Operation save little dog (Albert).

Little Dog

Little Dog

A2OC Donor
European-Union
Got myself a problem with old Albert (TDi 75), I've stripped out two of the tapped holes that take the screws to secure the cylinder head cover. Worse still it is the two obscured by the EGR valve on the right / rear of the cylinder head. Many years ago, before I had a manual I had a persistent oil leak in that area and those two screws were tweaked many times in an attempt to stop the leak. I suspect they fatigued and clean lubricated screws were too much for the female threads at just 10 Nm.
So now I have a problem, unless the engine can be tilted forwards and I extend taps and drills I can't see how to fix this short of removing the head. Anybody got any great ideas?
I toyed with the idea of recovering him to my lockup but he is a bit too good to abandon to collect dust. I need to save him, if the head has to come off I can't start utill March.

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philward said:
Got myself a problem with old Albert (TDi 75), I've stripped out two of the tapped holes that take the screws to secure the cylinder head cover. Worse still it is the two obscured by the EGR valve on the right / rear of the cylinder head. Many years ago, before I had a manual I had a persistent oil leak in that area and those two screws were tweaked many times in an attempt to stop the leak. I suspect they fatigued and clean lubricated screws were too much for the female threads at just 10 Nm.
So now I have a problem, unless the engine can be tilted forwards and I extend taps and drills I can't see how to fix this short of removing the head. Anybody got any great ideas?
I toyed with the idea of recovering him to my lockup but he is a bit too good to abandon to collect dust. I need to save him, if the head has to come off I can't start util March.

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Helicoil or timesert job I would think.


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Edwrai said:
Helicoil or timesert job I would think.


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Yes, exactly my thoughts. The problem I have is getting the drill over the holes, then getting the tap over the holes, then getting the insert tool over the holes. I appear to need to tilt the engine and extend the tools or take the head off.
I would have got some pictures but the car is outside and its raining, when it stops I'll illustrate the problem.
 
Would it be possible to fit studs and 'glue' them in.
If it's possible and you have access to a lathe, drill a small hole down the centre of each stud. Should make it a lot easier to drill them out in future if needed

Cheers Spike
 
spike said:
Would it be possible to fit studs and 'glue' them in.
If it's possible and you have access to a lathe, drill a small hole down the centre of each stud. Should make it a lot easier to drill them out in future if needed

Cheers Spike
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That's a good idea, I'll need to look at the seal. It has some kind of a screw retaining washer to hold the seal onto the cylinder cover and hold the screws in position while the cover is maneuvered on to the head. Would probably need to convert the whole head to studs so that the seal could be positioned before the cover.
 
Why not disconnect the dogbone mount, undo the engine mount, support the engine on some jacks and bring the engine forwards a few inches? It's only whats done with a timing belt swap. You'll need to take the cabin clean air intake off to get enough access, but I would have thought there will be enough room.
 
A2Steve said:
Why not disconnect the dogbone mount, undo the engine mount, support the engine on some jacks and bring the engine forwards a few inches? It's only whats done with a timing belt swap. You'll need to take the cabin clean air intake off to get enough access, but I would have thought there will be enough room.
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I'll check it out when the weather improves, would the flexible on the exhaust be flexible enough?
 
When my turbo was replaced they undid the dog bone, loosened the top mounts and jacked the engine bottom forwards to get room to work behind the engine - it sounds like you need to undo the top ones and loosen the bottom to tip the top forwards? As the dogbone is hinged it should be possible to rotate the transmission around that pivot point (with support).
 
I’m going through a 1.9 transplant and in optimising the engine/gearbox position I was amazed at how far you can move the engine with the mount to chassis bolts removed.
I think you’d get enough space as Steve says. Would a right angle on your drill help?
Other than that there are some gasket seal compounds that would probably just stick and seal the rocker cover without those screws… just a thought
These guys have an RTV that might be worth a try https://altaengineering.uk/product/...MI6JbNtYbw9QIVj-7tCh3FbA24EAQYASABEgLBMPD_BwE
 
Today Little Dog got yet another new windscreen, There he is under an Autoglass canopy:

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I also broke the engine undertray so I bought a new genuine one for a fraction over £50. That's two minor jobs out of the way.

I want the storms out of the way in the next few days then, next week, I'll get him in the garage and look at options around the stripped threads.
 
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Finally got the A2 in the garage and busy sizing up the job. It is not looking good.

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It is those two engine cover screws furthest away at the back. I can't see how to get a drill over them without tilting the engine a long way. Then the center one is most likely still not accessible due to the inlet manifold.

@spike made a clever suggestion to fit studs but having checked everything out the seal is designed to be fitted pre-fitted to the cover not the head. I may investigate this further but any studs in the two damaged holes would need to be bonded and I'm not convinced there is enough thread for bonding to hold. Also future repairs would be complicated having to drill a steel stud out of alloy.

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Unless I have missed something I think this is a head off job? Inlet manifold off the probably coil every screw hole to make sure I don't have this problem again. Thoughts please?
 
Difficult to assess from the picture but any chance of drilling out with a small angle drill and chopped down drill bit?

Andy
 
It looks grim, IM sure someone will have experienced worse and come along wiht good advice. I know nothing about this type of work but just thinking aloud, would it be anyway possible to bond another metal surface over the block to create a fresh new surface to mate the cover to? Like a metal seal with studs in. Or fill and smooth the blocked bolt holes and use some exterior clip to hold the cover to the block, with some sealer? Or block the current holes and drill two new holes next to them? I dunno just thinking. Stressfull. Hope you get it fixed suitabaly.
 
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