S3 PE1820 big turbo build

you'd have to get it up the hill first...
 
OK, I've taken the exhaust manifold off the head to inspect the exhaust ports for oil.

And finding the culprit wasn't exactly hard to be fair.

Inspection of the ports shows that at least one of the 2 valves is spunking out oil. On closer inspection, some other valves appear to have oil residue on them - notably cylinder 3.

It stands to reason the valve guides are knackered - to be fair, oil seepage down the valve stems was the reason for doing the stem seal in the first place.... A lesson for others... DO THE EXHAUST VALVE GUIDES!!!

Photos, sorry about the pants quality, however taking them wasn't easy...

54.jpg


55.jpg
 
Master cylinder fitted and fine - not a job I would want to do with the head on though.... lol.
 
OK, dropped the head off early doors this morning for some loving.

It's going to be:

Stripped, cleaned, uber light skim, 8 x exhaust guides replace, valves cleaned, valves relapped, reassembled.

Hoping to have it back on Friday with a bit of luck, then I could still make the MOT retest! hehe.
 
Westle said:
You forgot to mention "extend your mortgage" to afford all the work ;)
Click to expand...

Can just about swing it this month fortunately... and I mean just. That combined with a new head set (~£80) and timing belt etc makes it a ****** expensive job.

Annoying. But there we go.
 
Welly said:
Can just about swing it this month fortunately... and I mean just. That combined with a new head set (~£80) and timing belt etc makes it a ****** expensive job.

Annoying. But there we go.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. I'm trying to keep the mrs happy with a holiday to Cyprus while getting turbo refurbed, full service, buying S4 wheels/adapters, and insurance all next month! :tocktock:
 
OK, just heard about the head. They clearly don't mess about which is a trait I admire.

The exhaust guides have now been replaced. There was definite excessive movement in the existing guides, so they have definitely worn as expected. That head has done approx 100K, much of it hard service however.

The seats will need recutting slightly as well.

However the old guides came out OK, and the new ones have gone in fine. :thumbsup:
 
Not too sure on cost yet.... watch this space. A local company are doing it who have been competitive in the past....
 
Cool. I asked the local place in passing and the bloke said £150, but i'm not sure if that was just to replace the stem seals and recut the seats, or fitting new guides as well.
 
Head will be ready to collect tonight. I have seen it in person this morning, and it's all very shiny and clean.... :)

Photos later...
 
Westle said:
So it'll be all back together by tonight and you'll be driving it by tomorrow morning ;)
Click to expand...

Might be able to start it tonight, however will only have a couple of hours so that's sadly unlikely. No time tomorrow night either as I have to go to the Rotary Club's President's Dinner with the family (My old man is the president - so no escape from that one). Hoping to finish up on Saturday morning ideally.

Itching to try the brakes - having fitted and bled the new master cylinder then not being able to check it sucks.... lol.
 
Finish it off and drive it down Santa Pod for Sunday & find out what she is capable of?
 
OK, the head is ready to collect at 5 PM.

Got the bill.....




Mwahaha, you were expecting it to be bad... But it isn't.

They supplied the stem seals (due to euro car parts being tards), and the valve guides.

Work completed was - head stripped, cleaned, inlet guides checked, exhaust guides replaced, exhaust side seats recut, valves cleaned, valves relapped, head reassembled.

Total cost: £220.

Sweet.
 
Good price and good luck putting it back. I am sure you will be driving her very soooooon.
 
i hope you are going to be turning over the head several times before you fit it... so no valves break and fall out this time!

good luck - fingers crossed
 
Andrew@A.L.D said:
One of my biggest worries with the 20v heads

I spent about 15 minutes turning mine over
Click to expand...

Well as usual, everything with this car turns to sh*t.

Fortunately I checked the cam timing before doing anything else, and it's a ****** good job. It's wrong.

In fairness I can see how it happened, there is an erroneous mark on the cam sprocket which I guess has been used for timing for some reason.

When the exhaust cam is right, the inlet cam is advanced about a country mile. At TDC, Cylinder 4's inlet valves would be making sweet love to the piston....

Annoying as that bins my plans for the evening, and means I have to get up early again tomorrow to take the damn thing back to be corrected.

The work they have done looks lovely I must admit, but I am very glad I checked the head before attempting to fit it...

Photos:

57.jpg


56.jpg


When I took it in:

55.jpg


EDIT: You can see here cylinder 3's exhaust valves are shut at TDC, in contrast to how they are now....
 
Last edited:
Whats more disconcerting is the overlap on cyl 2... both inlets and exhaust are open!!

<tuffty/>
 
GT30AudiS3 said:
Whats more disconcerting is the overlap on cyl 2... both inlets and exhaust are open!!

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

I know, that's secretly what I wanted (additional flames.....), but don't tell anyone.... Shhhh.

NOT!

Just ****** off I now have to fart about getting it back over there, and then get it back again, I wanted to get most of the work done tonight.

Instead I have managed...ummmm... none.
 
Not got a tensioner tool handy and just retime the cam yourself? I have one i could post you, but i'm surprised tuffty or bill doesnt have one?
 
aragorn said:
Not got a tensioner tool handy and just retime the cam yourself? I have one i could post you, but i'm surprised tuffty or bill doesnt have one?
Click to expand...

That's not the point IMO. I have paid for the work to be done, why should I have to do it....?
 
OK, so I took the head back this morning...

I initially told the guy what was up and he said he doubted the timing was wrong. So I showed him. It is.

Once this dawned on him, he was quite upset and extremely apologetic. He was just glad I hadn't tried to fit it... lol.

Anyway, should have it back later on today. Timed correctly with a bit of luck....
 
do you really trust him?? STILL?

if he does'nt know about the factory timing marks on the cams, what else does he not know about building a 20v head?
(notches on cam gears and pointers on cam caps, 16 rollers between cams etc etc....

sorry dude... but they would have been the last place I would have taken anything...... their track record is direbolical
 
badger5 said:
do you really trust him?? STILL?
Click to expand...

Not particularly, however with limited time, money and a lack of other options, I don't see what choice I really have. This is getting on for £400 I didn't intend to spend in the first place.

badger5 said:
if he does'nt know about the factory timing marks on the cams, what else does he not know about building a 20v head?
(notches on cam gears and pointers on cam caps, 16 rollers between cams etc etc....
Click to expand...

This is the odd thing, as soon as the cams were rotated he noticed that the notches weren't aligned, which lead me to assume he didn't actually fit the cams, but the other guy there did, which he confirmed this morning. No excuse I agree, it was obviously wrong to look at and I was disappointed it wasn't picked up on.

badger5 said:
sorry dude... but they would have been the last place I would have taken anything...... their track record is diabolical
Click to expand...

Yeah, not the best, for me that is. They did a great job on my mate's 20v head which is annoying. Again, it comes down to a lack of time and options, I need to get the thing back for a retest ASAP otherwise thats more money I don't have in the bin.
 
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