golftdiaz
Member
Alright, folks, give me your best. Right now I'm trying to keep my chin up but the situation is not good.
The specs:
2002 Golf TDI, 145,000 mi. Ran Bio from 2006 (60,000 mi)-2011. All maintenance done: always used AmsOil full synthetic, did the timing belt, new clutch, air filters, intake manifold cleaned out, etc. Pretty much by the book. Always used TDIClub recommended mechanics except for a few emergency scenarios.
Recent history:
Nov, 2011: Traveling in CA. Starts running rough and then won't start at all. Take it to a general mechanic, not VW specific. Fuel injection pump busted. Can't be repaired. Replaced, along with many fuel lines. The little environmentalist finally gives up on the bio thing.
Dec, 2011: car is parked outside in rainy Portland, OR and only driven every 3 weeks in order to keep it running while I travel overseas.
March, 2012: won't start. Taken into shop where a gallon of water is siphoned from the engine. Mechanic recommends further work, but carsitter takes it anyway. 3 weeks later the car is driven a few miles and then parked again, and then...
May, 2012: won't start. Sits a month.
June, 2012: Taken back to the shop. More water siphoned from engine. Diagnosed cracked intercooler which may have filled with water due to lack of fender (ok, so I drove over a few bumps...believe me, I'm kicking myself for it now). Intercooler and fender replaced. However, now the car is spewing black smoke unless the engine is really, really warm. Smoke is thick and smelly and extremely obvious. Runs rough. Diagnosed extremely low compression in cylinder 2, somewhat low in cylinder 3. They say a rod may be just slightly bent due to the second hydrolock but it isn't worth fixing. I have a new carsitter pick it up from the shop and drive it more regularly over the next month.
July, 2012: I return from overseas and bring it to my fabulous, trustworthy mechanic in Bend, OR, a few hours from Portland. Still spewing black smoke but it seems to disappate about a half hour after startup. I get 38 mpg over the mountains with a roof rack on. My mechanic looks at it for hours, tinkers with a few things, can't figure it out. He says:
1) This business with the hydrolock is fishy--even with a cracked intercooler and no fender, one would have to drive through DEEP water, not just the average Portland puddle, to fill it with water.
2) The fuel injectors have not been pulled off recently, so he is mistrustful on how the compression test was done--through the glowplugs, perhaps? Do people do it this way?
3) There is a thick, black, hard substance inside the intake manifold and nearly entirely disabling the EGR valve. The substance is shiny and very hard and does not smudge onto the fingers or cloth when touched. This is likely not related, but really, really weird. The intake was taken off and cleaned at a machine shop about 15,000 miles ago, but to my knowledge and his, no chemical solvent was ever run through it.
4) Based on several factors (antifreeze level, I think?) it seems unlikely it is a leaky head gasket, but not impossible.
So. Folks. What I want to know is:
1) What on earth could it be BESIDES a bent rod or a leaky head gasket? And if it is a bent rod, am I right in saying it would have to be just barely bent in order to not be ridiculously loud on startup, which it is not?
2) What is in my intake manifold? Is there any way to know when it got there/who put it there? Is there any non-liquid substance that would have this reaction when mixed with water, which I know was pulled through the engine at great enough volume to cause hydrolock at least twice?
3) I will be traveling again shortly and don't want to park the car again. Can I sell it? What can I sell it for/what is it now worth? Should I travel in it the next few months before I go overseas, or is it a time bomb?
4) Ya want it?
I know this is a lot of information but I'm hoping someone will find this interesting and dig into the possibilities a little. Thanks!
The specs:
2002 Golf TDI, 145,000 mi. Ran Bio from 2006 (60,000 mi)-2011. All maintenance done: always used AmsOil full synthetic, did the timing belt, new clutch, air filters, intake manifold cleaned out, etc. Pretty much by the book. Always used TDIClub recommended mechanics except for a few emergency scenarios.
Recent history:
Nov, 2011: Traveling in CA. Starts running rough and then won't start at all. Take it to a general mechanic, not VW specific. Fuel injection pump busted. Can't be repaired. Replaced, along with many fuel lines. The little environmentalist finally gives up on the bio thing.
Dec, 2011: car is parked outside in rainy Portland, OR and only driven every 3 weeks in order to keep it running while I travel overseas.
March, 2012: won't start. Taken into shop where a gallon of water is siphoned from the engine. Mechanic recommends further work, but carsitter takes it anyway. 3 weeks later the car is driven a few miles and then parked again, and then...
May, 2012: won't start. Sits a month.
June, 2012: Taken back to the shop. More water siphoned from engine. Diagnosed cracked intercooler which may have filled with water due to lack of fender (ok, so I drove over a few bumps...believe me, I'm kicking myself for it now). Intercooler and fender replaced. However, now the car is spewing black smoke unless the engine is really, really warm. Smoke is thick and smelly and extremely obvious. Runs rough. Diagnosed extremely low compression in cylinder 2, somewhat low in cylinder 3. They say a rod may be just slightly bent due to the second hydrolock but it isn't worth fixing. I have a new carsitter pick it up from the shop and drive it more regularly over the next month.
July, 2012: I return from overseas and bring it to my fabulous, trustworthy mechanic in Bend, OR, a few hours from Portland. Still spewing black smoke but it seems to disappate about a half hour after startup. I get 38 mpg over the mountains with a roof rack on. My mechanic looks at it for hours, tinkers with a few things, can't figure it out. He says:
1) This business with the hydrolock is fishy--even with a cracked intercooler and no fender, one would have to drive through DEEP water, not just the average Portland puddle, to fill it with water.
2) The fuel injectors have not been pulled off recently, so he is mistrustful on how the compression test was done--through the glowplugs, perhaps? Do people do it this way?
3) There is a thick, black, hard substance inside the intake manifold and nearly entirely disabling the EGR valve. The substance is shiny and very hard and does not smudge onto the fingers or cloth when touched. This is likely not related, but really, really weird. The intake was taken off and cleaned at a machine shop about 15,000 miles ago, but to my knowledge and his, no chemical solvent was ever run through it.
4) Based on several factors (antifreeze level, I think?) it seems unlikely it is a leaky head gasket, but not impossible.
So. Folks. What I want to know is:
1) What on earth could it be BESIDES a bent rod or a leaky head gasket? And if it is a bent rod, am I right in saying it would have to be just barely bent in order to not be ridiculously loud on startup, which it is not?
2) What is in my intake manifold? Is there any way to know when it got there/who put it there? Is there any non-liquid substance that would have this reaction when mixed with water, which I know was pulled through the engine at great enough volume to cause hydrolock at least twice?
3) I will be traveling again shortly and don't want to park the car again. Can I sell it? What can I sell it for/what is it now worth? Should I travel in it the next few months before I go overseas, or is it a time bomb?
4) Ya want it?
I know this is a lot of information but I'm hoping someone will find this interesting and dig into the possibilities a little. Thanks!