I have pulled and replaced the head (right hand side) without pulling the
engine on a 2.0 AC. Many folks say that it's easier to pull the engine,
but I think different.

Jon

On Thu, 16 Nov 2006, Nathaniel Poole wrote:

> I feel so damned discouraged, and I get what Jake Raby says about Vanagon AC
> engines. I've done all the work on my vehicles without much problem all of
> my life, and it's never been so much hassle as redoing this 2.0 AC. And when
> I get it all together, no go. Won't fire at all. Sounds weird turning over.
> It was late and so I did a quick 'n; dirty compression test by stuffing a
> finger in #1 cylinder and almost nothing. Put my hand over the exhaust
> output of right heater box and it sucks as much as blows. Check lifter
> preload and the lifters aren't holding valves open. I am saving $$ for new
> heads, and decided to slap in these "good" used ones, and this particular
> head has recently been rebuilt. Yet the symptoms seem like the valves aren't
> sealing, although there's no dropped seats. I've spent I don't know how many
> hours on this sucker and it looks like it has to come out again. Any other
> possible suggestions? I know the valve timing can't be off.
>
> Can the heads be pulled without pulling the engine?
>