As my new engine troubles enter their second month (driven it 3 days, not in a row, had it apart 4 times, all in less than 2 months) I thought I was nearing the end. Not so. After reassembling the engine from bare bones AGAIN, I went to pick up the freshly done tranny (a four hour job that took 2.5 months)
ok. this is turning into a rant.
BOTTOM LINE:
2 piece style #3 crank bearings (the ones with the thrust face on them) WILL RUIN YOUR CRANKSHAFT. There is a good reason that the VW engineers used a 6 piece #3 main bearing. AE Clevite/Federal Mogul/whatever/whatever thought they could cut a corner and make a simple two piece #3 bearing. Well, they sure did. They cut the corner right off the thrust face of my balanced, polished and shot peened crankshaft, which is now sitting in a scrap heap.
Symptoms are a drop in idle speed and/or a scraping noise when you step on the clutch, and bearing pieces in your oilpan.
Avoid 2 piece #3 main bearings like a double dose of clapto-ouchitburns scrotulabial nudgeacervixitus!