Junkyard ALH vs teardown and rebuild

Spiderweb cracking on lifters after timing belt teeth stripped

This is a $500 , 00' Jetta I just bought . It's my first vw , I'm an avid gearhead and knew what I was getting into

2000 Jetta Alh 5 speed on new winter tires and has 2.5" straight pipe 379,000 kms

Should I go pull a block with head $200 or just a head for $50 and buy head gasket and bolts for another $100 ? Should I even risk a head job because rods could also be bent ?
Or should I pull the engine and replace it from one of the many in the 3 junkyards to choose from here in Calgary ab

Thanks

Most of the time the bottom end is in good condition and you can replace the head, timing belt (and components) and be on your way. You'd have to pull the existing head to make sure. If you can get a good head for $50 that is a pretty good deal.

Swapping a replacement engine in is pretty straight forward, but you should still do the timing belt components, oil change. You did not say the cost of a used ALH engine in your area, it could be significantly more expensive.

I think this depends on your skill level and how confident you are doing a head/headgasket job.

Doing the head and headgasket job you know what you're getting, you know the components and if you know what you're doing its going to last many many miles, but if you screw it up, you could be doing it again shortly after. Getting a good running engine you know you're usually good for a while, but you may get someone else's half ass fixes or mess.

Wouldn't hurt to pull the head, drop the sump, check piston protrusion, inspect rods and a couple bearings. If all is well, just refresh head.

Replacement engine complete is around $400, and a engine that is without the accessories is $250 from junkyards you have to pull it yourself with unknown km. And a junkyard that offers warranty and pull them selves is around $900 with proof of kms

I will pull the head and inspect the protrusion of the pistons in the next few days and I guess that will be the decider .

Where are these junkyards that have TDIs just laying around?

Yeah, last time I looked in car-parts, the list of ALH engines was rather short.

IMO, if you're pulling the head anyway, then check piston protrusion at that point. If they're good, then you just get the junkyard head, new gaskets, headbolts, and the rest, and move on. If not, get the whole engine.

If you are pulling it yourself, bring a 12v source so you can illuminate the dash to see the miles. Or carfax the VIN, but that would probably be difficult in the junkyard situation. Easier to play with the battery.

Good luck with this!

Cheers,

PH

Mongler98 said:

Where are these junkyards that have TDIs just laying around?

Click to expand...

Canada.. especially Ontario. I had a crashed TDI ALH and I tried to sell parts for dirt cheap for a while, eventually just had it towed away for a couple hundred bucks, working ALH. The problem here is pick and pull is hard to find now, they are stopping a lot of them due to insurance reasons. The cars are getting too old for people to care about anymore unfortunately, its a diamond to some, but a piece of dirt to others.

If you pull it for $400 get the entire engine and accessories, you never know when you'll need parts. Turbo, egr, intake, MAF, alternator, ac compressor, crank/cam sensor, oil pan etc. A couple of those items are north of $400 by themselves.

Mongler98 said:

Where are these junkyards that have TDIs just laying around?

Click to expand...

Here in Calgary Alberta Canada , we have 2 pick n pulls and 1 called bucks auto (similar)
I bet currently there are 15-20 to choose from . I will be looking tomorrow .

I think I'm just going to grab what's necessary . No more hoarding for me .

I spent $500 for a 110,000 mile engine with 11mm pump and ac and alternator and even an auto transmission that I am never going to use. I felt like it was a great deal.

Alberta said:

Spiderweb cracking on lifters after timing belt teeth stripped
This is a $500 , 00' Jetta I just bought . It's my first vw , I'm an avid gearhead and knew what I was getting into
2000 Jetta Alh 5 speed on new winter tires and has 2.5" straight pipe 379,000 kms
Should I go pull a block with head $200 or just a head for $50 and buy head gasket and bolts for another $100 ? Should I even risk a head job because rods could also be bent ?
Or should I pull the engine and replace it from one of the many in the 3 junkyards to choose from here in Calgary ab
Thanks

Click to expand...

Just curious, how much of the teeth were missing on the belt?

