remove heads without removing engine? testing head to cylinder seal?

1973 bus
1700 cc dual carb engine
chirp is coming from engine, alternating sides.

still makes the chirp with manifold removed
(so there cannot be other sources of vaccum leaks)

Ok, so there must be a leak between head and
cylinder. I did a compression test. Cylinders 1 and 3
have 70psi (cold) and I assume are fine. 2 and 4
have very low compression (30psi cold). Sound
disappears completely when I remove spark plugs
# 2 and # 4.

I don't see how in the world there could be leaks
on both sides of engine, on the rear cylinders. I
put this engine together. I used the gasket between
head and cylinder. I used a small ammount of
formagasket to glue the gasket in the head, so it
couldn't have slid out from where it is supposed to be.

The tops of the cylinders were clean, no scratches or
pits. A good mating surface...

The mating surface of heads were fine. No scratches
or pits.



1)can I remove heads while in the bus? or do I have to
remove the engine?

2)how do I test for leaks between head and cylinder
besides compression test?

This is from an automatic transmission bus. This means
no flywheel. This means I cannot put my cheater starter
on it (bellhousing from manual trans). I cannot turn over
or start this engine while it is out of the vehicle.

How can I make absolute sure that the engine is working
properly before I put it back in the bus?


Jenny

Have you triple checked your valve clearances? Because that almost
sounds like a burnt valve (Just did the same thing you did on an 81
westy which had a burnt valve and loads of other problems ugh)
Anyways the only things I can think of are improper clearances or a
couple of busted rings. But that wouldn't explain the chirping. You
could try blocking off the exhaust ports on the heads to see if that
cures up the whistling and the poor compression.... And 70 psi seems
kinda low to me... Mine gave 120psi when I replaced everything in the
engine so that seems a little odd for there to be only 70 psi on the
good cyls and 30 on the bad ones... I had 35 on mine with a completely
burnt and bent valve. I'm assuming you have solid lifters but if they
are hydraulic, new and not bled properly, ( like mine were that
could be the problem as well.

Hope it helps... Not an expert just someone who's been there and still
is.....

How did you got 120 psi?
I get average 85 on my 1600 tp.
Yours

Bart Bervoets
"westfaliaguy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Have you triple checked your valve clearances? Because that almost
> sounds like a burnt valve (Just did the same thing you did on an 81
> westy which had a burnt valve and loads of other problems ugh)
> Anyways the only things I can think of are improper clearances or a
> couple of busted rings. But that wouldn't explain the chirping. You
> could try blocking off the exhaust ports on the heads to see if that
> cures up the whistling and the poor compression.... And 70 psi seems
> kinda low to me... Mine gave 120psi when I replaced everything in the
> engine so that seems a little odd for there to be only 70 psi on the
> good cyls and 30 on the bad ones... I had 35 on mine with a completely
> burnt and bent valve. I'm assuming you have solid lifters but if they
> are hydraulic, new and not bled properly, ( like mine were that
> could be the problem as well.
>
> Hope it helps... Not an expert just someone who's been there and still
> is.....
>

All those number sound low. Afer a valve job on my 1600 DP I have 100PSI on
all four. David
"Bart Bervoets" > wrote in message
...
> How did you got 120 psi?
> I get average 85 on my 1600 tp.
> Yours
>
> Bart Bervoets
> "westfaliaguy" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Have you triple checked your valve clearances? Because that almost
>> sounds like a burnt valve (Just did the same thing you did on an 81
>> westy which had a burnt valve and loads of other problems ugh)
>> Anyways the only things I can think of are improper clearances or a
>> couple of busted rings. But that wouldn't explain the chirping. You
>> could try blocking off the exhaust ports on the heads to see if that
>> cures up the whistling and the poor compression.... And 70 psi seems
>> kinda low to me... Mine gave 120psi when I replaced everything in the
>> engine so that seems a little odd for there to be only 70 psi on the
>> good cyls and 30 on the bad ones... I had 35 on mine with a completely
>> burnt and bent valve. I'm assuming you have solid lifters but if they
>> are hydraulic, new and not bled properly, ( like mine were that
>> could be the problem as well.
>>
>> Hope it helps... Not an expert just someone who's been there and still
>> is.....
>>
>
>

edited

> wrote in message
ups.com...

>
> 2)how do I test for leaks between head and cylinder
> besides compression test?

You can do a leakdown test if you have some compressed air and a leakdown
tester.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=4317
That will allow you to find out where that compression is going to. You
should check ALL cylinders that way since your readings seem quite low.

Are your pistons and cylinders NEW?

--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)
http://vwdoc1.tripod.com/