Where to get a rebuilt head?

[doc_oc]

I read 2-3 threads yesterday that were referencing websites and places that sell GOOD rebuilt heads. AWM
Now, I have been searching for the last 2 hours and I cant find them anymore.
Can you guys help me, please? old_guy and others that bought heads, where did you get them from?

Car has 165k miles, stock, (well, SAI is soft coded out) started with a cold start rough idle and in less than 2 weeks it ended up with no compression AT ALL in cyl 2.
Head is coming out soon. I started today and realized that the head bolts are polydrive, 6 point....pos. I have the 12 point bits that I used on my TDI and didn't even think that this would be different :(
Anyways, I'm curious to see why there is 0 compression in cyl 2. I mean, not even 1 psi. The other 3 where between 140 and 160.
The sparkplug also snapped while taking it out (cyl 2). That was fun. Ended up using a "fix'a'thread" from helicoil. 4 hours of hard cussing:)
Timing was ok. I did it about 20k ago. Because of a leaky water pump. So, that's a bummer. I will end up doing it again since I'm in there. There goes 350$ down the drain.
Snapped the thermostat housing top nipple while removing the coolant hose going to the hard pipe on top of the intake manifold.
Back of the engine coolant flange is leaking heavily.
Damn car. I just put 3000$ in full new suspension and breaks.
And 400$ in tranny fluid and filter refresh.
I swear, sometimes I think it's cheaper to have car payments than keep fixing audis :(
Sorry for the rant, but I have a 2010 avant as well, and a new engine is sitting on the stand waiting to be installed in it. Low oil pressure at idle. And my 06 Subaru Tribeca is misfiring in cyl 6. So I have 3 sick cars right now. I'm gonna drive my John Deere tractor to work tomorrow :)

[Spike00513]

doesn't the AWM come on longitudinal B5 or B5.5 Volkswagen Passats?
I wonder if it's possible to find a used head from one, at hopefully a good price, and then have a quality rebuild job performed on it, before installing it.
But this sounds difficult, if you're in a rush/emergency.

[rocket1420]

You can find out why there's no compression with a leak down test. OTC makes a decent one for about $55. Plenty of YT videos on how to use it. This is one instance where it's no different from any other car.

I pulled my AWM head from the local pull-your-part. I then took it to a local machine shop for a valve job and decking. I was into that for just north of $300. I think old guy got his from eBay.

[sleepwalker_gsr]

Poor a cap off oil into the 2 cyl then recheck compression. Could be worn cyl/ rings. Had a compression Loss in my gsr honda and that's how I found it.

[doc_oc]

Head is coming off regardless. But I could try all this.
Remember. With the compression tester attached, cyl 2 did not move the needle AT ALL. Not even a pulsation on the needle. If it built 20-30 psi then leak right away, I would have thought rings. But since there is no build up of pressure...i think either stuck valve, or big crack, head gasket ...
Besides, I had a good coolant leak from the back of the Head, coolant flange and a lot of pressure build up in the coolant system. I didn't fully check the cooling system. But after 16-18 hours being parked, I opened the coolant cap and from being under minimum level, a lot of pressure escaped and the coolant level got up to almost full.
Also, the one hose going to the pcv, was so gunked up with yellow greenish foam like oily shit, I'm positive the head gasket is fubared.
I hope that's all it is, but I'm preparing for the worst.
So, where can I get a head if I need to? I leave in a small town and there is not a lot of machine shops to choose from. Also, the cost of machining my Head, or any head for that matter, would be way higher than 300.

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[rocket1420]

Head is coming off regardless. But I could try all this.
Remember. With the compression tester attached, cyl 2 did not move the needle AT ALL. Not even a pulsation on the needle. If it built 20-30 psi then leak right away, I would have thought rings. But since there is no build up of pressure...i think either stuck valve, or big crack, head gasket ...
Besides, I had a good coolant leak from the back of the Head, coolant flange and a lot of pressure build up in the coolant system. I didn't fully check the cooling system. But after 16-18 hours being parked, I opened the coolant cap and from being under minimum level, a lot of pressure escaped and the coolant level got up to almost full.
Also, the one hose going to the pcv, was so gunked up with yellow greenish foam like oily shit, I'm positive the head gasket is fubared.
I hope that's all it is, but I'm preparing for the worst.
So, where can I get a head if I need to? I leave in a small town and there is not a lot of machine shops to choose from. Also, the cost of machining my Head, or any head for that matter, would be way higher than 300.

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Leaking coolant flange has nothing to do with in-cylinder pressure. You can take a stab at things and guess that it's either the head or the gasket, and change both. I wouldn't. But if you don't want to properly diagnose, there's not much point in further posts.

