Need some 1.9 AAZ Rebuild Advice

[MoparEd]

Hi,
I have a 95 AAZ Passat that after some consideration, I have decided to rebuild the engine rather than junk it.

Stupid me, I bought this car without doing any research on it and vw diesels in general. After getting the car, I found this forum and started reading up on common problems and such. I had Giles and Tyler at performance diesel mod the crank for me and install a tdi pulley and new diesel injection pump, but the car burns more oil than it does diesel (roughly 1L oil to 30 kms....No im not kidding). I didnt know much about the cars history before buying it, Just figured all the smoke was from the timing being off (both pump and engine timing)and a bad crank pulley.

Now, I can just ditch the car and cut my losses, But its in great shape and since ive gone as far as to get the crank modded and put on a new diesel injection pump, I might as well just finish the job and hope I can get a couple of mostly trouble free years out of it. Ive always wanted to build my own engine and I was hoping it would have been in the summer and not in the dead of winter, but I have to do something right now. I can always buy another used engine and hope for the best, but then again, The car i'll be getting the engine from is being scrapped for a reason.

So here are my questions.......

I was told by a retired vw mechanic that I should by no means hone the cylinder walls by hand drill with a honer attached. He said that he will guarantee that the cylinder walls are tapered and the only way to get it right is at a machine shop. Especially if I wanted it to last. Should I take this advice? I was going to hone the cylinders myself.

this website: www.volkswaparts.com. Has anyone purchased from them, Are they quality parts or cheap china ***?

What I found out after I bought the car and read the receipts that were left in the console is that it looks like to me that the timing belt broke at 280,000 kms and it took out some valves. I will be getting the head checked out as well once removed. The car now has 290,000 kms, runs good thanks to Tyler and Giles, but consumes oil pretty badly and smokes all the time (oil smoke)

The parts im going to need for the bottom end are:
Engine gasket kit,
Head gasket (gotta figure out the proper thickness right?),
Piston Rings,
Crank Bearings,
Rod Bearings,
IM Shaft Bearings (mine are worn)
Oil Pump
Water Pump (?)

Am I forgetting anything?

I have not built an engine before, so chances are, Ill be posting pics and asking questions as I move along with this project. I should have the engine out by the weekend (have to get my engine hoist from up north, otherwise, id have it out now lol)

Thanks
Ed

[gnavs]

I'm in the exact same boat as you are.  My AAZ is on a stand in my garage right now
I ordered some stuff from that site, mainly the timing belt kit, headgasket and engine gasket kit, but I have no experience with them beyond the fact that they have freaking everything.  I did notice some made in China labels on some of the stuff and it did get me a bit nervous.  Specifically the brand new T3 for under $400 with a one year warranty, I'm very very tempted.
I'll be watching this thread for answers as well.
Good luck.

[Patrick]

Sounds like an awful lot of oil for the mileage. I'd be looking elswhere before I pulled the engine apart. Maybe the seal is gone out of the turbo? See if you can find a compression tester to check it out before you pull it all apart.

[TurboJ]

If it runs fine and still consumes that much oil, it's most likely the turbo. They can go just like that, with little prior warning.

[boxer246]

As far as Prothe's parts go (the website you were referring to)  there has been much discussion on this and other forums regarding his parts and questionable quality.
As long as you know his parts are coming from China, and you are OK with that, its your decision.  There are stories of his parts self destructing, being horrible quality, his customer service spotty......but on the other hand there are also stories of his parts being fine, good customer service, and fast delivery.  So you should just read and use your own judgement.  There are lots of guys who have been very outspoken against him because of his cheap parts.....well there's no mystery where his parts come from.  He's not saying they are German quality.

A couple of years ago I bought a few parts from him, but mainly things where quality wasnt that important....like a gasket or little tool or whatever.  Except for a set of pistons.  I did install a set in my 1.6TD and I must say they appeared very high quality as far as my eye and my micrometers could tell.  I probably have 30,000 miles on that motor now. Time will tell if I made the right decision.   I've never bought a turbo, head or injection pump from him.  I will say that on these forums I have not heard one good thing about his injection pumps, so take that for what its worth.  Again, do a search and find out for yourself.

