IBW Gets a New Engine

IndigoBlueWagon said:

I like how the VNT-15 drives better than the 17. And I'm trying to get close to stock, although it is tuned for 19.5 PSI boost.

Engine came from Eurospec in CA. Don't know if they have any more, they only had 3 or 4 when I bought mine.

Yblocker, my block was honed with new pistons and rings installed 30K ago. Didn't work. I think the bores are conical or have irregularities on them. It'll need to be punched out to oversize.

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I woud love to take a cylinder gauge to your block and check the tops of the bores. Mine had 3-6thou of taper right at the top which made it burn oil like crazy. Pistons had a good mm of carbon/goo buildup from the oil going past. Honing and re-ringing made it ever worse. Since I have the cylinders bored and ASVs installed oil consumption has diminished greatly.

Could be that. Not sure what I'll do with the engine that came out of the car. May bore it out and sell it complete (the head and turbo are nearly new), or may part it out. I also still have the original head for that block, but it needs a rebuild. I need to accumulate fewer parts.

I never bothered to measure my cylinders in my Golf, because I wasn't going to do anything about it anyways. It got a very light hone, new rings and pistons. It burned oil pretty bad for a while, but after about 20k miles began to lessen, and now it is at a reasonable half-liter every 2500 miles or so, which is high for an ALH but not so high as to worry me. Considering the block has 477,000 miles of use, I'd say that's not too bad. But it has never had to endure the output IBW has, either.

My oil consumption probably wasn't much worse than that. What bothered me was it would quickly make the 17/22 vanes sticky and it was hard to keep the turbo from overboosting. Regularly making runs in 4th to redline to clean out the vanes was probably going to land me in jail at some point. And it smelled, both in the exhaust and in the cabin. Chill did chase down a couple of leaks which helped, but I felt like I was always going to feel the engine in its current state would be sub-par.

As I wrote in my first post, I've tried several times to replace this car and have yet to find something I like as much. Even though my '12 Golf is extremely nice and more refined than the wagon, I'd rather be driving IBW. So I see this as a part of an investment to keep it another 10 years.

Chill mentioned the other night that my subframe is showing its age, and he's tired or repairing it. So in the Spring I'll replace that, along with control arms, suspension, and rear axle bushings. Rear axle bushings are original, and the current suspension has about 130K on it, so it's time. Still cheaper than a new Golf Sportwagen.

How the heck can the axle bushings be original with all the miles and stuff you have been carrying?

Only reason I can think of is it's always had good shocks. That seems to help a lot. And maybe the track days.

Stopped by Chill's with lower IC piping, and it's in the car.


Not running yet, but close. One axle was giving Chris fits: It keeps blowing out CV boots and he was having trouble getting one to stay on or some such.

How does one tell if it is using oil due to rings, or due to turbo seal leaking?

Well this isn't good...

Chill got the car together the other night. Cranked it until the oil light went out, hooked up injectors, it fired right up. He was adding coolant as it ran, no problems. Nice and quiet. A little lifter noise, but that's normal as they pump up. Then it stopped.

Cranked it over by hand and it stopped after about a half-turn. Pulled the valve cover, took out the cam, and saw this at the front of the engine:


No oil to the head. Lifters are damaged, of course.


But the worst is this, on cylinder #4:


Broken valve. That's probably what stopped the engine.

I spoke to the supplier on Friday. Of course there's a warranty on the long block, but they need to get it back. In California. So tomorrow I'm ordering a replacement, and when we get this one out we'll send it back to CA for warranty. They obviously don't want Chris to tear it down any further prior to their inspection.

Chris is mystified as to what happened. There were no warning lights, so it appears it had oil pressure. And the filter housing came from my old engine which was fine, so it doesn't appear it was a source of blockage. Only other thing we can speculate on is the head gasket or oil passages between the block and head. But Chris has never seen that.

Bummer.

Wow. If the engine was just idling the oil light will never come on because the cluster ignores the oil pressure sensor when under 2K RPMs. One of the reasons I put a pressure gunge right into the oil filter housing when I first started mine after the rebuild. I also primed the oil pump with a drill first by removing the chain and placing a cup of oil under the pickup.

Still doesn't explain why it dropped a valve unless the lifter got stuck in the bore due to lack of lube and the piston started tapping away on the valve...

Either way, a crappy situation for everyone involved.

That sucks. Reminds of me of when I had rebuild the engine on my very first Honda... my dad forgot to put the keyway in the camshaft cam gear - dinged 3 valves.

Cars - its a love hate relationship!

i wonder if this a "back door" engine. one of the workers put it aside upon a known reject. years later, seen by another in storage and unknown condition, slipped it out to make a buck.

No Oil in Pic?

