Need advice. Pulled heads but this is what I see

[Q-Dog]

The oil could be coming from the stud threads in the case.
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[Zwitterkafer]

Hopefully the case-saver(s) are not contributing to an external leak at those studs. Were the studs wet? The affected combustion chamber looks too wet in that first pic, more so than its neighbor. There could be a second problem concerning oil control. This is a good opportunity to dismantle a little further and measure the usual culprits. When reassembling, seal both cylinder bases on that side in the same way, and check for dead-even tops on the cylinders...to help with sealing to the head. Good Luck!
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"Criticism comes easier than Craftsmanship"
- Zeuxius, 400 BC

[txasylum]

I don't think the studs were really wet. They did have some gunk on them, but they weren't dripping wet. The Rings on the affected chamber were not in correct position. When I took the cylinder off the top two rings openings were at 5 and 7 o'clock position. Too close to each other, so I figure that might be the reason it appears to wet, do you think?

I will pull all my studs out, clean them, and reseal them. I had four come out when I took the heads off.

[txasylum]

There seems to be no end play, at least it is not loose. I have new pushrod tubes and seals.

I wasn't really planning on new rings/pistons. The car seemed to run well before I took it apart to fix the oil cooler leak. I just kept going in order to clean up it more.

[txasylum]

What are you using to seal the studs to the case?

[txoval]

I use regular thread sealant, just start the sealant 2-3 threads from the tip, leave those first threads dry

[Bashr52]

That's a loose/leaky head. Clean that head up really well to check for cracks as well as signs where the head has been leaking. If the head is loose and you have a compression leak along with the oil leak, you will see signs of the head being eroded away from hot combustion gases.

[bluebus86]

leaky rings did NOT cuase the oil leak, even if the rings failed, tne oil should have never leaked out past the head to cylinder seal. the problem is that seal failed. now you may or may have not had leaky ring too.

also for next time, run a compression test and oil pressure test prior to dissassembly, that way you have an idea of other things that may need to be addressed. Id hate to do a top end rebuild on a case with big bearing clearances, low oil pressure.

since the heads are off, might as well look at the valve seats, and cracks (as other has noted)

dont willy nilly install gaskets,over the cylinders without considering what changes that may make to compression ratio.


good luck
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[txasylum]

Thanks.

Question on the gaskets. Are you talking about the gasket for the cylinder to the case? Others say they use other forms of sealant rather than the paper gasket. There are no gaskets from cylinder to the Head.

Just want to clarify.

Again, thanks for all the help from everyone.

[Bashr52]

[williamM]

do both cylinders the same so you don't have one with paper and one with silicone.

Never had much faith in a released used set of rings re sealing. You might want to re ring at least that one leaky burnt cylinder.
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opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[57BLITZ]

[Cali_Army_Guy]

[Slow 1200]

my bet is that the paper gaskets disintegrated so heads became loose

now it's a great time to have the heads checked and possibly change everything that's out of spec, at least exhaust guides and exhaust valves for sure and get a proper valve job

[vwoldbug]

After everything is clean it may help to lap the top of cylinder to head with valve lapping compound .

[Matthew Tolbert]

also the cracks between the valves is a non issue. its when the crack runs from the valve to the spark plug hole that the head needs replaced.
_________________
Matthew Tolbert
1958 ragtop
1961 doublecab
1965 Notchback S

[williamM]

[jbclem]

I agree with Matthew Tolbert that the cracks between the valve seats are usually not an issue. However, I do believe I see some cracks from the spark plug hole to the intake and the exhaust valves in the head side where all the oil gunk is. From the intake to the plug hole I see one or two light cracks, and from the exhaust to the plug hole it's hard to see because of some gunk, but I think I see a real crack starting. Take a rag with some solvent or gasoline and clean around the area I'm talking about. If you can see them, look into the spark plug hole and see if the crack(s) are also going down into the hole.

Because of some shadows it's hard to tell if you have any sign of exhaust leaking across the cylinder to cylinder head sealing area. Did you have any loose head noises, most noticeable when engine is cold and revved up? If you do have signs of leakage, the thing to do is get an identical size used cylinder and use it to lap in the sealing area until you have a nice continuous grey area where the sealing surface is. You don't want to get into fly cutting unless you can't lap it in properly. With fly cutting you have to worry about compression ratios and using shims and it's way more than you want to get into here.

Also, when you install the cylinder back over the piston, if you change the position of the rings (to reposition the gaps) you increase the chance that the rings will have to re-seat themselves. That may happen quickly, or it might not.

The oil accumulation looks like it was blow up from below and accumulated around the base of the cylinder. It's a lot of gunk so I'd guess it's either from a real noticeable leak or it's been accumulating for a long time.