I personally believe he has not been selling parts for long enough for most of his more complex engine components (heads, injector pumps, turbos, oil pumps etc) to have enough miles on them to determine how well they will hold up.  I mean if you bought one of his heads two years ago and put it on your car you might only have 35 or 45 thousand miles on it by now.   
It comes down to the old saying you get what you pay for.  While his cheaper parts may well be fine for some people, and may well stand the test of time, many of us would just prefer to spend a bit more money on what we KNOW to be quality parts. 

FWIW I am not trying to hate on Prothe or his parts, I do think he fills a certain niche, as long as people are aware that they are not buying German parts I see nothing wrong with what he is selling.  If it turns out that, in 5 years there are diesel motors in peoples cars all over that are having problems due to the quality of his parts, he may have a problem.


As far as your motor goes, I cant understand why the mechanic told you to not hone the cylinders.  But there's more information needed to say yes or no.  Obviously if your bores are out of spec (most of these diesel motors are out of spec when the piston to cylinder wall clearance is greater than about .003") then you will need a re-bore with oversized cylinders and new rings.....and yes, your machine shop will hone the cylinders following the re-bore job to get the clearance just right.  Get a Bentley manual for your car to see all the factory specs.  You need this.  Anybody on this forum will be happy to tell you any spec you need but just buying the book is a great resource.  If the cylinders are within spec for wall clearance and ovality, and you are NOT re-boring, then yes you absolutely should hone them before
putting in a new set of rings.  Your drill powered deglazer hone will not change the overall bore size, just cross hatch the walls....unless you sit there for 15 minutes going up and down with the damn thing!

Dont forget bolts for the bottom end...rods and mains.  Although to be honest the Bentley manual isnt really clear on if you actually must replace the main bolts.  It just makes mention that if you have the old style bolt to make sure you get the new ones.  I have asked this question about replacing main bolts on this forum before and never got an answer.  Also you must replace the flywheel bolts and head bolts.

Oil pump.....you can check it according to the book to see if its out of spec.  If it was putting out good oil pressure and it looks fine and is within spec, theres no real reason to replace it in my opinion.  Water pump.....sure why not its cheap.

You'll also need a couple basic tools to re-time the motor to hold everything in place while installing the timing belt....but you can make do without them by making your own tools.  And then to re-time the injection pump you will need a dial indicator and holding tool that goes in the injection pump.

Installing intermediate shaft bearings takes a special tool....I assume most engine building shops have something to do this....I made my own.  In the FAQ section Andrew (libbybapa) has a good writeup on what this tool should work like. 

Man there's tons more, just ask if you get in a jam......have fun!

[burn_your_money]

Also you must replace the flywheel bolts

Flywheel bolts can be reused. Pressure plate bolts can not be reused.

This engine has a lot of blowby. We pulled the boost tube between the turbo and intake manifold and revved it and it the RPMs were hanging and the CCV was blowing out lots of oil mist. The turbo was blowing a bit of oil mist. The pump was set up on the test bench as stock so it's not the pump causing the hanging. The injectors were ok. Not new, but not bad enough to warrant a rebuild.

[MoparEd]

Thanks for all the input so far! I will be hauling out the engine this weekend. I will be looking for a bentley manual locally as I have the body and electrical bentley that came with the car. Im going to price out some parts tomorrow and try to come up with a ballpark figure and get ready for this project. Also going to do some reading in the faq section and learn some tips and tricks.

Thanks again
Ed

[vixentd]

My guess would be that it is the valve seals.  Especially since the head was damaged.  I struggled with this problem on a 1.6 and after numerous problems discovered that the head rebuilder had screwed up the valve seal. Pull the head off and have a good shop check it over. The valves may have been slightly bent and the guides and seals are causing the problem. Once the head is off you can easily check the rings for wear and the cylinders for out of round.  I doubt if it is badly warn at the kms though.

