Restoring My Dasher's Engine!

[thecheesemannn]

Hey guys, First post here at vwdiesel.net, but certainly not new to fourms.

I have read alot of the FAQ's,  :)good writeups... sadly alot of dead links 



Anyway, I have an old 80 Dasher Diesel. Bought it from the previous owner with a blown engine. He cracked the original block at 120,000 miles, welded it... put RTV on the head gasket then put another 1000 miles on the poor engine before it overheated and self destructed. He then bought another engine from a Caddy, tore it all apart and lost intrest. I re assembled the engine, and it gave me 7000 miles of reliable service before a prechaimber insert fell into the cylinder and caused massive damage to the block and head. I saved all the pieces, but I doubt any of them are even usable due to the destruction that ensued.


Anyhow, I bought a 1.6L IDI from an 81 Dasher, seemed to be the original engine, and it had 144,000 miles on it. I put an additional 50,000mi on it without touching a thing, when it started to develop a small miss. I changed the fuel injectors, but that didn't help it at all. I let the Dasher sit in my garage for a year and a half before I finially figured out the new fuel injectors were not set properly. I set the injectors, and put about 3000 more miles on the poor car before I finially parked it for rust repairs.  Along with rust repairs I wanted to rebuild the engine.


I pulled the engine out of the car, and tore it apart when I found a bent connecting rod!  No damage seems to be done to the block, but it does have .006" taper , so it will need to be bored out, and pistons replaced. I have an extra 2 sets of connecting rods, and those went to the machine shop to be checked for cracks and straightness.

 I have disassembled the head, and it seems to be in sorry shape.Valve seats are still in good condition, but the guides are totally worn out, you can wiggle the valve around a good 1/4 inch in either direction. Springs all seem very worn, the retainers have indents in them from so much pressure over years and years of reliable service.

I want to rebuild this engine, I'm just trying to build it with the best products and parts possible. What sort of reccomendations would you all have for me? Incase your wondering about my skill set, I rebuild engines in a Deutz diesel shop for a living, so dont need to worry about that, however I undestand that every product line is different, and there are tricks and secrets to be learned with every engine!

If any of you have one of those super cool vwdasher.com calendars, my dasher is the month October for 2013, and one of the centerfold cameo apperances for the 2014 edition.

All your help and knoledge will be appreciated emencely and I am excited to see what you guys and gals have to say! Thanks!

[CrazyAndy]

Honestly, if you read all the FAQ's even with the dead links, you probably know what to do already.  Only things I'd suggest/stress are doing the #4 full circle main bearing, using head studs (ESPECIALLY if it's an 11mm block), and thinking about running an AAZ metal HG if your head and block are smooth enough.  That, and don't forget the orientation of the inner intermediate shaft bearing.  Above all, get the Bentley factory service manual if you haven't already, but judging from your work background it sounds like you'd do that anyway.  You'll need some specialty tools mentioned in the manual; either buy them, borrow them, or make some yourself.

Aside all that, welcome to the GTD boards!  I really like your Dasher.  What is your overall plan for the car and drive train?  Do you plan on leaving this NA or do you want to hang a turbo on it? 

I really like hearing you work on diesels for a living; how is it working on Deutzs?  Aren't they air-cooled?  Do they have p-pumps like Benzes?  Are they the engines in the diesel Pinzgauers?

Either way, sounds like you are on a good path with the rebuild.  Keep asking questions; people on here are continually fixing and modding these engines, so don't hesitate to ask about a weird thing because there's a chance we as a collective have probably seen it before and can help.  Again, welcome to the GTD boards!

P.S.:  In the last pic, it seems your intermediate shaft has an eccentric lobe on it for running a diaphragm fuel pump; is that the stock shaft?

[libbydiesel]

All the 1.6/1.6TD int shafts have the extra lobe.

[thecheesemannn]

Thanks for the welcome

Only things I'd suggest/stress are doing the #4 full circle main bearing, using head studs (ESPECIALLY if it's an 11mm block), and thinking about running an AAZ metal HG if your head and block are smooth enough. 

Alright Cool, thanks for the suggestions. By AAZ, I assume that you are speaking of the AAZ injectors? I have read a few snippits about them here and there, but I thought those didn't work on the older non turbo 1.6L's without heavy modifications?

Above all, get the Bentley factory service manual if you haven't already, but judging from your work background it sounds like you'd do that anyway.  You'll need some specialty tools mentioned in the manual; either buy them, borrow them, or make some yourself.

I do have all the specialty tools for this engine, including some that people wouldn't even think about buying because they don't torque everything like I do. Yes I have the Bentley manual, as well as VW's 8 factory service manuals in 3 ring binders.

Aside all that, welcome to the GTD boards!  I really like your Dasher.  What is your overall plan for the car and drive train?  Do you plan on leaving this NA or do you want to hang a turbo on it? 

