no oil to top end

[TDSami]

lets see i had my td running and it just stopped, cracked a lifter and shim in half got it out but noticed a  bit of scoring on the front can journal, so i clean and put back together and run with VC off and notice no oil to the top end, i have 80psi at the oil filter housing with mechanical guage, motor has had the HG done but counted the notches for proper gasket, i cracked the oil line at the turbo and lots of oil there. any ideas? and maybe where does the oil come up into the head?  yes i did some searching but after a half dozen pgs ...    thanks.

[burn_your_money]

Was the headgasket just done? I think if it's put on upside down that it'll block the oil passages to the head. Look at the notches and OBEN should be stamped right in that area

[arb]

Can you take a photo of the engine where the gasket is showing near the IP ?

[TDSami]

i can try, i was also thinking isnt there an oil pressure port on the head on what would be the pass side? can i take oil from the filter adapter to there and direct feed the head?

[TDSami]

yes the gasket was done a while ago but hasnt been driven much also the gasket was put on the right way as the tab with the holes/notches was right behind the IP right. and it has to go the right way to clear where the injectors squirt the diesel in iirc

[arb]

yes the gasket was done a while ago but hasnt been driven much also the gasket was put on the right way as the tab with the holes/notches was right behind the IP right. and it has to go the right way to clear where the injectors squirt the diesel in iirc

Take a look at my project - bottom of first page you'll see the old gasket, middle of second page you'll see the new gasket. Both have the tab with the holes not behind the IP, but on the driver's side of the head next to the oil return hump.

http://vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=15633&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[Vincent Waldon]

Smart money is on the head gasket being upside down.  

That's where my money is.

[truckoSaurus08]

I remember having a similar problem when I did an aba swap (gasser) into my GTI. Turns out there was a tiny check valve in the oil pump housing that was stuck. I found this out after putting in a new oil pump and checking for blocked oil passeges including one that ran up the #3 head bolt. I dont know how similar gas and diesel lubrication systems are but the aba did have an oil cooler and squirters.

[TDSami]

sorry on dial today but will try to get a pic for tonite, the hg in the ip has the tab sticking out, not on the drivers side of the drain, that was the way the old one came out, i did check the passage but hey i could have mucked it up

[TDSami]

guess i mucked it up then, thanks guys! do i REALLY have to buy new bolts yet again?

[Vincent Waldon]

Hey, t'is easy to get it backwards, and I'd echo Andrew's comments to check that this is the correct theory before pulling it all apart !

In case search ever leads someone here.... here's a picture from another thread that points out the passage that gets blocked:

[TDSami]

well i talked to the fel pro rep, and i wasnt going to pull it all apart for a maybe, so i took 5 min and ran from the oil filter housing to the rear of the head problem solved, cost 5 bux, i do remember that oil port and am sure it got put right way in but some "helper" may have swapped it, you know when people look with their hands not their eyes and set it down how they thought it was when they took it off to "look" at it, anyway tons of oil on the top end now and ita guaranteed to never be a clogged passage and goes right from the filter to head and doesnt have to pass thru everything else on the way. thanks guys!

[Rabbit on Roids]

you might not have enough restriction for all the oil going up into the head. hows the oil pressure? low? i definitely would have fixed it right. the fix you did seems more like a "band-aid" then a solution to the problem you had. why not just take it apart and fix whatever is messed up? its better than possibly starving the bottom end bearings and f**king up your whole engine.

[jtanguay]

i'm pretty sure that it looks like theres more passages blocked than just the oil pressure to the head.  i wouldn't consider your problem fixed with a bypass hose.  you might end up with hot spots in the head and then blow the head gasket anyways, probably while going uphill, towing, or driving hard.

the proper fix is to buy ARP studs so you don't have to buy the cheeseheads anymore.

[Rabbit on Roids]

ill tell you what, ive built quite a few engines in my 20 years of life, and ive used studs in a few. my last studded engine was a fire breathing 22r toyota. i could not keep a damn gasket in that engine, until i bought some ARP's for it. still has the same gasket as the day i put the arps in it.

and for my next VW build, there is no question that i will be using studs. i take things apart or break things enough that a set of studs will pay for themselves in a fairly short order. i think its stupid to have bolts that are only good for one use.. complete waste of time.

so just do yourself a BIG FAVOR and at least check that the gasket is installed correctly. its gonna have to be torn apart either way, even if the gasket is installed correctly, cause thats a pretty major problem, not having any oil flow to the head without it being gimmicked. like they said, theres different sized holes to allow even cooling of the head. and the part about coolant rusting the bolt into the block. that would be a fun one to take back apart.. lmao