Below is a cut & paste I sent to an audifans related e-mail list. some of you may subscribe there as well. havent been around here in a while and didnt think to share until just now and dont feel like retyping and still needing deep breaths so i dont get angry, so be angry for me :]
.
.
Soo, my best friends brother had a transmission failure,, while I had id rebuilt, I let him borrow my veggie car ('85 Jetta with P/S and working A/C!) thinking it would be a week to ten days max.. It turned into over a month due to sourcing parts for more extensive damage than anticipated, and other tasks as well..
Besides him snapping a V-belt -questionable already- he said he hasnt driven such a care free volkswagen.. Well, I do pride myself on the work i just finished the week before I loaned it to him; including, but not limited to, hydraulik lifter head mated to the solid lifter block, mk4 MLS head gasket, ARP studs, new_to_me_turbo, air filter, glow plugs, Giles' special injectors&pump, etc.
One caveat i mentioned to him: the turbo was interim till i got another rebuilt, and the block still had 300k plus on it so oil consumption was somewhere about 1/2 quart for about 500 miles..
Gave it to him with the appropriate mid-hash mark oil level and one week later while replacing the mentioned V belt, found the level just above the bottom of the hash marks, no worries I thought, good example of how he should be looking after it.
Well, that was probably the last time it was checked.. got the car back 3 plus weeks later and at first thought I developed an exhaust leak. forgot to mention the TT downpipe(to straight 2.5" pipe) I bought/installed and ported the Int.&Exh. runners a bit.. new EM studs/nuts as well.
As i started to look at the Exh. hardware, everythink looked tight, then I had that OH SH!T moment, pulled the dipstick out, wiped, cycled, and found a dry dipstick.. added 2 quarts, barely got wet, nearly emptied the Rotella jug to the tune of about 3&1/2 angry quarts to get mid hash mark.. ...Remembering him saying how it didnt leak a drop.. true, but thats because whats consumed leaves the tailpipe not the engine bay!
Then burned about a quart every subsequent drive and decided to use a AAA tow to save the motor at least, as the turbo was clearly(um, smoke'ly) shot. Off the rollback into my garage for the night.. Next morning figured I'd start it just to park next to my driveway and make space for customer cars in my garage. Cranked over twice then locked up. overly optimistic the starter stuck open, cranked it by hand to find a few degrees of counter clockwise rotation and clockwise lockup...
So right now I plan on going back to the solid lifter head I still have that needs more machine work than the hydraulik head cost me, but the power was way better with the SL head and the added noise is worth it.
I can rebuild my block but would experience less downtime in my garage if I could get going on rebuilding a short block if I could find one within a couple hours drive of the Poconos. if anybody has a lead on one, please let me know.
theres more I could elaborate on but im pissed just typing and remembering so i'll leave it at that for now.
-brian