ALH engine replacement needed: opportunities?

[MacAndrew_Jack]

So after I put about 80k miles on my ALH engine, which I ordered on the phone from a wrecking yard in texas advertising it as "60k miles" and put in my vanagon syncro, the engine suddenly sh!t the bed. Big time. Like hole in the side of the block. Timing belt was at about 40k miles, but had a squeak that went away when the engine warmed up or I waxed the edge of the belt.
I had done some relatively mild upgrades like a VNT-17, 2 inch straightened out piping, taco taco intercooler, donaldson air box, 3 bar map, Malone tune for about 18.5 boost, .216 nozzles. I was very satisfied with the setup before the failure.
Yes it is a heavier vehicle, but I didn't drive it like a race car, I did push the syncro over 11k ft mountain passes regularly, but watched the EGTs like a hawk and generally kept it below 1250F, with IATs between 140 and 185F.
So the engine is toast: no rebuilding a 2 inch hole in a block.
I am figuring that I have to find a good used engine and get it put in.
I am mechanically inclined, have plenty of non-snapon grade tools, but no engine hoist, driveway and no garage, and not tons of spare time but not tons of spare money either, with this unexpected expenditure. I had a local shop perform the initial engine conversion, but have done the other upgrades myself.
While the van has been my daily driver, I picked up an old car to drive to work while this gets done, so I have a few months to play with. I need the van by winter, as the other car I got is rear wheel drive.

So here are the questions:
what would you do when putting in this engine?
What to look for in a replacement engine?
is it a good time to re-pop my injectors?
Should I put time and money into a tear down diagnosis of the old engine?

I am wondering about putting in an upgraded cam, as Mark Malone had suggested this recently when updating my tune for lower EGTs. Also, I have found a low mileage used ALH (66k?) from a member here. I haven't looked but am assuming that my accessories can be swapped over (PS, AC). I need to have the injectors pulled and swapped over, ditto the Vacuum pump I just replaced. I already replaced all vacuum hoses, and have a new glow plugs and harness to swap over if I wanted to splice it in.
I am tempted to try to pull the engine myself to save on labor and enjoy the challenge, but like I said, I don't have much more than about 15 hours to give this, and no covered space.
Ideas and help thinking it through is much appreciated!
Thanks,
-macjack

 

[Layerz]

Myself and a friend did my engine on my A3 a month or so back as the old one got killed with an oil pump failure.

It took us an afternoon to get the engine out and perhaps a day or so back in.

I found the time sapper to be swapping bits and bobs over, the donor engine had an older belt kit on it and mine had a full kit and water pump done 2-3k before the pump died, additionally the new engine had an AC compressor and I didn't want to retrofit so I swapped the mountings over.

I suspect with a helping hand and 2 clear days you can get it done, an engine crane was a massive help! The two biggest douches of the job was the turbo downpipe being stuck on hard! (pry bar sorted this) and lining up the engine just right when getting it back in.

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

Good to know, Layerz. I do imagine that swapping the bits and bobs over will be a bunch of time. Since I just had the whole turbo system off three months ago, and used antisieze when I put it back together (which I may or may not use again), I suspect that the manifold and down pipe removal will be reasonable. Now for finding the 2 clear days!

 

[jimbote]

any idea what caused the failure?

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

haven't taken it apart just yet, but I have heard that connecting rods occasionally become broken off and come out through the side. I don't really understand engine internals, but there are a few rare cases documented on this and other sites.
-macjack

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

short block?

With a hole in the side of the block, does it make any sense to try to get a short block and replace things over from the old engine, or am I getting into a mystery of what might be broken from the old engine and needed with the short block?
Thanks,
-macjack

 

[Joester]

I'm no mechanic but if I were you' I'd get the cheapest undamaged short block you can get your hands on and put in idparts' block rebuild kit.

http://www.idparts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2948

Then slap on the (assuming undamaged) head and accessories from your blown motor, and you have a good motor that should last an easy 300k+

EDIT: sorry I forgot you said that you really dont have the tools for this. You can get cheap tools that will still work though. Not sure where in CO you live but Harbor Freight has very cheap and actually pretty decent engine hoist and stand... $45 for stand, $180 for engine crane.. also a $70 popup canopy that people actually really seem to like on the reviews. It might be worth it! I know for sure that the tools to do this are cheaper than the labor to do this

The most expensive thing that you'll need is a decent torque wrench I think.

also like you said if you can find a new enough, cheap enough long block like that 66k one you were talking about that seems smart too.

