Valves, especially exhaust valves, are perhaps the most material-critical parts in your whole car. That $5 valve had to be made and shipped for around $2, and who knows what kind of reclaimed metal it came from. Maybe they melt railcar loads of old valves, but I'd feel better using authentic German parts here.Even if you don't use the head itself, you can scavenge it for valves, which are going to be more trustworthy than $5 valves likely sourced from China.
The bentley would indicate that they are.Are the V6 valves sodium-filled like the 1.8T ones? I can't remember...
These valves are 37.50 each on 1stvwparts.com. For that, the car is going to the junkyard.
Forgive me for saying so, but it really sounds like you're trying to justify not repairing the car. Compare driving 1/2 - 1 hour to the time you'd spend trying to rebuild the head yourself. Also, consider how foolish you'd feel if you put all that labor into the job using cheap parts, and it failed.The local pick a parts are few and far between. The closest to me is 1/2 hour away. There's 2-3 at that range but they're all in different directions (i.e. 1 is N, 1 is W and 1 is S) after those three it goes out to 1 hour away and the same problem.
Cruising the local junkyards isn't really an option.
I'd bring a magnifying glass, a stainless steel ruler, and a pint of gasoline. You may be able to detect gross warping by holding the edge of the ruler against the mating surface. You'll be looking for fine cracks around the valves with the glass. The gasoline is for an old trick I learned: With the head upside down and level (and valves closed), pour some gas into the cylinder crowns. If it leaks out fast enough to notice, the valves aren't seating.Will you answer me this question. If I were to go to the junk yards to look for a used head, what criteria would YOU have in picking one. I called a guy in NH yesterday who had one and he told me that if I bought one that I should have it magnafluxed and checked anyway.
