Rod replacement

[Scotty32]

2001 ALH engine disintegrated a lifter, think it bent a rod...should I upgrade or replace with stock ?

 

[Nickmix]

Really depends on what your future plans are.

 

[Mpaw]

I replaced all my piston rings and big ends last year, after reading up on it quite a bit. Apparently new rods need to be matched for length and there is some variation. You should be able to find some good posts on this forum.

 

[csstevej]

First pull the head and check the cylinders.
That will determine which way you may go.
Then if all looks good check the piston protrusion above the block, get a Bentley manual if you don’t have one, and see if they are all the same height….. if they are then no bent rods , you would need a serviceable head, maybe a new oil pump depending on how much trash is in the lower end and a flush.

 

[Scotty32]

Really depends on what your future plans are.

I will not be modding for more horsepower, my thing is more fuel mileage and durability.. I really like my little Jetta, plan to keep it forever

 

[Votblindub]

Are you doing all the work?
Sometimes it's cheaper to swap a motor vs paying for the labor of taking one apart, doing the repairs and putting it back together.

 

[PakProtector]

Getting a 'known' engine is important. No sense getting one that already crashed and had a lifter and belt replacement done... and is waiting to drop a valve head.

Douglas

 

[jokila]

Are you doing all the work?
Sometimes it's cheaper to swap a motor vs paying for the labor of taking one apart, doing the repairs and putting it back together.

So he is still doing the work or is he paying for the labor to do the swap? Your comment is contradictory.

 

[Votblindub]

So he is still doing the work or is he paying for the labor to do the swap? Your comment is contradictory.

Because I don't know if he has the tools, knowledge, time, desire, a space and if he's capable of doing the work himself I floated the idea of the possibility of swapping engines. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a used engine that's known to be in good working condition for cheaper than paying somebody to repair a broken engine or even buying parts to repair an engine. A new head can cost more than an engine swap. Some people can swap an engine by themselves, but cannot take one apart and repair it and put it all back together by themselves. Some people have a machine shop at home and can basically do everything. Sometimes people have no time to do the work, so they swap engines. From his reply it didn't seem like there's been a full tear down and diagnostics made to figure out exactly what is broken. This could go a number of ways and oftentimes the budget is a major factor. He's not going to go for a high power motor, so a swap could be a good/cheap/faster option vs repairs. Some people can do an engine swap in a half day vs spending that much time just taking it apart to find every issue.

 

[PakProtector]

Seems to me rod health would be about torque delivery, not power.

Douglas

 

[Mpaw]

So he is still doing the work or is he paying for the labor to do the swap? Your comment is contradictory.

I don't think so. The problem can be when you do the work yourself is that you might not have access to a full workshop.
My experience is that I trained and worked as an engineer for many years but now live in an extremely remote area in the middle of Germany (yes, sometimes I think with my dick). I take engines apart, rebuild them and, when my health allows, really enjoy it.
But there are times when I really get cheated. I recently rebuilt a MK4 tdi engine but got totally ripped off only because I have no lathe and couldn't machine the valve seats myself. Altogether, a 'crash-car' engine with only 60-80km on the clock and a 1-year guarantee costs only about 200€ more than what I paid for the machining - and the engine would have been delivered instead of having to drive 50 km (twice) to the machine shop.
So the solution is to invest megabucks and buy all machines that you could possibly need in order to save.
I must say, apart from all the crap we hear in Europe about the (both?) political parties in the US, it is really impressive how you have so much freedom with respect to what you do to your motors and how you seem to just do it.