 

[Layerz]

Looking forward to seeing your progress on this.

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

Update on the engine saga:

So after the catastrophic engine failure, I lined up a replacement form a TDIClubber on this forum, saved my pennies, and had it swapped over in the shop that did the conversion in the first place here bin Boulder, since my work and family life did not permit me to do it myself.

They found several interesting things when they pulled the old engine. The hole on the driver side (reversed from typical in the rear engine application of the vanagon) was small compared with the 3 inch hole in the opposite side. After opening up the engine, it looks like sudden oil starvation caused the piston in cylinder 1 to seize, causing havoc with the connecting rod, shooting metal out the side of the engine. (It has been a few months since we looked at the engine and I heard the explanation, so this might be a bit imprecise. apologies).
The best guess for how this happened is that the oil filter disintegrated (observable in the post mortem) and pieces got clogged in the oil pickup (also observed in the post mortem) and suddenly no oil flow. The oil filter appeared to be a cheap one, with the internals not as substantial as typical. I had taken it to Grease Monkey, and my shop suggested to never do that again.
As for why the cheap oil filter disintegrated, it could have been high oil temps. I had been running a chipped, bigger nozzle, ALH with VNT-17 setup at about 240ftlb torque and the original ALH oil cooler. I had purchased an upgraded cooler from Greaseworks, but it didn't fit with my FastForward engine mounts, so I re-installed the old, small oil cooler and then forgot about it. I was running in the heat of summer under a fair amount of load and likely the oil temps got high enough to compromise the poor oil filter.

So with the engine out, we modified the engine mount to fit the biggest cooler I could get in there without a remote plate setup. I used the Touareg cooler that is about 2-3x as big as the original.

The new engine is billed as having 66k. I replaced the water pump, crankshaft seals, crankshaft sensor, new Sprint 520s (old ones had never been popped and had about 8 years and 100k on them), and new timing kit. Also replaced the cylinder head coolant flange, since it was easy to get to and I have blown one of those brittle ones before. In the Vanagon, it is really close to the firewall and a b%tch to get to. Also needed to replace the AC/Alternator bracket, as it had also been damaged by the flying debris. The alternator itself took a hit to the casing, but appears to be all right.

The engine is in, and I just drove it 500 miles to Pagosa Springs and back. The van ran pretty well, but felt like the air filter was a bit clogged. I have a big Donaldson air box on there, and when I pulled the filter, it looked ok. I then looked at the silicone tubing for the intake and saw the elbow in front of the turbo was misaligned and the elbow had collapsed and was kinking. I also saw that the CCV hose was re-installed a bit funny and was also kinked. I re-adjusted the elbow at the turbo and re-routed and adjusted the CCV hose so now both are flowing fully. I haven't driven it far but around town, it feels much more open, and happy. I can't wait to get it out on the highway again.
Aside from replacing a dead battery (another post), the Vanagon is running better than ever with the replacement ALH.
So good to be back in the TDI powered Vanagon, and we are ready for ski season.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I decided to be patient, save up the money, and have the shop do it after all. They were kind (smart) enough to just ask for the cost of the parts in October when I picked up the van, and will ask for the labor in the new year. gulp.
Back in the saddle!
-macjack

 

[jimbote]

glad you got it sorted .... btw what is "greasemonkey" ?

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

Jimbote, Greasemonkey is a local oil change place. I've always had good experiences over the years, but I might start bringing my own filters.
-macjack

 

[mech644]

Your Vanagon is basically a custom vehicle, not many like it on the road and certainly the only one greasemonkey ever had in their bay.
You may want to consider doing your own oil changes. Or perhaps take the vanagon to a full service repair shop for the oil changes, one that has the acumen to know and understand what it is they are working on and implications of using lesser quality parts. Even if the oil change costs more it's certainly less expensive then an engine job.

