pd 130 head skim ?

[orangefzr]

Hi just wondering if anyone else can give me some advice about my pd130 asz engined Ibiza, the car needs some engine work due to a blown head gasket.
All of the different service info I have read says DO NOT SKIM CYLINDER HEAD, but after speaking to one engine repair place the guy reckoned he'd done loads of others without problem, the car is re mapped and is way more powerful than standard and the last thing I want is to make the head scrap by raising the compression ratio even higher than it already is....... Any advice would be welcomed from anyone else with experience in these matters

[OldGermanHeaps]

As standard that engine could have 1 of 3 thicknesses of head gasket depending on piston protusion from the factory, if you get a skim and are worried about interferance at valve float rpm, which you will never achieve without insane mods, or too high compression then just get the next thickness up. I wouldn't worry about it though, with blowby through wear the extra little bit of comp should do it wonders. A heavy head skim and lightened flywheel was always a favourite of mine when building engines, really perked them up.

[orangefzr]

Hi thanks for your reply, yeah I had a look at the three head gaskets available and there is only 0.14 mm between the thickest and thinnest gaskets available and mine is on the thickest one now, so I think the next thing to do is get the head checked for warping and if warped get a very light skim and pressure test

[PaulKemp]

Cometic do multi layer gasket at pretty much any thickness, there are some particular requirements for how flat block and head are and how fine the finish. Splitting the multi layers apart and a thin spray of hyloma blue between the layers. The outer layers of the gasket are citing coated.
Whilst the gaskets are expensive when other options are not available they’ll are cirtainly and engine saver.

[99hjhm]

How much do they think needs to come off it?

[orangefzr]

99hjhm said:

How much do they think needs to come off it?

I'm not sure tbh, I haven't stripped the car yet, in the manual and on Elsa win cd rom it says anymore than 0.3mm warpage then the head is scrap apparently. From what I have read on the internet is that when these cars are tuned the standard head bolts start to stretch so uprated head bolts are also required, if I just tootle around in the car it seems ok but as soon as you drive with a load of boost it dumps all it's coolant out of the expansion bottle

[227bhp]

Lots of chatter and no action, you'll probably take the head off and find it's perfectly ok.

[orangefzr]

227bhp said:

Lots of chatter and no action, you'll probably take the head off and find it's perfectly ok.

Yeah well hopefully ..... The reason I haven't stripped the head off the car is that I only noticed it was loosing coolant in November when it was getting cold and the heater stopped working. I don't pay garages to fix my car I fix them myself, and it's hardly motorcycle weather at the moment and I need my car for everyday transport ... As you say the head is probably fine but I think at the very least I need to check the head for warpage and possibly get it pressure tested, it was this time last year I was outside changing the clutch on my st on my own, which was a very miserable experience, the diesel still runs at the minute and I'm just waiting for the weather to break before now before fixing this one, My original post was actually asking if anyone else has had a similar problem and skimmed one of these cylinder heads with no issues

Edited by orangefzr on Thursday 1st February 04:13

[OldGermanHeaps]

The longer you drive it like that the deeper you are eroding damage into the cylinder head.

[orangefzr]

Whilst I appreciate everyone's advice here and I have not underestimating the potential damage I may be doing to the car it is approximately 3 degrees c here with a biting wind making it feel more like -2 I'm not going to go out and get covered in diesel oil and freeze my bollo#*s off to fix this until the weather improves... As soon as I noticed that the coolant was low I flushed the system with water then re filled with g12 coolant which I have been topping up, I have been keeping an eye on the oil for emulsification and sudden coolant loss, I live in an area where a car is essential so at the moment I'm willing to take the risk to the damage that I might potentially do to a 12 year old car for the sake of still being mobile

Edited by orangefzr on Thursday 1st February 15:37

[rb51]

Surface pd heads in work at least one every week comes in sometimes more, compression leaking into water jacket is very common on these and A skim and new gasket is the only job. Head has to be fully stripped out valves and all to surface it they are above the surface