93 td jetta troubles

[copeland10]

I'm kinda feeling like a sucker.  I bought myself this 93 td which just had the head gasket done.   It ran wonderfully for 200km, then oil appeared in the coolant.  Risidual, mabey, brought it in to the local VW guy for a look see.  Kept it for a month and put on about 1000 klicks.  Said the fan wasn't working, which was why the head gasket probably blew in the first place.  Other than that he said the car is running great, so new rad went in.  I drive another 200km now coolant is in the oil.  Thats not good.  The car has not been driven as I ponder it's future.  The VW guy says new head gasket.  My mechanic friend says not to bother since the bearings are probably shot.  He suggested adding some headgasket sealant to the coolant and see how it goes.   He suggusts shopping for a new engine.   Would a 1.6 fit.  I'm looking for economy.  What are your thoughts if any?  I don't like what I've read about the crank bolt issue on the AAZ.   I've just got my Bently Manual and will look at changing the oil cooler as I've read that could be a problem.  Any ideas or thoughts would be great.  Other wise this VW will die a slow death in my drive way.

[burn_your_money]

Don't let it die a slow death, make it quick and part it out  :lol: Jokes.

Chances are if it overheated the head is warped. If it strated leaking again in 200 kms (exactly what mine did) then they probably didn't have the head machined.
Coolant in the oil is very serious. How long was it driven like this?
It's probably a warped head, which will either need replacement or machining. There is a chance that it is the oil cooler, and you are very wise to go after that first, but change the oil and keep a close eye on it and the coolant. The coolant will settle to the bottom of the pan, so you can drain a bit off every now and again and check for coolant. Just let the container settle (must be a clear container) and then look to see if there is coolant in the oil.

[jtanguay]

i had my oil cooler leak on my car... not fun  it only did it when the engine got up to temperature though... which wasn't very often (short trips to work was fine)

i drove the car with coolant in the oil for a few days... changed oil... oil mixed with coolant again...  i dont think my bearings are that bad... car drives pretty good!  all depends on how much coolant you have in your oil i guess.  

the oil pump doesn't get oil directly from the bottom of the sump does it?  

plus once the car gets hot enough, the water in the coolant would evaporate would it not?  probably escape out of the breather... maybe my breather is stuck though since there was enough pressure to make my oil cap turn itself off... (i kid you not, and no yes i did put the cap on properly!)

i think the oil cooler would be the first aluminum part to crack under heat if the car overheated.  just makes sense!  mine overheated on the highway last year...  i was crawling though because of an accident... moving down the highway there was no problem with overheating!  it's also usually cars with a/c that have the fan issues too.

the motor has taken a beating... and it still runs really good (apart from a bad injector or two)  but i am in the midst of rebuilding another 1.6TD for it!  I'm probably going to rebuilt the one that is in my car afterwards and sell it to help pay for the expenses incurred.  

I hope its your oil cooler!  but not if you have a/c...  i will have much pity for you if you do (took me nearly a good day to remove the oil cooler with  a/c lines connected and those STUPID clips holding the hoses on!!)

[copeland10]

I finally made sometime to look at the little VW today armed with my new Bently manual.  I drained the oil and didn't notice any coolant, so the amount that got into the oil must have been pretty small, it's in large plastic jar in shop to see if it seperates.  The oil cooler is not the source of the leak so the head gasket must be toast.   While running I gave it a quick inspection and noticed the dreaded crank wooble, I think.  I was hoping to get some feedback on what I saw.  It looked as though the outer pully (crank shaft outer pully i think)  was wobbling but the inner vibration damper/pully was not wobbling.  I would think that if the crankshaft was out I would see woobling from the inside pully as well.  Is it possible that the outer pully could be out and not the crankshaft? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.  I don't mind taking a crack at fixing it myself, but I wonder if it would be better to find a new motor all together.  It sure sucks (fuel that is) driving the 3/4 ton chev to town.

Thanks for running such a informative website, I read about the crank problem here and wouldn't have known to look for it outherwise.  Saved myself an even bigger headache.

[commuter boy]

I imagine the head warped and wasn't machined flat.  Time to look for another head, or get this one properly machined.

Any new 1.9 you buy, you should immediately replace the timing belt, the harmonic balancer, and the crank bolt, for the peace of mind of knowing it's been done properly if nothing else.

If you get it apart, and realize the crank nose is chewed up already, it's only a matter of time till it grenades, so it's drop the crank and machine it or replacement.  If it's not, you should be fine with a properly installed crank bolt.

Or dump it on someone else.  

Is there a bad karma emoticon?

[somolovitch3]

:roll:  :twisted:  :shock: =bad karma :mrgreen:


Hummmm.....Pull head, have surface checked, machine LESS than a RHCH off,use METAL 1.9 head gasket (use a piece of 2mm rubber to fill hole) ,use NEW head bolts (change to head studs?) Breath gently....Run the sweet little thing for....15 years? 20 years?

[dover]

Could this also be evidence for the required retorqing (does Bentley say to do it for the 1.9?)?

BTW: "RH"=?... what have I been missing?

[commuter boy]

RHCH, according to my sister, a redheaded surveyor, is an approved surveying term.

It's just slighly less than the diameter of a CH, due to the finer pubic hair that redheads possess.

You can figure out the rest, I'm sure.

I've seen her in the field squinting down a viewfinder yelling "just a RHCH to the left, ok?"

[houseofdiesel]

Yes, a 1.6 will fit I just finished installing one in a 96 Jetta, only one issue was p/s system, you need to use a 1.6 p/s and brackets as the blocks were slightly different bosses were the brackets mount.
Used a 1.6 non turbo engine and a 1.6 td downpipe mated to factory exhaust system behind cat. Kept all 1.9 cooling system/oil cooler on 1.6 to simplify wiring harness, used 1.9 clutch and flywheel. It was all pretty easy. Got tired of poor machine shop rebuilds (wobbling crank after machining TDI gear, low oil pressure) so client gave up on 1.9 idea.

It sounds like your engine overheated a bit too much, are the plastic coolant flanges all new? If so you might consider a different motor, most overheated diesels I have seen warped the head beyond spec and the cylinder bores were scored from swollen rings/pistons (not good), so cold starts were impossible. Usually the plastic melted is a good indication of too hot to bother rebuilding...
Look closely at your floors/rockers/ and underneath the rear end around bumper all soft spots on these cars, you might reconsider fixing the car is it is rusty underneath, I know most cars I see should not be fixed as your looking at a year or two before they fall apart (atleast here in Ottawa), very prone to rust out.
Also consider the costs of a new clutch, motor mounts, shifter linkages, trans oil seals, injectors, turbo oil lines (rusty?), p/s lines (rusty?), glow plugs, timing belt, oil seals, crank pulley, vibration damper, serpentine belt roller/tensioner/lever, is the injection pump starting to leak???
Lots of parts add up fast to the overall cost whether you rebuild or replace head gasket or find another engine.
Greg