Dead motor

[ChubsAuto]

Well today was not a good day, on the way back from a junk yard up by Chicago I lost oil pressure and now have a nice knock in my engine. Im not sure what exactly happened just driving along on the interstate I hear a slight tick starting then the oil light flashes. I pulled over shut it off and checked the oil, its right on the full mark. I got back in and started it up and that was it it started knocking like crazy but no oil pressure light on ? Tomorrow Im going to pull the pan off and see what happened. The car has right at 223K on the clock and has always had synthetic oil run in it so hard to say what Im going to find. Wish me luck

 

[G60ING]

Might be a rod bearing as that would explain the oil pressure and knock. I would drop the pan and rotate the crank back and forth while pushing on the rods to check for movement if there isn't blueing on a rod cap.
Good Luck, keep us posted.

 

[TonyJetta]

Sorry to hear about that.

It may be worthwhile to check oil pressure before tearing into the engine. Unless you just want to put a new pump in while it's apart.

Tony

 

[ChubsAuto]

This is a strange failure to say the least. One of the bolts for the #2 main cap broke the other one vibrated its way out, the cap ended up in the pan, then the unsupported crankshaft cracked in half at the #1 cylinder. All the bearings look like new so thats a plus, but while I have it out Im going to go ahead and go threw the head and re-ring it. So all and all not to bad, any one have a crank they want to sell ?

 

[ChubsAuto]

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f8/dewhite2485/Engine Damage/

Here are some pictures of the damage in the engine

 

[TonyJetta]

That's a crying shame! At least you found out why the oil pressure dropped!

You may want to contact Franko6 for parts. Good man, ethical, and reasonably priced!

Tony

 

[RIP TDI]

You have to wonder if this engine had apparent low oil pressure at some point in its life and someone first thought to check bearing clearance w/ Plastigauge and didn't know the main bolts were TTY. They probably had never heard of Occam's Razor, either, when the cause turned out to be a bad oil pressure sender.

 

[Franko6]

The low oil pressure is obviously from the broken crank bolt.

I'd venture a guess...

The main/ rod bearings have been replaced, because what I'm seeing of a 200+ mile engine, they look really good.. But the rod/ main bolts were NOT replaced. The broken main cap bolt is a second time around used bolt? The rod and main bolts are Torque to Yield bolts.

When you replace the crank, you'll also need to replace the flywheel bolts and the engine mount bolts that are removed. They are also TTY.

 

[ChubsAuto]

That sounds like a good answer to what happened to me, Ill look on the bearings and see what brand and if there over size. Im the 3rd owner so hard to say what has happened to this engine in the past. All and all not to bad just have to gather up some parts and its a good reason to do some upgrading. I had to rebuild the motor in my girls green B4 last year, it had never had the correct oil ran in it (not even the correct grade or weight) by the previous owner. I had to bore it, new pistons and rings, all new bearings, new TB and roller, new bolts all the way around, and the head was rebuilt (the guides where shot). Its running like a champ now, I think it has about 30K on it now.

 

[ChubsAuto]

The crank has quite the crack in it

Nothing a little JB weld and bailing wire wont fix right? ; )

 

[G60ING]

Have you yanked the head off? I would like to know how the valves look on number 2,3 & 4

 

[ChubsAuto]

Yep I got the head off last night too, the valves are clean as can be and have never had contact with the pistons. The block looks really good to, you can see the cross hatching in the cylinders clear as day.

 

[G60ING]

sweet.

 

[ChubsAuto]

All the parts needed for a rebuild on there way, hopefully have them early next week and get the engine back in and running next weekend.

 

[Franko6]

Sounds like you got a good crank. Good luck on the build.

 

[ChubsAuto]

I got the bottom end all put together tonight, looks great and everything went together very well. Tomorrow night when I get the correct head set (went by block casting number and build date before I had the head apart, should have 7mm valves but head has 8mm valves in it) Ill get the head reassembled and the everything else back on. I should have it ready to drop in for friday night and hopefully have a running car for the weekend.

 

[Windex]

Where did you order your parts from?

 

[ChubsAuto]

The crank came from Ebay, a large amount of parts came from www.autohausaz.com, and some parts came from www.metalmanparts.com.

 

[ChubsAuto]

I now have one fully assembled engine and transmission. Tomorrow night it will be installed and hopefully running.

 

[G60ING]

Good turn around.

 

[ChubsAuto]

Well it about drove me to drinking and I said a few good strings of bad words but its in, it runs like a champ, and there are no leaks. I would have been done about 3 hours ago but I had a coolant drip that I could not find the source of, and after I did figure out where it was coming from I couldnt figure out why it leaked. The thermostat housing was dripping just a little bit, its a new water pump with housing, new thermostat and seal the only old part is the plastic housing. after replacing o-rings and checking everything I ended up as much as I hated to using a little silicone sealer on the housing and O-ring. There must have been a small imperfection in the housing but the silicone fixed the drip. Tomorrow when its light out I will take it for a good test spin and make sure everything is in good working order.

 

[kooyajerms]

Wow Derek, you do quick work there!
Great job keeping it on the road.

 

[ChubsAuto]

Thanks I try to get things done quickly and properly, Im a mechanic by profession so time is money. I took it for a test drive today, no leaks, no horrible noises from the engine, and it runs like a champ. Now I just have to get it broken in properly and it should be good for a few 100K more. I figured since Im spending lots of money I may as well go ahead and replace the front and rear struts. The rears are completely frozen after siting outside for a week with no motor in it so it rides like a log wagon, but what can you expect when you have a 14 year old car with 223K on it. I will keep this car till its a pile of rust, a seat and an engine. The car lived all its live in texas till last year so there's not a spot of rust on it yet and I plan on keeping it that way as long as possible.

 

[ChubsAuto]

I "fixed" my rear struts so the car is drivable without beating you to death. I drilled a small hole threw both tubes at the top of the rear struts, that let some of the oil out so they are at least not locked solid now. I put a sheet metal screw with a rubber washer back in the hole to keep things from getting in or out and if you dont tighten them all the way down the rear struts actually dont work to bad. I ordered new struts for all 4 corners and they should be here monday. I know its not pretty or even close to right but it will work for a day or two

 

[ChubsAuto]

Got the rear struts done tonight, what a pain in the butt those are. but I got them done. Its amazing how many trim screws rattle out over the years, there are no more trim rattles in the back now. Ill get the fronts changed one of these days and set the alignment. I wont know how to act once I get this thing all fixed up, it will be like a new car.

 

[dieseljunkie]

Got the rear struts done tonight, what a pain in the butt those are. but I got them done. Its amazing how many trim screws rattle out over the years, there are no more trim rattles in the back now. Ill get the fronts changed one of these days and set the alignment. I wont know how to act once I get this thing all fixed up, it will be like a new car.

It's a B4V right? It takes more time to take the trims off than to do the struts. Next time I'd use a hot knife and cut an access hole in the trim to save time.


















No I wouldn't.

 

[kooyajerms]

hahaha