"Oily shit in the PCV hose." Well yeah, that's what's supposed to be in there.

I already gave you some options to get a head. Why are you convinced a machine shop would be more than $200 without even asking?

[doc_oc]

Leaking coolant flange has nothing to do with it, unless the cooling system is getting pressurized by combustion gases. Which I think is the case.

Why am I assuming is more than 300? Because valves and guides alone are more than that. Maybe the valves don't need changing, but the shop proximity is still a problem for me. So, if I can get a rebuilt head shipped...it's easier, more convenient.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the help and suggestions.
Also, since cyl 2 is not making ANY compression, unless there is a whole in the piston, the problem has to be in the head. Broken rings would at least make some compression.


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[doc_oc]

Oh, and oily shit...is yellowish foamy film. That is usually evidence of coolant in the mix somehow. Am I wrong?
I had those pipes off before when I changed the pcv and they were oily, but just black. No light colored foam.

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[rocket1420]

Oh, and oily shit...is yellowish foamy film. That is usually evidence of coolant in the mix somehow. Am I wrong?
I had those pipes off before when I changed the pcv and they were oily, but just black. No light colored foam.

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This could be (and likely is) caused by a bad oil cooler. I have to do this job soon. Doesn't look too bad, especially if you have the head off. If you drain the oil and it looks like there might be some coolant in it, that's pretty definitive.

I would want to know where the leak in cylinder two is. Is it coming out of the exhaust? Crankcase? Intake? Coolant passage? Cylinder to cylinder? A leak down test will tell you definitively what isn't sealing. If it's coming out of a valve, then buy some replacements and take the head to the shop for a valve job and surfacing. Yes, the AMB head is known to crack, but unless your compression is going out of the coolant reservoir, that shouldn't be the issue (and since it's only one cylinder, I doubt it). Mine only died because of a failed thermostat. When I removed the head, there were no cracks at all.

Valve guides are cheap. Just get the Elring gasket kit that comes with everything you could possibly need for a head job (besides some RTV and head bolts). I think it cost $70 plus like $10-$15 for the bolts.

Oh, if the coolant system is getting pressurized, it should pop the coolant cap. I believe the cracking pressure is 1.5 bar, but that's just from memory. When you close your cap, does it turn all the way and click?

[doc_oc]

This could be (and likely is) caused by a bad oil cooler. I have to do this job soon. Doesn't look too bad, especially if you have the head off. If you drain the oil and it looks like there might be some coolant in it, that's pretty definitive.

I would want to know where the leak in cylinder two is. Is it coming out of the exhaust? Crankcase? Intake? Coolant passage? Cylinder to cylinder? A leak down test will tell you definitively what isn't sealing. If it's coming out of a valve, then buy some replacements and take the head to the shop for a valve job and surfacing. Yes, the AMB head is known to crack, but unless your compression is going out of the coolant reservoir, that shouldn't be the issue (and since it's only one cylinder, I doubt it). Mine only died because of a failed thermostat. When I removed the head, there were no cracks at all.

Valve guides are cheap. Just get the Elring gasket kit that comes with everything you could possibly need for a head job (besides some RTV and head bolts). I think it cost $70 plus like $10-$15 for the bolts.

Oh, if the coolant system is getting pressurized, it should pop the coolant cap. I believe the cracking pressure is 1.5 bar, but that's just from memory. When you close your cap, does it turn all the way and click?

Yeah, coolant cap closes properly.
I will do a leakdown test. Thanks for the links.
Another thing I forgot to mention, there is steam coming from the head gasket on the turbo side from cyl2 towards cyl1 when I start the engine.
Hmmm, oil cooler...i should check that, but there is no coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant. Only the light foam in one of the hoses to PCV.

Elring is the better kit?
Unless somebody knows of a better place, I'll probably order all the gaskets, bolts and flanges from ECS.

Man, I hope you're right and it's not the head....

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[rocket1420]

This is the gasket/seal kit I used: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...-18l-058198012

I probably got the head bolts from there too.

I think the leak-down test will clear up a lot of what's going on. I have the OTC 5609.

[A4SoftWalker]

Tons of rebuilt heads available on Ebay.
That's where old guy got his.
You will have to select a reliable company/person to buy from.

[doc_oc]

So, now that I know I need a head and looking to get one from eBay, what sellers do you guys use?
Odessa, Clearwater cylinder head, deals with high volume but there is a lot of complaints.
Any other ones?

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[diztek]

my vw/audi mechanic rebuilds the last head he replaced so that it is ready for the next customer. usually comes with a 1 year warranty (parts & labor). i would think buying off ebay would be chore to replace under warranty if something went wrong.

