1.4 Low compression in cylinder 3

[eethon]

Hi all,
I have a 1.4 golf that has a misfire the best way I can describe it is to say the engine is very "lumpy" it judders on tick over and just doesn't sound like its firing right. Also the emissions light is either on constantly or flashes (the orange engine light on dash)

I did a compression test today and they all showed 212 except cylinder 3 which showed 112 (no idea of the value sorry) as i mentioned in another post I have been told it may be the valves that need reseating. Does this sound correct or could there be anything else I can check?
Any advice as to how to re-seat the valves properly etc is greatly appreciated.

James

[Crasher]

Burnt exhaust valve seats are very common on that engine, which is head off so you will need new exhaust guides, seats, head re-surfacing, 16 followers and 16 equalising elements plus a box full of other parts such as head set, head bolts, cam belt kit, carrier bolts etc.

[eethon]

Burnt exhaust valve seats are very common on that engine, which is head off so you will need new exhaust guides, seats, head re-surfacing, 16 followers and 16 equalising elements plus a box full of other parts such as head set, head bolts, cam belt kit, carrier bolts etc.

Wow i knew it was going to be a tough job but that sounds like a lot to do!, Ive ordered a lot of that from the local motor factors, and ill be doing it at my dads factory so he can skim the head for me I hope.

Some of that stuff I havnent got a clue about "6 followers and 16 equalising elements" for one!

can you give me a quick "fixing a burnt exhaust valve for dummies" run down?

Im gonna give it a go myself and If I cant fix it Ill have to save the dosh to have it done!

Ive ordered: head gasket includiung all the other gaskets and O rings needed to have the head off
-cam belts
-instant gasket
-loctite
-set of replacement bolts

Cheers,
James

[Crasher]

I can’t give you a quick run down, it is a long job. What I can give you is a piece of advice from doing this job regularly. I strongly suggest that you buy a VW dealer exchange cylinder head from a VW dealer. These cost £650 but come fully built and included the 16 cam followers and equalising elements, sometimes called hydraulic lifters. A couple of weeks ago we had to do one on a 1.6 BCB engine (virtually identical) and the head was on back order so we had to rebuild the original, it cost more than buying the exchange unit!. The engineering work is not just re-facing the head but also fitting new exhaust valve guides and cutting the seat to set the new valves into the seat with the new guides. The Haynes manual is not brilliant but it will help, I suggest you buy one. You must replace the water pump.