Former VWDieselParts.com Forum

I picked up a "rebuilt" 12mm engine to swap for my problematic 11mm engine. It was a roll of the dice and a lot of work to save some money and now that it's running - the oil pressure sucks. It's like 20psi@1000rpm COLD. 50psi max revving it up COLD. I imagine fully heated up would idle ne...

Interesting thing. Won't let the starter engage unless it's activated by pushing in the clutch Sometimes they fail and people don't notice because it still starts, just don't have to push in the clutch. Perhaps it's a good thing to have. Some say the TDI will start in-gear and keep going. Seems unli...

Thanks for sharing the delivery valve lesson. That's real gold there (the link too) I don't think anybody, except a rare few, can deny that what is happening in the world and in many countries right now is on purpose. I lot more can be said, but it isn't hard to see that the few that are gaining mor...

Talked to the machine shop guy, he was nice enough to ponder this thing over the phone for a while. With no visual indications, (and no water in the oil) the cause seems to rather odd to him. Tomorrow I'm gonna try a soapy water test while spinning the oil pump. Wish I had a working head (to put on ...

I plugged the oil feed hole off with a 6x1.0 bolt w/ some thin poly fuel tubing slipped over it for a perfect seal. Spun the oil pump for a minute or so Left coolant in the block to see if more oil floats to the top. Kinda hard to tell but doesn't seem like anything different than when it just sits....

Thanks. Seems to be the general consensus about the early blocks. Haven't spent much on this engine other than external fixes, I consider that lucky. Trying to find a good engine someone has laying around isn't going easy tho, as people have largely forgotten about the old IDI's I found 1 rebuilt lo...

Well, after all that wishful thinking the engine is still leaking oil into the coolant.
It got worse after some moderate driving. Still runs nice,
but I don't know how to fix this problem.
I need to get another engine to swap in.

Then I tested my thermostat on the stove in a pot of water, because it was running too cool. Out of 4 thermostats only 1 worked to my satisfaction. One was a stant superstat stuck closed way too long :x . Then I took it for a longer drive and sure enough it ran at the proper steady 190, and finally ...

Drove around for a while then wanted to test the reservoir for combustion gases. Rigged up cheesy tester using bong technology https://i.imgur.com/mmqZIO4m.jpg Bought the test fluid from HF for $10 https://i.imgur.com/z2YXjE9l.jpg Put just a small about of the blue test fluid in the bottle and used ...

the head gasket I ordered from RockAuto was one of those felpro closeouts, but the actual gasket was a NOS Goetze, pretty cool. This time I hit the block with wd40 and 150grit using square of flat marble tile as a sanding block. To keep grit out of the bores I smeared grease on the pistons and stick...

I'm starting to wonder if the reservoir cap is responsible for more blown head gaskets than we realize. Might need to install a cooling system pressure switch/warning light. I suppose if the glowplug temp sensor isn't used (pimped system), something could be put there from a gauge. VW does have the...

I've been fixing my cars for most of my life but really don't know much about engine building or the actual thermal dynamics going on. If I have done a better job on the head gasket the problem of the faulty rad cap probably wouldn't have shown itself so quickly. I was reading this article about rad...

I thought my old cap was leaking. Did a pressure test on the system through the reservoir nipple with the hand pump, the old cap released at ~15 psi. So I just put a new cap on and thought that had to be a good thing, I never tested the new URO cap. I read that testing at higher pressures than 25 ca...

machine shop man gave it look,
not warped but that head is marked as having been resurfaced .015"