Seized Engine

[CarlosA]

Got the car home and dropped the pan, #1 bearing was seized up tight but all others are still oiled and in really good clean shape. Once I got that rod lose the crank and other cylinders spin around very nicely.

Journal is scored pretty bad, I doubt it can be turned, so I have made a deal for a used crank with OEM dimensions for less than the cost of turning. I already have an extra rod.

I`ll pull the whole engine and add studs, replace all bearings, gaskets, and re-ring/hone as well. Hopefully no bore needed.

Full rebuild with receipts was supposedly done 35k ago, but all the bearings are OEM 1981 stamped.
Other than that, the car is in great shape and doesn't need much.

[82vdub]

Find out why the #1 bearing seized before you put $ into redoing it and maybe find out what the real problem was. If the oil pump siezed or the intermediate shaft quit turning (spinning the pump), figure that out before you reinstall a shot oil pump or other part and have the same problem again. Did the #1 bearing spin, or just sieze on the rod or??

[CarlosA]

Find out why the #1 bearing seized before you put $ into redoing it and maybe find out what the real problem was. If the oil pump siezed or the intermediate shaft quit turning (spinning the pump), figure that out before you reinstall a shot oil pump or other part and have the same problem again. Did the #1 bearing spin, or just sieze on the rod or??

Just seized on the crank, didnt spin. Everything else turns freely, oil pump looks good inside.

#2 got pretty hot but is still nice and shiny and didnt change colors on the bearing surface, only around it where the rod barely meets the casting on the crank.

All the cylinders are clean and free moving, cross hatch still very slightly visible.

The valve cover rattled loose.. and oil splashed out to within a drop of the dip stick. Oil is nice and clean (black) but no metal chips in it.

I guess a little note about the cool oil splash shield thing under the valve cover - if you use it, and your cover rattles loose, you are redirecting the oil right to the gap!

There is also a tiny bit of oil on the injectors, I am blaming this on leaking stem seals/loose guides at the moment.

If I could or do find another engine i`ll grab it, but I haven`t seen any around here for 6 months.

[82vdub]

My guess is that you lost oil, or lost oil pressure, or something like that. Is the #1 journal the last journal to get oil (fed from #4 forward), or are the mains central fed or fed from the front? If it feeds in the central part of the crank or at the rear, going forward the last journal to be fed would be the first one to burn up when there's oil issues.

[CarlosA]

My guess is that you lost oil, or lost oil pressure, or something like that. Is the #1 journal the last journal to get oil (fed from #4 forward), or are the mains central fed or fed from the front? If it feeds in the central part of the crank or at the rear, going forward the last journal to be fed would be the first one to burn up when there's oil issues.

Yep I think that is exactly what happened. I`m not exactly sure how the delivery is on this one yet.

[CarlosA]

Here are some pics ... i`d say "preliminary" because I won`t know much til I get the engine out and on the bench.

First, most people seeing this will understand:


Rough pic of the #1 journal:


Overall condition of things:

[CarlosA]

Alright so I finally got the head off, and the block is exactly how everyone warned. Cracked in one corner.

So, either I find a new long block, or what does it take to do a early mechanical TD swap? And what cars had this engine so I can start looking?

[Fatmobile]

'85 and '86 Jetta TDs are the most likely place to find a mechanical TD block.
I think you would get by just fine with an NA block and add a turbo setup.