I just had a similar issue with my BEW. Timing was a tooth off towards the retarded side. I threw a new belt and water pump on it after seeing no eveidence of lifter damage. Car runs perfectly fine now. Just going to wing it and if a new motor is needed down the line, so be it. I got the car for dirt cheap and it's paid dor itself almost twice now. So I'm willing to risk it.

Obviously you can see damage on yours. I'd pull the head and check to see if any rods are bent by using a dial indicator. Even if you just get away with a used head, it aill save you time and $.

krivs388 said:

Just curious, how much of the teeth were missing on the belt?
I just had a similar issue with my BEW. Timing was a tooth off towards the retarded side. I threw a new belt and water pump on it after seeing no eveidence of lifter damage. Car runs perfectly fine now. Just going to wing it and if a new motor is needed down the line, so be it. I got the car for dirt cheap and it's paid dor itself almost twice now. So I'm willing to risk it.
Obviously you can see damage on yours. I'd pull the head and check to see if any rods are bent by using a dial indicator. Even if you just get away with a used head, it aill save you time and $.

Click to expand...

I am unsure about teeth missing . I bought car from a guy that assumed the lifters were good without pulling cam and did the timing belt but it never started . Sounded like it had good compression cranking so I bought it . Rolled the dice and found out he was off on the cam and injection pump timing so it wouldnt run only try to start when cranking but let go of key and it died . I figured while I was in there to check the lifters myself but take out the cam and what do you know only in the center it had cracks I will try to include picture . I knew from my mechanical experience that any time teeth are stripped on a interference motor you ALWAYS have a crank gear that span while cam stayed still due to the valve springs and such holding it back .. and it hits valves and causes them to bend . These engines I hear have straight angled valves so it may sound good or whatever but just face the music because the engine spins so fast it may have been coasted or attempted to start again which is also enough to bend valves . Especially considering how thin the stems are you can't just convince yourself you are that lucky. I had to look real close within a few inches away to actually see the spiderweb cracking with the cam out . Good luck and sorry to destroy your hopes . Turns out I can't just click to add photos woops

Been around -40 this week but managed to almost get head off . Tomorrow it is going to warm up to +7c! So I'm going to attempt to pull the turbo manifold back away from head and take the head off with intake still attached . I heard turbo is a pain to unbolt the lines and downpipe so I will try to leave it

Ended up finding a good head after tearing apart a few only to find they had cracked lifters . But now I know the degree in which they can crack . One was completely split I half while some others on different cars had the lifters cracked so slightly that it was hard to really tell if I should go for it but after pulling them out and using brake clean and using the sun to look super close I could see tiny tiny cracks in swirl patterns only about 1/4" from center and they only were maby 1/16-1/32" or in metric the cracks were about 6mm from center of lifters and about 1-2mm long, so really threw me off in thinking they were from wear and tear but using logic I see the others which just have the rings on them from wear and thought a good head should have all of them like that. So went to a other junkyard and seen 1 TDI in there since Nov 23 but had diesel and hood written on window and noticed the hood was literally pried open and latch snapped off so I knew it took a while for people to get under the hood and only noticed just 1 injector gone from the whole engine bay . It had it's belt in tact and the lifters also were so I pulled it off in record time 1 1/2 hours and it appears to have had been put in the junkyard because the hood issue so I knew it was a runner just probably started knocking or something but never checked . It's a shame because the cylinders are in tact better shape than mine . I had my head off by the same morning after about an hour of attempting my method but realized I needed to take intake manifold off first to get better access to exhaust manifold bolts . At junkyard I was scared to strip the bolts so I used a hammer and smashed the top of intake off to get better access and the EGR cooler bolts ended up stripping which forced me to unbolt exhaust first . I didn't have any issues reaching the nuts for exhaust with no issue it was just the turbo feed line was seized to the flare nut so it ended up twisting with it about 20 times and it looked like a cyclone point it was funny but managed to get it off and gain access to the center nut . I am glad I pulled my head first so I could have a better feel for where the nuts are and had a plan of attack . I suggest to anyone instead of pulling the turbo manifold off completely just undo the feed and bottom bracket and once you undo the nuts you can pry it back off the studs and allow you to pull the head . May make it hard to get head on but at that point you can easily get at the downpipe nuts that are giving it the tension . The drain was different on the donor car at junkyard I had to undo the flare nut as well but on mine it was longer and allowed for more movement .it seems every year vw made changes in some way but never fixed the big issues of engineering the EGR valve and flapper thing with better access to valve cover bolts . I don't get the logic behind that one especially considering the stupid EGR pipe has to be removed first . Very dumb design but got her done now it's time to clean this $50 head and buy some head bolts and head gasket than for under $650 I will have myself a good TDI I hope. Sometimes in life you have to just attack a project and not spend so much time researching the circumstances and hoping for some relief . Your better off biting the bullet and going in full attack mode than you learn better that way. Cheers and thanks for the help everyone .

