lsdisk0

my head gasket went out and im fixing a dead cyl 3, got all the head bolts out but i cant get the exhaust manifold(cast) to unbolt, 3 nuts on the bottom back that i cant get off... tried to get the ones at the collector but can only get one off of there, as well. so i thought maybe ill try to just pull the entire head, manifold, and collector off... yea that clearly hasnt worked either. Can anybody help me out? I've asked people in a couple audi clubs for help and they just say take it to a mechanic, but that's really pointless since i know how to do a head gasket myself, just cant get the head out of the engine bay and check for warpage....

yodasfro

You need to get creative to get the nuts on the down pipe to manifold. Remove the battery and access panel under it that will give access to one or two. From under the car a long extension and swivel socket will help. If you have to drop the subframe to get a clearer shot at the nuts.

lsdisk0

so youre telling me if i remove the battery i can remove what the battery sits on, too? thats one of the things thats stopping me from just pulling the whole assembly out in one move

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

you dont need to remove the battery tray, just remove the battery

lsdisk0

Technically I didn't have to remove the battery, it just gave me a bit more elbow room; about 30 minutes and a 12mm wrench for the 3 last bolts(got one from underneath other two on top from the back of the bay). might have helped me out a little bit that I already had the head unbolted and I was able to move it around and everything. Sent the head to a shop by my school to get it resurfaced and get a few snapped bolts removed.

Now I am just having a slight misalignment issue with my head studs and head gasket...a couple of the studs dont allow the gasket to just go down but i only tried to get the gasket on for a couple second after putting the studs in and didnt look into it much so ill look into that tomorrow and start doing some of the other stuff i need to do like finish my AC delete and get a few new bolts that i need

lsdisk0

Also, I had the speedo slightly go out on me; it will work for me and then all of a sudden drop down to 20-25 with me even going 80. sometimes the tach and all that doesnt work but that comes on with a bit of delay or the usual hitting the dash.
I know its a rather common issue with audis of the generation, but im hoping thats not the problem since the speedo is still working but all of a sudden stops; could the contacts on the back of the cluster for the speedo just be soldered together instead of separately as they should be or something completely different? I have replaced the trans speed sensor and checked the wheel speed sensors and they all read roughly the same amount of ohms

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

sounds like your solder is cracked in the cluster, take it appart and resolder all the connections inside your cluster

lsdisk0

Alright, thats what i was thinking but was hoping wasnt the problem because i cant solder for s*&t lol

CRAZY_RUSSIAN

lol, its not that hard, just heat up the olds solder so it melts (but dont press the tip against the board) and maybe add just a tab fresh solder