[doc_oc]

I figured I'd post an update.
I removed the head and just as I expected, cyl 2 was so steam washed that you can read the factory markings on it.
All this, had happened before I tried to remove the spark plug on cyl 2.
When I started troubleshooting this issue, I first started by trying to remove cyl2 spark plug. Well, it snapped and removing it was a big pain in the a$$. I should have removed the head right there and take it to a machine shop. But I removed it myself. I used a spiral bolt extractor instead of a square one (first mistake). I ended up using a hack saw blade (trimmed) to cut one slit in spurkplug leftover. Once that was done, with the bolt extractor I managed to take it out. The force need it was unbelievable. I had a 2' breaker bar on it and I took 2 hours of hacking and trying.
The end result was ruined threads and enlarged whole on the head.
Well, at this point I still didn't want to remove the head and take it to a machine shop (second mistake, although the first one might have been enough to ruin the head to begin with). I bought a "fix'a'thread" kit, made by helicoil and rethreaded the whole, put an insert in and put a new spark plug in. I replaced the other 3 spark plugs as well. They were much easier to remove, with a lot of penetrating oil and loosening-tightening, loosening-tightening...
I went to start the engine and it barely run. Checked compresion and there was 0 psi on cyl2.
After removing the head, I could see a crack between the spurkplug whole and one valve. Also, the insert ended up not going straight in the old whole.
So, 2 costly mistakes, that made me buy a new (to me) head.
A AWM with 75k miles on it. I found it local and I bought parts from this guys before, so somewhat trustworthy. There used to be a local machine shop in town, but they closed down and now they are sending everything out. They take care of the shipping and all. Also, they charge 100$ to check, clean and deck a head. So, I sent them both. If they can fix my old AMB head, I'll have one for sale :)
Heads are supposed to be back by the end of the week and also, the head gasket set and random other parts are on order from fcp and ECS.
Thanks all for the help with advice and sellers. I decided against eBay because of shipping/custom import charges (due to being in Canada) and also, if there is a problem with the head, shipping back and forth would be expensive and a pain in the neck.

Here are some pictures.



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[URS4surf]

I would not waste money on the old AMB head, no one is going to buy it because they all seem to crack in the same place and not worth the trouble/$'s to do it again.
When I went through this last year, a reputable machinist would not even touch it because their name is on it.....

Keep the stock tensioner though......

[Natejo91]

I started reading this thread form the top down today and after your first post my guess was "probably ruined the spark plug hole getting the plug out"
Glad to know I was right but I'm also sorry that I was right
Anyway, I bought a used AWP head back in April form a local wrecking hard for $350
So far so good!

[rocket1420]

Looks like you're almost there! Your old head is scrap. A crack like that can't be repaired good as new. Like someone else said, keep the tensioner though (and chain). I'm pretty sure I had to use my old valve cover as well because the PCV system on the back was different.

[walky_talky20]

I'm going to guess your AMB head is "Coscast" and your AWM head is "Germany". AKA: the good stuff. AKA: where Audi's come from.

[Axis]

Yes, the AMB head is known to crack

I picked up an head from an 02 AMB and it had the "Germany" stamp on it (058 part number). However the head on my 04 was a "Coscast" (06A part number) third party head and did crack between the valves of cylinder 2. I would say not all AMB heads are junk, the ones from the third party supplier are.

Coscast also did the heads for the Euro B5 RS4 and Ford Escort Cosworth and many more. They can do amazing casting. But I assume that when Audi looked for a third party supplier for the 20V heads they wanted a cheap alternative which lead to a cheap head.

Edit: I'm late to the party and just noticed @walky_talky20 post above mine

[doc_oc]

I'm going to guess your AMB head is "Coscast" and your AWM head is "Germany". AKA: the good stuff. AKA: where Audi's come from.

It's not. It's a 058 Germany. No cracks


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[walky_talky20]

You mean your replacement AWM head is the good stuff. But your cracked and busted AMB, that one is coscast, right?


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[doc_oc]

You mean your replacement AWM head is the good stuff. But your cracked and busted AMB, that one is coscast, right?


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No. It's 058 Germany. I was surprised too. Also, there is no signs of ANY cracks between the valves like in most of the pictures on the forum. That's the only reason I was gonna fix it.
Based on the vin it's production year 2004.

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[walky_talky20]

If it's washing the cylinder, there has to be a crack somewhere. Or perhaps the gasket was compromised.

This may be some evidence that not only the lighter coscast heads are to blame, but (my pet theory) that the rapid temperature deviations of the B6 "mapped cooling system" using the electronically governed ultra-high-temp thermostat is a contributing factor to cylinder head failures on the B6 1.8T.