Boian

Hi everyone, I am currently trying to pull the cylinder heads off my 2.7T '01 Allroad 6 speed. The reason for this is that when I was attempting to do the valve cover gaskets/cam chain tensioner gaskets I loosened the cams and either the exhaust or intake driver side cam skipped 1 tooth. When I started the car up it made a huge racket and I instantly shut it off. My mechanic told me I have bent valves, and I'm hoping the pistons were not damaged.

I can't afford to take the car to a mechanic, so I've been following this guide: http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Audi/B5...ne_Removal.pdf

because people have been telling me that I have to remove the engine entirely in order to pull the heads. However, now that I have the turbos unbolted from the exhaust I'm thinking, isn't there some way that I can just pull the heads out without pulling the entire engine? My reasons for wanting to do this are because I would have to rent an engine hoist, engine stand, and I don't want to deal with the PITA bell housing bolts. What I'd like to do is pull the heads and get them reconditioned at a machine shop rather than buying a whole new engine because the car has been driven in California and the engine appears to be in great shape otherwise.

Has anyone been able to pull the heads this way? I'm a (fast learning) newbie who's never worked on cars before so sorry if this has been addressed elsewhere.

Also yes I'm an idiot for thinking valve cover gaskets were the appropriate way to start learning how to wrench.

ljayr

Do you have all of the "pluming" removed from the turbos? If you do there is no reason why the heads wont come off in the car.

I too am currently freshening up a set of heads, but I removed the engine. The engine really inst that difficult to pull. It makes cleaning and inspecting much easier with the engine out.

In a pinch you don't need an engine stand. The engine can be sat on a pallet just fine.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

transman

You can roll your car under a tree and use a branch to hook the cumalong to, to remove engine. If you take the front clip off, I think you can pull engine and transmission together. When I do head gaskets and timing chains on German cars, I've noticed they are all designed to have the engine removed for service.

AWrkoArts

Im had to double check and make sure I didn't write this one. Exact same thing happened to me with the cam being off one link and turned it in and know immediately something was wrong and turned it off. Purchased another cylinder head with cam and chain tensioner all included and installed. My problem is I also purchased the timing placement bar so I can achieve TDC but how in the heck should the head and all that's part of it supposed to be positioned once I get er on?

AWrkoArts

Bottom of head. They look pretty bad but unsure what to clean them with. Break cleaner?

transman

I've never taken the heads off a 2.7t in the car, but I think that it might not be possible even with the turbos unbolted. I am assuming you still have the exhaust manifolds bolted to the heads. Just think... It takes only a few hours to remove the engine. Not long at all. The amount of time you spend trying to work around doing such is not a compromise at all.
I think the average guy with a decent set of hand tools should be able to pull the motor, change head gaskets, and install it in 20-23hrs. Doing it in car, you might spend 10 hours taking the heads off, then double that for installation.

One thing about pulling the motor is that you can get a great angle of approach to install the timing belt, and double check it before going back in the car. Sometimes I find this to be a big deal.

You should take all the valves out, and lap them to make sure they have good sealing surfaces, and then throw new valve seals in. If you take your time and go a good job, you should have a nice set of freshened up heads. With 30 valves, it should take ~2hr to get them lapped and new seals in. Definitely worth it. As for cleaning all that carbon off? Go to harbor freight and buy a wire wheel drill bit, and run it around the combustion chamber, periodically spraying carb cleaner.

You are going to want to touch up the mating surface of the heads before putting them back on. If I was doing the job at home, I would use those medium foam sanding blocks to get all the stuff off, then use the fine foam blocks to get it ultra smooth. Do not apply pressure when running the sanding blocks because you dont want to dig into the surface.

Otherwise, you can pay a machine shop a small fee to have the heads cleaned and resurfaced before you do the valve lap and new seals.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions..