Valve Stem oil seals and Tappets Mk2 8v Digi

[Perfect 8]

I'm thinking of doing some handy work on my car to save a few pennies. Tired of being robbed by my supposed 'VW Specialist' mechanic who tends to do a rather below par job.

So has anyone undertaken this before, are there any tips/tricks i should be aware of, do i need any special tools (spring compressors etc?)

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Adam

[...joe]

i did mine but i did it when i blew a head gasket so had the head off anyway. wasn't tricky but you do need to be able to compress the valve springs to remove the collets . i used a tool a friend had. then just got some valve grinding paste and went to work. doesn't take long but can get a bit fiddley

[Bam Bam]

....Are the Oil Seals completely knackered or do you just blow a bit of blue smoke on first start-up, I myself would'nt just take off the head for this job alone, like Joe said it's best to do this work if the head gasket goes or you're doing a top-end rebuild, a puff of blue smoke is nothing too serious and does'nt mean your burning a lot of oil when you are constantly running.

It is possible to replace these without removing the Head but you do need to be very careful and know what your doing.

It might pay you to look into an Oil treatment you can buy (name escapes me), over time the rubber material the seals are made from goes hard and brittle and stops sealing the valve stem, this stuff supposedly returns the softness to the rubber seals making them seal the stem better and stop the small leakage of oil that is burnt away when you first start the car up, I have been told it does work by a mate of mine who's used it on his Audi 80, you should find it in Halfords on the same shelf as the petrol and oil treatments.

Jim.

[VR6_ROB]

I should of done mine really when i changed the head but i forgot does'nt seem to fire out blue smoke anymore
still burns abit though but i been told that could be piston rings

[Bam Bam]

...that sounds about right, have a look at the spark plug condition, if it's black/oily/shiny you have cylinder bore wear or piston ring problems, head off again together with the sump and you can push the pistons up from the bottom, if it's cylinder bores you'll have to take the Block out.

Jim.?

[Veedubgt18v]

...that sounds about right, have a look at the spark plug condition, if it's black/oily/shiny you have cylinder bore wear or piston ring problems, head off again together with the sump and you can push the pistons up from the bottom, if it's cylinder bores you'll have to take the Block out.

Jim.?

...............and replace it with a 9a 2 litrer one! 

[Bam Bam]

 

[Perfect 8]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Chris Green]

...that sounds about right, have a look at the spark plug condition, if it's black/oily/shiny you have cylinder bore wear or piston ring problems, head off again together with the sump and you can push the pistons up from the bottom, if it's cylinder bores you'll have to take the Block out.

Jim.?

...............and replace it with a 9a 2 litrer one!?

Sorry to go off topic a bit, but what engine code is the mk2 8v engine? and what is a 9a fitted to?

[...joe]

there are several mk2 engine codes, its stamped on ther bottom end below the right two spark plugs and is normally covered in ming, so get scraping!! 9a is an audi 80 i think??? can't be arsed to look properly!