Yea...a new head is 150€. A used head is about the same or more. To rebuild the engine (machine it) costs about 100€. In terms of price and long time invesent, getting a new head is the best option. The only downside is that I need to wait 6 days since it's ordered from Czech Republic. In can drive the 1.4 16 valve Fabia meanwhile but it is awfull, I hate it.

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Edited 16 April, 201610 yr by Alexandru

 In can drive the 1.4 16 valve Fabia meanwhile but it is awfull, I hate it.

 

 

Here is a nice head from one af my engines :

More space around the valves an planned 2.5 mm. More flow an more power...

And with a 285 degrees cam, huge racing valves and some other thing it worked well.

Just a example.

You can probably take ut to 1 mm, but then you have to take some material off around the valves.

Or use 98 octane, if that exist now where you are?

I'm running on 99. The marks on the head are beyond any repair. There are sections 2mm deep. It's a no no.

It has no support from under:

There are empty spaces where the hg will fail.

Edited 16 April, 201610 yr by Alexandru

A LOT of running without enough/any corrosion inhibitor.

No coolant, just plain water?

It depend of use an how long the car shall run? The car is old. Repair can go, but am also sure many will not recommend to repair. 

 

My be FREEDOM can tell what is happens if the head i planned a little and get it leakproof with a new gasket?

Edited 16 April, 201610 yr by Torbo

It has 200.000km on the clock, who knows if genuine.

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This is the right engine for the Fabia. Dobble short chain, good pistons and valve-system. 

I think it is easy to drive more than 100 000 km more, with repaired, used go new head.

 

Not much rust on this cars rather, better than most of the car around .

 

One og the reason: The ventilation system is a little open to the rooms/cavity or what you call it? The parts under doors. There is some small venting hole in the bottom.

You can test with to set the heater on, close the doors an listen  og feel with the hand that air is coming out. Therefore the part get dry and rust free. 

Funny or not?

Back to the head wear. Just remind about that the pressure in the engine is about 0,5 bar in the cooling system (very little). And it is 100 times more in the combustion chamber - about 50 - 70 bar.  So if this is a low budget car, it should be easy to get the head planned and drive 100 000 km with with it. The head is not wear around the cylinders. 

I say this because a garages always like to change parts. 

 

But change is better if the cost is ok? 

Then you have a better looking head inside.

 

new is new....

Some thing else:  - Be sure about other leak. my be something else is the main problem. Leak that the owner before had, and he/she had to refill with water. Look at the metal tube under the engine, from water pump (rust) and leak in the radiator. The radiator is made very simple. "plastic fantastic"...

I have had both problems,...

Thank you for the tips! The car is no longer leaking coolant. I've been driving and fixing it for the past 3 years now. It required a few parts so far, it's not really on a budget but I'm trying not to spend a fortune on it. I'm just taking good care about it.

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Wery good! On my Fabia 1,4  I had to refill coolant in the beginning after changing thermostat, to get the air out from the system. Now it is fine. 

After 1000 km you can after draw the bolts 1/8 turn, since the gasket has get on good on place.  - to be sure...

May be you have another solution to after draw? Ot the Skoda garage? They properly say its not necessary, but i will recommend it! 

50/50 collent and there will not be any corrosion in the system. 

 

If you hear some noise from the engine you can adjust the valve clearance - 0,3 .... The book says 0,2, but 0,3 i safer.

 

Good luck!

(good engine)

Which radiator manufacturer should I go with ?

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It doesn't matter, it'll last the life of the car whatever it is, just get the cheapest.

We finished rebuilding the engine at 2 am. The car runs like a dream. After we put all back together, it fired up right away. It doesn't smoke, it idles and revs like a teen girl...she's better than ever!

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Good job! Have you sandblasted the head? 

Hope to hear some more about it!

I replaced the head, valve seals and some other seals inside the engine. There was no need to replace the piston rings and resurface the cylinder walls. It was too late (2am) to replace the radiator as well, so we left the old one on the car until next time. We also ajusted the push rods several times to get the best settings out of them. With fresh oil and coolant, a charged battery (which went flat after 2 weeks), it really performs way better than expected. It sounds good, runs well and it has lots of miles to run from now on.

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Edited 29 April, 201610 yr by Alexandru

Im impressed! May be I have to do the same on mine? I'm loosing a little water? 

I have changed a lead radiator, a run ten tube under the engine, thermostat, but I have to fill a little after seem driving....

I hope its only air that must go out? But is at nice engine to work on, so its just a nice job.

Worse with the 1.2 engine! Its modern weak case! Like comparing Coke with Coke Light!

I am not sure about this. I planned this operation about 2 years while I was driving the car. If it doesn't leak oil into coolant or coolant into oil, then you shouldn't worry. The awsome part is that the head used in the mpi engines (part number 047103351C) has been in production on VAG cars manufactured up to 2011, so this is why you cam still find them as new on the market, OEM at a more than reasonable price. Topping up the expansion bottle with coolant every now and then isn't that difficult and I lived with it for a while, until it started leaking oil into coolant, as in the first posts from this topic. It might have been a lot worst, like if it would have been leaking coolant into the cylinders, but it wasn't.

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Edited 29 April, 201610 yr by Alexandru

(trumpets) ... and the bill:

 

(prices are in Euros)

 

Except for the door catches which were an older fetish of mine .. everything is 'ontopic'.

Edited 30 April, 201610 yr by Alexandru

Lucky man! Good job!