Have you thought about checking out U Pull It, a local junkyard in Calgary? They may have some options for you to choose from when it comes to finding a replacement engine or parts for your current engine. It could be more cost-effective than buying new parts or a new engine.
Ultimately, it's up to you to weigh the pros and cons of each option and decide what's best for your situation. Good luck with your repairs, and I hope you can get your Jetta back on the road soon!

300D said:

I spent $500 for a 110,000 mile engine with 11mm pump and ac and alternator and even an auto transmission that I am never going to use. I felt like it was a great deal.

Click to expand...

Where on Coast of Maine? I'm looking for a junker ALH to rebuild. I loved my fleet of 300SD's, all over 400K miles.

I see 1 in Alfred Me and 1 in Rochester NH

thanks have leads on local small shop junk engines...$400 range. Auburn area and Camden

ccaissie said:

Where on Coast of Maine? I'm looking for a junker ALH to rebuild. I loved my fleet of 300SD's, all over 400K miles.

Click to expand...

Sorry I missed this. I cannot for the life of me get TDIClub to reliably send notification emails to me. I think I still have my old engine you could have for free. Will have to dig around behind my shed to see what kind of shape it is in. Head is already off. I am in Rockport. Let me know and I will dig about in the next week or so.

Wow, and I Missed this! I'm still hunting for a rebuildable ALH, and would be ultragrateful to get it out of your yard.

Call me please
Colin 248-2201

ccaissie said:

Wow, and I Missed this! I'm still hunting for a rebuildable ALH, and would be ultragrateful to get it out of your yard.

Call me please
Colin 248-2201

Click to expand...

Will check on it this week to see if it is a candidate for you.

I am back in the area and would love to pick up the old unit. It's worth a few bucks to me.....will be here until 4/16, then away for 2 weeks. Repeat until done....

Will be back 5/3. I would take it in any condition...head off etc. If it's a plus for you to get rid of it, I'm sure there's at least some useable parts on it. Even if it needs to dug out of the ground, I'll be able to use something.
207-248-2201

Alberta said:

Spiderweb cracking on lifters after timing belt teeth stripped

This is a $500 , 00' Jetta I just bought .

Click to expand...

They want $1,000 for something like that around here, I miss the old days.

Any further thoughts on this junk engine? I'm back from MAssacjhuswetts and available to help you clean out your yard.
colin
248-2201

Looks like your offer for a your junk engine is not going to happen. Thanks for nothing.. i'll gladly spend money for a junk engine to rebuild and not waste time on your offer. you could have gotten rid of that in your yard and maybe had a crisp benjamin in your pocket.

300D said:

Sorry I missed this. I cannot for the life of me get TDIClub to reliably send notification emails to me. I think I still have my old engine you could have for free. Will have to dig around behind my shed to see what kind of shape it is in. Head is already off. I am in Rockport. Let me know and I will dig about in the next week or so.

Click to expand...

ccaissie said:

Looks like your offer for a your junk engine is not going to happen. Thanks for nothing.. i'll gladly spend money for a junk engine to rebuild and not waste time on your offer. you could have gotten rid of that in your yard and maybe had a crisp benjamin in your pocket.

Click to expand...

Hi. I was out of the country for two weeks. Now sick as a dog from picking up something on the airplane ride home. Your snarky post not appreciated. I am probably going to delete this account on tdiclub.com because of members like you.

Don't leave D, we love having you around!
It's social media, gotta wear the thick skin.
Most of our members mean well, try to help...........

Grace and politeness are inversely proportional to frustration and stress !!!

Problem is, with some people the bad stuff is sui generis