If 4.5 quarts was poured into the oil fill hole in the top of the valve cover prior to starting, why is there no sign of any oil anywhere in the pics? I realize there is a plastic shroud, but I would think there would be some sign of oil in those pics after pouring in over a gallon of oil??? After an engine has been sitting for years in a warehouse, it would be wise to pressurize the oil system, and to put some engine assembly lube or something on the lifters and camshaft. Also, some oil around the lifters and make sure that they will spin by hand in the bores.

Also, the oil light only comes on for the light test for a second or two when the key is turned on. Cranking has nothing to do with the light going out, at least with a 2001 Golf.

Chris usually fills the crankcase through the filter canister. And even if cranking doesn't help pressurize the system, and even if he had pre-lubricated the cam and lifters, if the engine isn't delivering any oil to the head its life would have been only slightly longer than it was.

I ordered a replacement engine today. I don't envy Chris R&Ring this...again.

Man, that is horrible. You tried to do the right thing and get a brand new motor and it backfired on you.

Hope the second one fairs better!

turbocharged798 said:

Wow. If the engine was just idling the oil light will never come on because the cluster ignores the oil pressure sensor when under 2K RPMs.

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Horse hockey. It monitors all the time.

So 5.0 V10 TDI swap now?

No, but before I ordered the new ALH long block I considered installing the BKD I have in my garage, also new. But I wanted to stick with the rotary pump engine, and wasn't thrilled with the obstacles of making the BKD work in a 2002 MKIV.

So I ordered another replacement engine on Monday, it'll be here in a few days. And we'll try again, then send the faulty one back for (I hope) warranty.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

No, but before I ordered the new ALH long block I considered installing the BKD I have in my garage, also new. But I wanted to stick with the rotary pump engine, and wasn't thrilled with the obstacles of making the BKD work in a 2002 MKIV.

So I ordered another replacement engine on Monday, it'll be here in a few days. And we'll try again, then send the faulty one back for (I hope) warranty.

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Well let's hope Darth Vader can figure things out and get IBW back on her feet because he is seldom stump.

bajan

jasonTDI said:

Horse hockey. It monitors all the time.

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When I turn my key on, all the lights on the cluster light up, Including the oil.
However the oil light goes out before I even start cranking. How does the oil light work on a 2001 TDI, is mine not working correctly?

jasonTDI said:

Horse hockey. It monitors all the time.

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Uhm no it doesn't. Nearly toasted a 1.8t because of it. Engine had 0 oil pressure due to a seized oil pump and never gave an oil warning at all. The cluster is programmed to not give an oil warning under 2,000 RPMs. If the RPMs are 0, the cluster is programmed to give an oil pressure warning if the switch is closed to alert of a faulty switch.


If you don't believe me, go out and unplug the oil sensor to simulate no oil pressure. Start the engine and you will have no light.

VW not honoring rust coverage

How'd you get VW to honor their rust warranty? I took mine to Carl Gregory VW in Columbus, GA, and service manger said VW rep would have to look at it - never heard another word. Had 01M transmission rebuilt 3 or 4 years ago by Select Transmission, who sent me away with all the fluid leaking out of the pan, and it had problems again. AC stopped working again - suspected control switch issue. Temp guage pegged to max, then swung to 0 degees. and repeated this over and over. Plastic vents, armrest catches falling apart. Constant problem of finding someone willing or competent to work on it. Got $500 in trade against a new 2014 Civic. It had only 243,000 miles. I was hoping for 1/2 million.

turbocharged798 said:

If you don't believe me, go out and unplug the oil sensor to simulate no oil pressure. Start the engine and you will have no light.

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I've tested this on my 99.5. The oil pressure switch is totally ignored below 2000 rpm

-J

What do I know...Leave it disconnected on a car when you do work and within 30 sec it comes on. Never not had a low oil pressure car give the light constantly with a low oil/pressure problem.

We are telling you how it works, you can believe whatever you want. Just don't let cost you an engine....

Well, it is possible 99.5s are different. I haven't tried on the Passat because the oil pressure switch is so much harder to get at.

-J

I tried it on our 04 and is the same thing. No warning under 2,000 RPMs.

Doesn't really matter. There wasn't any oil flowing to the head. We believe there was oil pressure in the bottom end. And regardless, there's something wrong with the engine and we can't tear it down to investigate without voiding the warranty.

I'm confused. How does a lack of oil cause piston/valve contact? (As shown by the lifter damage). I think I read the whole thread, what am I missing?

BuzzKen said:

I'm confused. How does a lack of oil cause piston/valve contact? (As shown by the lifter damage). I think I read the whole thread, what am I missing?

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I was wondering the same thing.

I'm no expert, but the lifter damage looks like camshaft to lifter, in a no-oil environment, damage.

Piston/valve contact could/would occur if the lifter presses the valve down, then, due to no-oil, gets stuck, not allowing the valve to come back up - the valve is stuck down, and then gets smacked by the piston.