I was reading all of these posts and hearing of people reving these engines past what they were desiged for, and fueling them past their limits....
What i'm geting at is i cant rember anyone telling about a total mechinicel break down...i.e. throwing a rod, breaking a camshaft, breaking connecting rod bolts, or any other things like that....
Now... I've heard plenty of meltdown stories from compleatly overfueling these buggers.
Someone correct me if i've overlooked anything... But all i've got to say is that the Germans knew what they where doing!!
yap, they did

they started with a bulletproof gas engine, then made it stronger, selected only the best parts that came out of the production line and researched for years before selling them.
the only real mechanical problem ive had was that stupid td crank gear. on the back side that little lip broke on me. put a mod tdi gear on it works like a charm lol. other than that they truly are amazing cars
the early 11mm blocks had an even ***tier crank nose, i am kind of scared to use my ac haha. otherwise a great engine, they really take a licking.
Someone correct me if i've overlooked anything... But all i've got to say is that the Germans knew what they where doing!!
Yes, the Germans in southern germany really know engineering. I've been in their plants, worked with their engineers, etc. They really want to make real quality products.
That's why I can't understand the Americans that drop $2K -$3k more for a Toyota sedan (ES350) than for a Mercedes-Benz (C300) thinking they are getting better quality, even though the Benz has more features and better quality. Probably the same guys that think Lexus is made in Germany.
Someone correct me if i've overlooked anything... But all i've got to say is that the Germans knew what they where doing!!
Yes, the Germans in southern germany really know engineering. I've been in their plants, worked with their engineers, etc. They really want to make real quality products.
That's why I can't understand the Americans that drop $2K -$3k more for a Toyota sedan (ES350) than for a Mercedes-Benz (C300) thinking they are getting better quality, even though the Benz has more features and better quality. Probably the same guys that think Lexus is made in Germany.
i think alot of people think mercedes are expensive to maintain, which to some degree they are right, it's just the 2 different reputations. 1 is known for reliability and mileage and mercedes is known for a being a luxury car.
I have an AZZ block at home with a whole in it from where a rod went through, Not sure what the previous owner did to make this happen, my only guess would be a 5th to second downshift at high speed. But seriously I have beaten these motors hard, and with the proper maintenance, and driving habbits(long warm up/cool down time) they really are pretty rugged.
1SlowVW
i think all of the vw failures are due in part to improper maintenance, etc. there was a post a while back about a guy with a rod that punched through his block. turned out the engine builder re-used the *stretch* rod bolts, and didn't know that they needed to be replaced. same thing goes for many of the crank failures.
but the cranks are a known failure point only over time IF properly installed/torqued. many engines run over 300,000km without failure, which says a lot.
i really admire the German engineers for actually wanting to create a reliable vehicle and parts. maybe our domestic market could learn from this? over here you'd think we were in communist Russia the way our cars are built :roll: :lol: well okay they're not THAT bad... :lol:
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but the cranks are a known failure point only over time IF properly installed/torqued. many engines run over 300,000km without failure, which says a lot.
Exactly. I simply remve and inspect the sprocket every time I change a timing belt, then install with a new bolt, properly torqued of course.