Thanks! My plan with this Dasher is to keep it as original as I can, aside from a few minor things.... I was hoping to get some kind of different intake manifold, I don't like how the filter only gets dirty right in the center of the filter within 3,000 miles. I also may put a 5sp transmission in it sometime down the line, but since I have 2 of these 4sp transmissions I might just keep it the way it is for the time being.
No turbo for this engine, I want to build it for reliability not really for horsepower, Its one of about 10 cars I own, and I have others for speed. I love my Dasher for what it is, and would like to keep it that way!.......... That being said, if I can squeeze alittle more horsepower out of it that would be nice, I hope to get it up to 60mpg, so I probably will be porting it and modifying the intake and exhaust to be higher flow with less bends.

I really like hearing you work on diesels for a living; how is it working on Deutzs?  Aren't they air-cooled?  Do they have p-pumps like Benzes?  Are they the engines in the diesel Pinzgauers?

I'm not sure if the Pinzgauers have Deutz or not, I have never worked on one of those.... but yeah they have P-pumps. Some have one big unit like our VW's, or a Cummins.... and some have a mechanical lift pump with individual Injection pumps on each cylinder, which is really cool in my opinion because you can adjust the timing of each cylinder individually to get the most performance out of the engine possible. We also have the high pressure common rails, but thats still a very new technology for Deutz, and has issues of its own. Deutz does things differently, so they can be a challange to work on from a day to day basis. I also work on alot of Volvo Penta's, New Holland and other major brands. I love my job, I never get tired of doing mechanic work, especially on cars! Engines come to me on palates, or I go out and make a service call... sometimes the equipment comes right to me in my shop. They are generally easy to get to, and you don't need a double jointed elbow to work on these engines, except if your working on a Powerscreen.... they packed that BF4M1013C in there good and tight!

Some of our engines are Oil cooled, some of them are Air Cooled, some of them are Cooled by antifreeze, it depends on the engine and the application.

The 1011F engine is Oil Cooled, as were the 913's are Are Air & Oil Cooled. The 1013's are Coolant cooled for the most part.

P.S.:  In the last pic, it seems your intermediate shaft has an eccentric lobe on it for running a diaphragm fuel pump; is that the stock shaft?

Yes it is the stock shaft.



I do have one serious question to ask at this time..... how do I avoid having another pre-chaimber insert fall into the cylinder like the engine I had in this car prior to this one. It is very concerning to me that they designed it this way.

Currently the block and head are at the machine shop, and in very capable hands. I don't think they have machined anything as of yet, I want to have the pistons in my hands before they actually do any of the machining.

[Gizmoman]

I do have one serious question to ask at this time..... how do I avoid having another pre-chaimber insert fall into the cylinder like the engine I had in this car prior to this one. It is very concerning to me that they designed it this way.

Currently the block and head are at the machine shop, and in very capable hands. I don't think they have machined anything as of yet, I want to have the pistons in my hands before they actually do any of the machining.

I share your concern. My best guess is having an EGT sensor (small diam/quick acting) and gauge and keep it below 1100 F (others may quote higher safe numbers) with your right foot. I've read about "peening" them in, but repeated high temps can crack them. Once they break into chunks, all the peening in the world wont keep them in place.

Hopefully the ones in your head have no cracks (have to be buffed to see them).

[CrazyAndy]

Only things I'd suggest/stress are doing the #4 full circle main bearing, using head studs (ESPECIALLY if it's an 11mm block), and thinking about running an AAZ metal HG if your head and block are smooth enough.

Alright Cool, thanks for the suggestions. By AAZ, I assume that you are speaking of the AAZ injectors? I have read a few snippits about them here and there, but I thought those didn't work on the older non turbo 1.6L's without heavy modifications?

Apologies, I wasn't very clear and use an acronym improperly.  I meant to say the AAZ head gasket, which has a multi-layer steel design instead of the fabric style of older engines.  It helps to reduce oil leakage between the hed and block and reduce (or eliminate depending on your luck) chances of needing to replace your head gasket in the future due to compression loss or oil leaking into the coolant, a semi-common concern with these older engines.  The main drawback is that you need a smooth surface on each of the mating surfaces, something around 4 RA (roughness average).  In the end that decision is up to you, but whatever choice you make, DO get a good set of head studs, as the old bolts do not have a lot of thread contact area when threaded into the block.  I recommend ARP.  

Regarding securing prechambers, I don't know, but consensus is that if they fit snugly and have no cracks (cause them to break under head) then you're good.  Polish them like Gizmoman said to check.

As far as getting a little more horsepower out of it, I would look into the governor mod.  Check the FAQ sticky; there are some other good ideas for a little more power in there also.  As for porting, I am not versed on it personally, but some here have really opened up the ports on NA heads and gotten good power at higher revs.  As for manifolds, maybe one of the 4 cylinder quantum manifolds might work, or one of the Audi 4000 manis; problem is I don't know if they sold them here in the US, and if the CIS injectors were in the head or manifold.  I don't know what to use as far as recommendations on an exhaust manifold, but definitely increase the diameter of the exhaust system so something around 2" or a little more, as the old stock system doesn't really promote flow and is restrictive.  Also consider an EGT sensor like Gizmoman said; they are more important on turbo'd cars, but it can help be a monitor to your combustion condition and if it gets too hot.

Deutzs sound interesting; glad to hear you love your job.  Keep updating when progress is made.