Head-removal tips

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R

reiny

Active Member
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564
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Malta
I am going to remove the head of a 300tdi this evening. I have never removed heads off functioning engines, only of ones that have long since been chucked away. I have followed a number of tutorials, etc and I have done work which is seemingly more difficult. I do have a couple of questions however. For starters, should I remove the glow plugs and injectors in situ? Glow plugs rarely cause headaches but I am concerned about the injectors. Would it be easier to try to remove them with the head still bolted to the block should I do it when the head is on the bench?

The head is going off to a machine shop to be skimmed (unless I see any visible cracks in it which will send it straight to the great scrapheap in the sky). The engineer at the machine shop told me to take it to him in the cleanest condition possible and stripped of injectors, valves, etc. What would you recommend that I clean it with? Do machine shops lap-in valves? Or should I buy a valve sucker and some grinding paste and do the lapping-in myself?
 
Changed my injectors about 3 months ago. 3 came out fine but cylinder 3 injector needed a injector slide hammer on it to budge it. My advice on this limited experience is to take them out before you remove the head. As well as the glow plugs. While the head is off being machined it will also give you chance to test the glow plugs and replace if necessary. Possibly it's also worth getting your injectors tested too, and refurbed if they need it.
 
thanks for the tip. Injectors shall be taken for tesing / refurb while we're at it. If they really refuse to budge, I'll take the head to a diesel specialist to get the injectors out before I take the head for skimming. It will only cost me an extra day.
 
Unless you have a suitable vice to clamp the head, it's often easier to remove the injectors before removing the head. It will make the head a bit lighter to lift too. Fingers crossed they come out easily. I found lots of releasing fluid and jiggling helped.
 
Spin the injectors clockwise with the relevant sized open ended spanner, which also allows you to ease them up. Don't forget to get new injector seals for the refit, and check the injector bleed off pipes for their condition, fit new if unsure.
 
Update. Head is off with no problems whatsoever. Injectors were a doddle. I screwed up big time though. I didn't drain the coolant from the block. As soon as I removed the head, the block flooded. I dried out everything I could, blew every hole clear with compressed air and sprayed wd40 liberally on every surface. I drained the sump (I had already drained the oil before commencing work) and about half a litre of coolant came out. How much damage have I caused? What should I do to minimise further damage?
 
Should be ok, we all do that at some point, I did it on a mini engine once. Might be worth jacking up the front to get as much water out as poss, there will be so much oil about inside the engine it won't get through it. Once it's back together, might be worth doing an oil change, after a few miles to get rid of any water, but it should evaporate off.
 
Thanks. That should sort it then. Head's off for some filling and skimming, injectors shall be serviced and I should be able to put it all together during the weekend. Hope I have enough strength to torque the buggers up.
 
glow plugs from my experience on a tdi can be harder to get out than injectors,if you do get the glows out whole put a smear of copper grease on them when they go back in, good idea to use new,also with the injector washers,i found there's lots of crap ones out there OEM bosch ones are about a fiver a set and dont fail
 
Torqued it down last night. By God that was tough! Got the fright of my life after re-fitting the rocker shaft. The engine wouldn't turn. The valve seats were cut and I forgot to back off the rocker adjusters. Backed them off and all turns sweetly now. I'm going to have to remove the rocker shaft again though because i think I stripped the threads on the centre stud (or nut). It just won't torque up.
 
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