

It should line up. Not sure why it's not for you. Do you have a picture?

Also, make sure that the bottom part of the chain is taught and that any slack on the top is taken up by the tensioner. Is your tensioner or the tensioner guides broken perhaps? The guy at the engine shop told me that it's pretty common for the tensioner guides to get broken when you get valve - piston collisions..

[turbo2205]

Not exactly sure if you're referring to me or someone else, but I'll be trying to tackle this issue tomorrow and will have pics at that time. Haven't ever had any piston->valve contact though.

Didn't get to work on it today like I was planning. Will post pics when I do though.

[turbo2205]

for anyone that's had a lil trouble with resetting their intake cam with the tbelt and exhaust cam still in, here's what worked for me:

follow the bentley manual for removing the intake cam and tensioner.
then remove the bearing cap on the exhaust cam closest to the tensioner.
lift the tensioner and intake cam out together to where the tensioner can rest on top of the head, which provided the rest of the slack in the chain to remove and/or reposition the intake cam easily.

[stc111a]

Really glad I found this site, have an 03 Passat - ready to take the head off after a timing belt failure. New to this, but figured I can't really break it at this point. I may appeal to you guys for help as I go, thanks in advance

[Raycism]

I had a timing belt failure. I bought all new valves and lifters. Had a performance shop take to old bent valves out and put the new ones in. When I put the rebuilt head on the engine and had the new timing belt on and everything at TDC I proceeded to turn the crank to make sure everything was working ok. Didn't even get 1/4 turn on the crank and one of my exhaust valves broke. The piston didn't connect with the valve. Does anyone have any ideas on why the valve busted? I now need to buy a new exhaust valve and start all over with the assembly. Just a little PO'd. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[dshortys43]

if you are still looking for the tools i just got mine from ECS. Dealer wanted a arm and a leg for one.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-...der/ES1876781/
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-...der/ES1876780/

[BSD]

Just what I needed! Thanks for the post up!

[woteg]

so im swapping my tensioner over to a new head
is it possible to take the cam caps off both cams and pull them out with the chain and tensioner and set it down into the new head?

[Issam Abed]

so im swapping my tensioner over to a new head
is it possible to take the cam caps off both cams and pull them out with the chain and tensioner and set it down into the new head?

Yes
Do it all the time. Get a cable tie and TIE the chain to the camshaft gear on both the intake and exhaust cam. You will need 2 sets of hands to do this properly though if this is your first time.
Obviously do not mix up the camshaft caps.

[Jscore741]

Okay so heres the deal, I had my head decked its all rebuilt with all new valves and its seems I'm missing one cam bearing cap on the intake side, what can I do about this ? I cant get 4 new ones ?