2.0 aeg engine question...brass filings in oil

Just bought a 99.5 mk4 2.0l jetta auto, with an AEG(?) engine I believe

Saw possible brass filings in my drain pan...but the drain pan was also dirty from previous repairs on other vehicles/motorcycles/marine engines that I have replaced.

So just to clarify...

If the brass filings came from this engine? What are they likely to be? crankshaft/connecting rod bearings (the two half moon ones)? or something in the oil pump?


Also wondering... would slightly worn connecting rod bearings cause the oil pressure to go down/light to come on? is it likely the oil pump have picked up gunk and be starving the top end of the motor?

The middle layer of the connecting rod and main bearings is brass. What you have happening is one, or a few of them, have worn out well beyond the service limit. The low oil pressure is a clear indication of this. The larger the clearance, the lower the oil pressure and this first shows up at idle. This is not a sloghtly but a really worn, possible spun bearing. You will have to do some digging to find out which bearing failed. Hopefully the bearing didn't spun, but there is a good chance it did. Is the engine knocking when you go on or off throttle?

I have worked on project cars with issues like this and the simplest, least complicated and possibly least expesive solution was just to pull the engine and replace it with a good used one. These metal filing have been floating in that engine for who knows how long. They can easly casue other components to be danaged, so the best is to eaither rebuild the existing ($$$$) or to get a good used one. The 2.0L VW engines are very robust so there is plenty of them ofr sale used......this means are cheap ($500-up).

Good luck with the project.

Engine probably been run too low on oil too many times. The AEG is a notorious oil-burner, which can be easily remedied by new rings, BUT if it is allowed to continually run low...

Good news is, the newer [better] crossflow 2.0L engines, like the AVH or AZG, will bolt right in that car (you will just have to change the manifolds and such). They have improved pisons, improved rings, cracked rods, better valves, and the benefit of likely having NOT been run frightfully low on oil over and over.

You can replaced the bearings in your existing engine without pulling the block out of the car, if you choose to try that, however.

Some history on the car:

It sounds perfect at idle, no connecting rod tapping sound.

The oil light will come on at 2000+ rpm, after about a minute + of having the car run.

When revving up the car, the connecting rod tap sound kicks in around 2200+ rpm.

The car has 255k, came from Mr. Lube with a cross threaded drain plug, oil eventually came out, car was shut off and towed back. More oil was added, but owner was not comfortable with the car anymore, so I bought it hoping for an easy fix to give to my mom as a grocery getter.

Sounds like a spun connecting rod bearing. Change the engine and save yourself and your mon a ton of headache.