Cylinder Heads and chain tensioners.

[redram1100r 0]

Hello all, I have a mk3 93L 90k miles, had it 7 yrs, found oil in the coolant, the head is off the mating surface is corroded, also a small amount of the fibre material is missing from the chain tensioner, are these common problems? is it ok to weld and skim these heads?, Gearbox out todo the tensioner, I'm wondering if a 2nd hand engine would be better option, your advice and suggestions would be appreciated.

[matth76 1]

The paper head gasket on the mark 3 is pretty poor compared to the later metal mk 4 one but normal to be slightly corroded (due to it being paper). It is also normal to have damp patches down your engine block too. Tensioners will wear but you need to replace all the chains too along with the tensioners. The chains etc all tend to need doing around the 100k mile mark on average so wear at 90k miles is normal - I had to have my chains all done at 76k miles. However the headgasket does not need changing - not unless you have extremely bad symptoms. However if the head is already off then you may as well replace the gasket with a metal one from the mark 4 golf. It will raise the compression ratio but that will make it very slightly more torquey lower down the rev range.

How come your head is already off? Did you do this yourself or a garage?

Fitting a second hand engine and having it fitted properly will set you back far more than taking the gearbox out and getting the chains replaced. Plus you have no guarantee what condition the second hand donor engine is in (internally inside the block I mean). Best to stick with your current engine plus your 90k miles is relatively low.

[redram1100r 0]

Thanks for your input matth76 I have decided to stay with original, yes head removed at garage,mating surface of head badly corroded/pitted,now at machine shop for crack test,welding and skimming .

[mk3anni 0]

probably cheaper to buy a second hand head

[vr6newcomer 1]

where do you source a second hand head?