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

I definitely agree that my Vanagon is a custom vehicle. I am aware that as such, it requires a certain kind of care and attention, and that many things on it increasingly are nothing that I would hand over to a shop to attempt to fix. I have gotten very used to being a very involved owner, and work closely with the 2 shops that I will take it to when I don't do the job myself. Strangely, though I know there are strong adherents to the view that jiffylube, greasemonkey, Valvoline, etc., are all to be avoided, I had nothing but good experiences with Greasemonkey. I had thought that the potential failures would not be catastrophic, would not involve parts failures. An oil change on this vanagon, is not much different from an oil change on a 2000 jetta, which is what I have them log it as, and the capacities, parts, etc., were interchangeable for all intents and purposes. I now see that the oil filter is a part that has grades just as all other parts do. While I can't know for sure how much responsibility to assign the oil filter part and how much to assign to the hot oil (and stock oil cooler), I would at the least bring my own oil filter next time, should I bring the van to them again. I have heard horror stories on the internet of loose drain plugs, misthreaded plugs, etc. as a result of mishandled oil changes Those things I do worry a little about, but like I said, have never had anything but good experiences with this shop, with many cars over 10+ years (I know the consistency of actual "mechanics" in such a shop over 10 years is likely minimal).
By now, having just gone through an "engine job", I can say that my approach to several things is different, and you can bet that many things are cheaper than an engine job.
I do like to save my time working on the vehicle for other types of perusals and upgrades. I have done many oil changes on my cars over the years, and somewhat reluctantly began turning it over to someone else to do the job. Increasingly, there are jobs that I can do that I pay to have someone else do either because I don't have the time, don't want to spend time learning what others can do quickly, or don't have the garage or tools for. Mostly, I would gladly pay for a tool that I can use many times over instead of paying another person to do the job. Last summer, I purchased an impact wrench and replaced suspension parts on my bmw 325ic, rather than pay slightly more to have a shop do it. That only worked because I had the four hour chunk of time to devote to it. Oil changes somehow seem like something somebody else can do, so long as I look under the car to make sure there are no spots etc.
At any rate, I do appreciate your impulse, mech644, to treat a modified vehicle with extra care. I imagine that you treat your Golf that way, but the looks of your signature!
Who knows, maybe I'll start draining my oil pans in my driveway from now on!
-macjack

 

[Judson]

Hey Macjack - What shop in Boulder did your conversion ? I'm in Cheyenne and my parents live in Boulder. I'm always on the lookout for a good mechanic.

Great conversion btw. Just the kind of engine and torque the Vanagon always needed

 

[CourierGuy]

Ever consider an oil extractor? Sure makes changing oil easier.

I gave up working on my cars many years ago. Sometimes, if I feel energetic, I'll do some work on my car, but only the simple stuff.. brakes.. n75.. vac lines.. but no clutch jobs or the sorts! I work anywhere from 55-110hrs/week.. last thing I need is to work on my car. I get 2 weekends off a month.

I used to bring my supplies to an oil change shop. But my last visit, I got a bit upset when the rookie was in the process of taking my whole skid plate off as opposed to the access panel for the drain plug. The drain plug access panel, that has 2 screws, not bolts, that I gave them the loctite for.. screw.. bolt.. apparently the chump doesn't know the difference between the 2. And the cherry - he was about the apply the loctite to the BOLTS that require antiseize, not loctite!! Yeah.. loctite on bolts that go into crushed rivets in the chassis.. last thing I want there. OMG.

Screw that noise, bought the extractor.

The oil extractor is awesome, inexpensive, and makes an oil change a breeze without having to jack the vehicle up. SPECIALLY in the winter!!

 

[MacAndrew_Jack]

Judson, I worked with Verners Automotive Service, a VW specialist shop in Boulder for the conversion. Luke there has done many many subaru conversions and is a great guy. They are very popular so it can be a bit of a wait, but if you are in a jam they can also help short term. Wolfsberg Autowerks is also a great shop.
CourierGuy, I will certainly look into the extractor. Seems quite worth it!
-macjack