AAZ motor issues...

[lagomorph]

newbielink:http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130366 [nonactive]

All the pics and the story is there.
It's a friend of mine's motor, and it's installed in a Jetta 1.
She's driven it about 100 miles, and we did a cam swap, due to some damage on one of the lobes of the cam. Car would simply not run right afterwards. Lots of white smoke, and no real solution.
Decided to do the cursory checks, compression(330,300,270,340), rechecked timing, etc..
no success.
Cylinder head, I've been told, is not worth fixing, due to the damage in the bores-but it's straight on the bottom, and no valves are bent.
(the damage was noted by both the installer, and the owner as being present when the motor was installed)

Any advice is appreciated. I feel if it's something I caused, then I'll fix it. But I suspect there was problems before I got there, possibly hidden....
Both her and the installer claim it ran great before the cam swap.
What am I missing???

[vwmike]

Hi Jeff. I actually just found that compression spec we talked about before. It is 26-34 bar (382-500) although it sounds like you're a bit past that point now. I'm of the mind that the head was repaired and the damage to the lifter bore was likely due to a broken lifter when piston/valve contact occured sometime in the past. I know you were worried that this could have been something you caused by accident but I don't think that is the case. The cylinders look much like the ones in my Jetta with ~225k miles on it. The compression is still great, but not forever I'm sure. With the consistantly low compression numbers I'd suspect this engine is just plain worn out and perhaps this person was lied to when they were told it had 150k km on it. There's also the possibility it could have not had regular oil changes and such...it's hard to say for sure.

[chrissev]

Re:  

Hi there. I am the (unlucky) owner.  I bought this engine from Hope Import Auto Parts of Hope British Columbia. I was told it had 156k kilometers on it and "ran like a champ." It’s out of a ‘94 Jetta. I was told that the ONLY problem with the engine was the woodriff keyway being worn and the crank needed to be machined. (I understand this is a typical problem with the AAZs.) I was given the part to fix this - it’s a TDI pulley if I remember correctly. They also sent me a new oil pan as the one on the engine was trashed. I paid $1800 CAN ($1435.41 US) for this engine.

-the person who wrote this has been ripped off pretty badly.  This is almost funny if it wasn't so tragic and if this girl hadn't basically been robbed of $1800 by these Hope Import Auto Parts people.  They pretty much dropped the bomb in front of her but she didn't see it.  With the AAZ engines, if someone is trying to sell you one and they tell you that the crank pulley key is worn and needs to be replaced, and the crank needs to be machined, this should scream "bent valves, smashed pistons" at you.  It should also tell you that you are dealing with a fairly high km engine, as the keys didn't get loose until the motors had around 200k on them, often more.  These guys obviously saw someone they figured they could take for a ride, and they proceeded to do so.  At any rate, what should you do now?  First thing I'd do would be talk to a lawyer.  Don't touch that junk engine, at the very least it needs new pistons and a new cylinder head, the rods might also be bent (by the looks of #4 piston, that rod will not be straight).  New pistons are very expensive, and new rods ain't cheap either.  A 1.9 cylinder head will run you around $700 US rebuilt, if you can find one.  There is probably a couple thou worth of work to be done to make that engine operational.  The cylinder walls look about as glazed as I've ever seen, and probably aren't round anymore.  Basically that engine is a core, probably worth $500 for rebuilding.  Take my advice, contact a lawyer.  You have been ripped off.