Recent Posts

1

IDI Engine / Re: Disassembling veggie block w/ piston slap- rod length?

« Last post by fatmobile on March 22, 2023, 11:57:01 pm »

Those marks on the pistons are due to a broken timing belt, it wasn't running with the pistons slapping the valves.
 And this one was going down the road pretty fast when it broke.

Nice find, a hydraulic TD block.
 That means you can use a metal head gasket from a 1.9 AAZ block.
Or it's pretty easy to put a mechanical head on it, with a regular head gasket.

Kinda hard to read the numbers but it looks like original pistons so a second over bore to 78mm might get rid of all the rust pits.
Or since it's a hydro block you could put 1.7 pistons into it which are 79.5mm.
I've seen an I-shaft thrust surface break off like that before.
 I think it's from a bad injection pump mainshaft bearing, that made the belt ride to the outside.
 Then it had to skip across the I-shaft pully to get back in line with the crank sprocket.
 That pulls the shaft out, then the oil pump pulls it back to ride against the thrust surface in like normal.
 Bang,bang,bang break.

What's in the head bolt holes?

I would think the rod measurement would be from hole to hole.

2

IDI Engine / Re: Disassembling veggie block w/ piston slap- rod length?

« Last post by oblique on March 22, 2023, 11:02:31 pm »

I wish i knew...i only received the shortblock. Seller 'doesn't know'.

The block is hydraulic...you're saying it mightve been run with a mech head somehow?

Wrong cam? Timed badly? Valves keepers too high?

But yeah it does look like theres been repeated contact ...i figure this might be more plausible on a hydro head since the oil pressure could soak up some of the.force of repeated contact.

3

IDI Engine / Re: Disassembling veggie block w/ piston slap- rod length?

« Last post by ORCoaster on March 22, 2023, 10:37:38 pm »

What are the head cam to lifter clearances like? 

With that much mashing on the tops of the pistons I would venture a guess that they were way too tight. 

4

IDI Engine / Disassembling veggie block w/ piston slap- rod length?

« Last post by oblique on March 22, 2023, 08:22:59 pm »

Hello again and gappy spring.

I hope everyone is well.

Picked up a sketchy shortblock and got into it at the carwash...would love to salvage it.

As an atheist, I don't know what in gods name happened here but that's a lot of force, so what is the proper way of measuring the rods?
The top side looks machined but I don't know if they are all exactly the same there but even if they were, it's really tough to get my caliper in a consistent position. It's a 12" Mitutoyo so plenty of length.

Do I remove the studs and line the rods up on a hard surface side by side?

Again really want to salvage this block...there's also weird gunk in the head bolt holes... it's like silicone...

Had a turbo pan, and the drain boss looks good but it was rather rusty on the outside, I don't know how significant the section loss is but I'll know when I clean it up more.

Yeah, check out the intermediate shaft failure...seen this before?



















 

5

General / Re: What did you do to your car today?

« Last post by ORCoaster on March 21, 2023, 10:20:10 pm »

I never had a problem until now either.  So I am scratching my head and wondering why?  Especially after I did the same process again and got successful results.  Luck of the draw I guess. 

6

General / Re: What did you do to your car today?

« Last post by Dennis Froelich on March 20, 2023, 08:57:40 am »

I always take off the upper coolant(radiator) hose off and fill the engine up with coolant that way. Have never had a problem with air pockets.

7

General / Re: What did you do to your car today?

« Last post by ORCoaster on March 19, 2023, 10:09:20 pm »

Welp, I can't believe we have had just one new post so far this month. 

I also can't believe I have been struggling with the weather since Dec to get the head fixed on the PU.  But fixed it is!  This week I took delivery on a rebuilt head from Parts Place Inc.  They left a couple of studs off the piece so I had to take mine and put them on to make it work.  So much for quality workmanship. 

One thing I had to fight with, there were many, but for the first time ever I could not get all the coolant I took out back in.  I generally spill some and so I end up with extra being added once it gets warmed up and then cools down.  This time I couldn't fit somewhere close to 2 quarts of it in before I started it.  Then once I did start it I could not see any coolant returning to the reservoir, and then I saw it was getting hot.  This was like 3 mins of running.  I figured I had an air pocket around the impeller and I was not circulating any coolant. 

So I pulled the thermostat housing off again and drained it.  Then I slowly poured it all back in.  If I had the coolant up to near the top of the reservoir I could get tiny bubbles of air to show coming out of the return line.  I was surprised that nearly all the bucket went in this time.  So I fired it up and like normal there was a sudden depleation of the amount in the reservoir.  So I added the last of the bucket and went for the spare gallon of mix.  Just like normal. 

So what gives?  Why didn't I get that result the first time I filled it?  It just doesn't make sense to me and I have not had that happen before.  I also don't want it to happen again. 

Ideas anyone? 

8

IDI Engine / Re: Head of Toast?

« Last post by ORCoaster on February 23, 2023, 11:02:34 pm »

I used the flat surface and some cutting oil and sandpaper to get the old head into spec so I will swap all the other bits over to it and see what happens.  If that fails I will be buying an entirely new head. 

Snow on the coast today.  6 inches of winter wonderland.  Finally stopped at about 2 and then started to melt.  We may still get more tonight and when it gets cold over the weekend.  So reminds me of doing mechanic work in Michigan.  I may be digging out the snowsuit to stay warm as I put the VW back together.

Really hope this is the nail that holds the engine back together.  I don't run high temps on the EGT so I am scratching my bald head trying to figure out the head failure.  Sometimes it doesn't make sense and there is no reason to waste time trying to figure it out.  Mechanical failure, done, move on. 

9

IDI Engine / Re: K03 Bad Wastegate Actuator?

« Last post by joshb on February 22, 2023, 09:23:10 pm »

Thomas over at Quality German Autoparts schooled me and sent over a new wastegate actuator, not a whole turbo. Swapped it out, clocked the turbo to give it a little more clearance and everything has been running great.

10

IDI Engine / Re: Head of Toast?

« Last post by Dennis Froelich on February 22, 2023, 12:31:55 pm »

Mine cracked that way all the way to the valves and beyond. It is cracked all the way to a water port and let a antifreeze in the cylinder so yeah...