Have you replaced one or more DIESEL cylinder head gasket, how long did it take?
 

Have you replaced one or more DIESEL cylinder head gasket, how long did it take?

How much delay was caused by hesitation, dread, fear?

Was it as impossible as you first thought?

Would you hesitate as long (having done it at least once)

Please post a link here, if there is a thread documenting your experience.

I have done it on VW, toyota and nissan 4 cyl diesels with timing belts.

Done it on VW diesel and 601 diesel. Would not worry too much about it again. Just the usual dumb issues with frozen nuts/bolts and cleaning surfaces. Both were pretty easy, really. I like inline engines and the less cylinders the better (603 head is heavy even in alumminum.)

"Hic, i sharted shrinkng"? :D


NOW, ABOUT THOSE HEAD GASKETS...
In my workshop they just took one day to put it in, once the head was redone with new valves + valve seals. However, this was not a diesel, but a W111 250SE. Very similar design, nevertheless!

For a 617.952
I mean and 8 hour day where you pushed yourself to work fast. (Added: the more I think about it for Me 2 8 hour days would more likely.)

I would give Myself a whole day if I had never done it on that particular Engine.
Part of that is becuse unlike a Mechanic in a Shop I have My Tools spread out to My Vehicles, Garage and a Locked Room I keep the more Valuable stuff in.

Then there is rounding up the stuff to drain the Coolant and the Oil into.

Pretty much the same for the stuff that would be needed to Clean the surfaces and see if the surfaces are straight.

You should plan of a weeks transportaiton to Work incase the Head is warped and longer if the Block is warped.

I would likely remove the Head in what ever part of that Day it took and install the Head the next Day.

You did not say if changing the Head Gasket included the Valve Adjustment.

OM616.

Didn't clean out the bolt head recesses properly and was careless in aligning. Rounded two out.

Had to special-order drill bit from local construction supplier and buy decent drill.

Bought used drill at garage sale. DOH. Eventually found internal (clutch?) parts worn out. Had to go way slow.

Eventually drilled out bolts.

Tried to remove head for hours on end. No go.

Neighbour who previously worked in a shop tried for two hours. No go.

Tow to shop. They try for three hours. Finally find last two fasteners we all missed. (They are embarrassed over missing the bolts so they only charge 1 hr.)

Shop did compliment me on clean drillout job for the head bolts.

I voted under the "drinking" category.

EDIT: Very important... I was not a member here back then. Had I been... things would have been different.

I did that 350SD gasket-5 months of driving later and its still not re-broken:)

The only part scary is the bolt torquing

Mine took 4 days but it was over xgiving break and I wasn't rushing it. Waiting for parts etc. I will be redoing it here soon to pop the pistons out and hone the walls.

617.952

Took me all in all around 5 days spread over a few weeks, it was a casual project on a stand and NOT the DD. Could be done in a few days if you were going gangbusters.

Definitely buy a pack of "soft" blue 3m scrubbers and an air rotary tool-they make it go so much faster. Used up around 4 rolls of blue towels making sure everything was perfectly clean.

It is a lot of small steps and being careful, but not overly complicated. Then you get into "replacing this and that while you're in there...."

I took a hint from a member and used 3? 4? however many colors of crayons and marked each bolt with a different crayon color for each tightening seq. By the end I had the sequence memorized but more than once did the colors save me.

It took me 2 months on and off and goofing around, see link.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/330521-om603-installing-new-head-gasket-sunday.html

I actually took the head on/off 3 times before I buttoned it back together. It has done 1+K miles now so I think it is a job well done. Do NOT drop any bolt inside the engine!!

First time - put it back together I did not like the cold compression number on cyl #2
2nd time - fixed cyl2 by removing the side sump and pushed the piston out. Re-ring the piston. Compression # was up to 300psi. Then decided #5 was low so removed the oil pan and head again and re-ring all cylinders.
3rd time - button everything back.

I probably can do it blind-folded now if I am doing it again. I reckon it would be much faster if I do my next car, there is one waiting, unfortunately.:( But it can wait.

I would no rush through it the first time that is for sure. Even at my leisurely pace I had half the bolts thumb tight when I had an image of rags left in cylinders and had to undo it. I am a big fan of cordless drills on low torque settings myself. Single bolts go in and out better with an air ratchet but I find I can run through sets of bolts better with a cordless.


Thanks to AhKay I will be doing the same as him, not having realized you can drop the oil pan without taking the enging out.

I did one four years ago; Id never had a head off before that time. I'm a woodworker, not a gearhead. With the FSM and help from this forum, it was very doable (I was warned about the hidden head bolts by reading the threads). Just be very clean, take your time, and dont drop anything down the chain galley!

I have done several 617 head gaskets before, and I get faster every time I do one. I just pulled the head on my neighbors '83 300D the other day, and it took about 3 easy hours to pull. I could have done it faster if I had all the tools with me, but had to drive home to retrieve some specialty tools. The head will be done sometime this week (I hope), and I will time how long it takes to re-install the head and get the car running. I suspect it should take about 4 hours, as I have all the tools and parts ready to go when the head arrives.

The more you do the quicker it seems to go. Especially if the engine is the same type as you have done before. Ater about four changes on a simular type engine time required probably stabilizes.

You want quick for change a head gasket ?. An employee of ours had noticed the lack of gasket material transfer on volkswagon diesels. So on the cheapies he was passing through his hands at the time. He just pulled the bolts and anything else that prevented lifting of the head. Lifted the head slightly and slid out the old gasket. Probably popping it with a long flat blade where it stuck. Slid in a new one and retorqued with new head bolts.

He was lucky as it worked every time for him. I personally do not recommend this for many many reasons but it was what it was at the time. It also was a pretty regular maintenance item on a lot of those old diesels. Almost every one he purchased for resale reasons needed one.

The only thing he did as he fully understood the risks was to put some solvent in each head bolt hole right after pulling the head bolts and vacuum and blow out the holes just before he put the new head bolts in. He also examined every used gasket he pulled for any evidence of material transfer left behind but told me there never was any obvious..