[MoparEd]

So....
I started up the car this morning after having it sit for a couple of days and it smoked pretty bad for a while, def oil smoke. I let it sit there and idle for about 5 minutes and watched it as the smoke became less and less. I then took the car for a 5 minute drive to get it to operating temperature and guess what, once the car is warm... No more smoke, just a little black when I get on the throttle.

I have the car in the driveway right now idling and its clean as a whistle. Im wondering now if I do need a complete overhaul. Im thinking its a problem with the head and maybe I should rebuild it and try it again. I do know the IM shaft bearings are a bit worn, and that concerns me....

Oh and I found a real nice oil leak coming from the Crank vent tube thats on the block (yea, the one I broke and replaced. and used the o-ring that came with it). Looks like its not sealing.

Ed

[burn_your_money]

Are you sure you have it fully seated? It's a real bear to get in there sometimes.

If it's better when warm I would lean more towards a problem with the bottom end but I could be way off base there.

What grade of oil did you top up with?

[MoparEd]

Are you sure you have it fully seated? It's a real bear to get in there sometimes.

If it's better when warm I would lean more towards a problem with the bottom end but I could be way off base there.

What grade of oil did you top up with?

I probably dont have it seated right. I put 15w40 in it when I picked it up. You would know better than I would, This is my first diesel, and my first car with engine problems. I just hope if it is the bottom end, that I can get away with honing the cylinders.

Now for something funny.... I took the car for a short drive today, got out looked at the exhaust pipe, no smoke. I stop at some shop that does emission testing in Brampton here by me. The mechanic comes out, looks at the car, says "looks ok , put it in bay 1".  I put the car by the emissions test equipment and go to the waiting room and look at them through a window. Another mechanic gets in the car and pegs the gas pedal to the floor for like 10 seconds and absoutely fills all 3 bays and the office with smoke. What a laugh! all I could hear was "SHUT IT OFF!!!! SHUT IT OFF!!!!" All I could do was laugh. The mechanic comes back and says "Dude, I cant pass this" I said "I was under the impression that it was a idle test not a rev limit test" hahaha. I went back an hour later with my old Srt to get it aligned and the place still reaked of oil smoke. I didnt get charged for the etest lol

Ed

[MoparEd]

And so it starts....
I was actually hoping to get the engine out today, but I had the kids so I just took my time and did what I could. Some pics:





Ed

[burn_your_money]

Looking good Ed. I've only ever had one e-test done and I'm pretty sure that it is strictly visual and is suppose to be done at idle. Someone who has lived down here will probably chime in with the correct answer though. It's a good thing you didn't have the governer modded... actually maybe it would have been better if they sent a rod through the block

It would be a good idea to do a leakdown test on the engine before you tear it all apart. My apoligies for talking you out of it earlier, I was expecting you to just get another engine and drop it in.

[MoparEd]

Yea, it would have been great if they sent a rod through the block since it costs 4300 for a reman long block from vw or better yet, 20 grand for a new long block from bramgate vw lol.

I want to replace the IM shaft bearings so I might as well throw some rings and bearings in her while im at it. Im not going to screw around here lol, im rebuilding the head as well. Im not sure if im going to tackle the whole job myself. I might get it put back together and tow it to you guys to re time the pump. I was looking at the pump today and it breaks my heart to pull it of lol, but its gotta be done.

I thought id be getting alot of heat from my fiance, but she seems to be more excited about helping me rebuild the engine than I am. Im hoping to have the car back on the road for Feb. I have my roommates backup car to drive in the mean time.

I still have to get my hands on a bentley manual. The guy who sold me the car only gave me the bentley body book and a haynes manual.

Ed

[4wheeler]

What turbo did it come with?

I have a decent 1.9TD from a 95 golf that would fit right in there...

I`m also looking to rebuild my otehr 1.9TD.

Where to get the parts and what machine shop in the area has done many AAZ s before is what I`m looking for.
Anyone from teh site know?

Maybe we can get together and order bulk and get a discount on parts..