ksmoker
Veteran Member
Ok, the title may make it sound like I know absolutely zero about internal combustion engines, but bear with me...
I bought an 02 Golf from a good friend, who had owned it for six years. It was well maintained. He lowered the car soon after he bought it, and for whatever reason had a knack for finding manhole covers and the like. I think he went through four oil pans during his ownership.
Last time he had it replaced, he told me that the next time he broke one, he was getting rid of the car. So on his way to pick up a friend at the airport a few weeks ago, he hit something going into one of the tunnels on the highway and busted it. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do while in a tunnel, so he drove through and shut it down asap. He had it towed to the nearest VW dealer, where they put a pan on it, then told him it needed a motor.
I bought it from him, towed it home, and dropped the pan.
#1 bearing showed the most wear...
I put fresh rod bearings in and buttoned it up. I realize that just slapping a set of bearings in a motor that's been run low on oil isn't exactly 'by the book', but I've done this with multiple VW engines in the past, with success.
First start and test drive: it seems to have a misfire at lower revs. Running kind of rough, white smoke and such. After about 20 mins of driving, the oil light came on, but only briefly.
-no noticeable wear on crank journals
-the oil pickup screen didn't appear to be clogged, although I admit I probably didn't look as closely as I should have
I'll compression test it today if I can get some time in the garage... just figured I'd get the ball rolling on here. I'm just trying to figure out what could be causing the misfire and general running like crap. The car ran great before, so I mentally crossed off timing and fuel problems, unless it's an unfortunate coincidence... Ideas?
I bought an 02 Golf from a good friend, who had owned it for six years. It was well maintained. He lowered the car soon after he bought it, and for whatever reason had a knack for finding manhole covers and the like. I think he went through four oil pans during his ownership.
Last time he had it replaced, he told me that the next time he broke one, he was getting rid of the car. So on his way to pick up a friend at the airport a few weeks ago, he hit something going into one of the tunnels on the highway and busted it. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot you can do while in a tunnel, so he drove through and shut it down asap. He had it towed to the nearest VW dealer, where they put a pan on it, then told him it needed a motor.
I bought it from him, towed it home, and dropped the pan.
#1 bearing showed the most wear...
I put fresh rod bearings in and buttoned it up. I realize that just slapping a set of bearings in a motor that's been run low on oil isn't exactly 'by the book', but I've done this with multiple VW engines in the past, with success.
First start and test drive: it seems to have a misfire at lower revs. Running kind of rough, white smoke and such. After about 20 mins of driving, the oil light came on, but only briefly.
-no noticeable wear on crank journals
-the oil pickup screen didn't appear to be clogged, although I admit I probably didn't look as closely as I should have
I'll compression test it today if I can get some time in the garage... just figured I'd get the ball rolling on here. I'm just trying to figure out what could be causing the misfire and general running like crap. The car ran great before, so I mentally crossed off timing and fuel problems, unless it's an unfortunate coincidence... Ideas?