1985 rebuld

[RonJitsu]

"Long story short, the rings have failed as a result of high RPM's, Doug likes to cruise the NJ Turnpike at 85 Mph... I came across a post from Oilhammer on this forum where he said he once hit 90 mph and in the following days he had excessive blow-by and started to blow oil out of the dipstick."
I have never heard high RPM killing VW IDI's. Can you provide more info on that? I thought you can drive as fast as you want since the IP governor as set from the factory sets your top speed.
I don't remember the history of your engine 100% but it went something like this:
It had the wrong oil pump and engine ended up needing a rebuild.
Rebuild shop bored block out to next oversize.
You added an Amsoil bypass oil filtration system.
Now you have worn rings and valves hitting the pistons.
Did the rebuild shop measure piston protrusion before selecting the head gasket, or was the engine mis timed?
Are the worn rings due to oil lube issues or a bad rebuild? One has to wonder.
You are taking a chance not replacing the valves? Hammering the piston weaken the valves and one eventually breaks and wreck pistons and block.

Hey dieseljunkie,
Check out the above post from oilhammer describing the same exact situation we had here. Aside from that I also havent heard of high RPM doing this. The 16V & turbo diesel engines had an oil nozzle installed to increase oil flow to the pistons, so I'm thinking this RPM issue would be a non issue for those cars.
Check out the bottom right of this image from the bentley manual.

No the shop did not measure piston protrusion. So yes we may have had the wrong head gasket installed.

No I dont believe the rings failed due to a lube issue, aside from the fact that I believe this engine simply was not designed to have high sustained RPM's (hours at a time), which is why they retrofitted those oil nozzles into the turbo models, which direct oil flow right at the pistons.

I agree that we are taking a chance by not replacing the valves. However, Doug is simply not willing to put more money into the Jetta at this time. If everything else goes smoothly I'll try to convince him to pull the head and replace them soon.

 

[RonJitsu]

We had a very eventful day today.
We got the last piston installed.

Got the new 3 notch head gasket in place, then installed and torqued the head with some new head bolts.

Next was to get all the hoses and wires back in place, install the valve cover and oil pan. New timing belt, etc...

After getting oil and coolant in, we fired her right up.

Check out the video here: http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/RonJitsu/media/Snapbucket/8F3F85FC-749D-4343-99D6-97DF296994EE_zpshsa97rwo.mp4.html

 

[RonJitsu]

We still have some odds and ends to finish up. Some new bolts here and there, some new wire connections, maybe replace some fuel lines, and I think we're going to rebuild the vacuum pump. We'll keep you all posted.

 

[Rapidrob]

Cool Beans!

 

[mbatzel]

I like the car without a hood! Looks good haha...

How has she been running over the weekend?

 

[RonJitsu]

We got it all buttoned back up yesterday. We drove around town for a half hour or so, all was well and smooth.
She hits the NJ turnpike tomorrow morning. Will post up an update after she's got 1000 miles or so.

 

[AWPGTI]

Hello everyone the jetta is running in top form.... Updates to follow..