Has it got the diagnostic sensor that's in the back of the case, They can walk back into the flywheel too and catch on that small split pin. Seen both happen recently .
Sorry, missed your post. I haven’t grounded the exact cause but having spoken to a couple of local VW garages it is generally agreed that the engine will need to be stripped down to investigate it further. As such it looks like I’m in for a lump of money for an engine rebuild… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Did you try removing one plug lead at a time? If it’s small end bearing failure the noise will be much less if the cylinder isn’t firing. The engine would need to be stripped to fix it of course.
^ and so - you could fix it sub £50. Your problem in putting it in the hands of others is they must take the stance that if one big end has gone they all need doing - you would probably do the same. but then they'll think big ends...which again you might also. At that point you might stop short of splitting the case and put it back together. They can't afford to go through this considering process and will jump to a complete strip, inspect everything and overhaul it. This is of course "better" for a generally worn engine but for one with a particular problem it could involve a whole heap of unnecessary work. I'd always suggest at least a partial strip down yourself, particularly if you intend to remove the engine strip to block and pallet it somewhere yourself - you'd have done most of the work by then! If you discover the problem before you get to the case you're on a winner for an easy fix. If not, put those few bits back on and hand it to a rebuilder.
Its all good advice and paying someone unknown to rebuild the engine could be risky and cost a lot of money. If you don't want to strip it down yourself to discover the faults then paying someone to do that would be costly and you would be paying more money for any new parts and rebuilding and the end result may not be guaranteed. May be a better option, to buy a new refurbed engine with a guarantee and trade in the old one. Could be cheaper than a rebuild.
The long and the short of it is that it's often cheaper if you start off knowing exactly what's wrong with it and the cause of an obvious noise is going to be easy to find...as you take it apart. Being the son of a Scot, I can't bear the thought of paying someone maybe £1k (and maybe as much as £3-4K for a rebuilt engine) inc all the labour etc quite possibly essentially to replace a £10 little end bush so I'd just have to DIY one way or another. I could rent a small unit for a month and still be quids in but I'll be doing similar in a car park next year, it's bad enough paying for parts.
The time I took a long block engine to the VW guy he said he would have charged me several hundred pounds more for removal and replacement of the engine and stripping down and refitting the external parts again .. about a days labour. That time it halved the cost to me.
Source of the knock identified.... Hmmm, a rebuild after all but happy with the guy doing it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If you clean it with acetone and lightly sand it, you could build that up with JB Weld.... More to the point something caused that, hope it was just a one off like somebody dropping and cracking the piston last time it was built..
That was worth taking apart. You could have found that? This kind of obvious failure anybody can deal with in my view which is why I always suggest people have a look themselves before commiting to anything. 10 minutes dismantling to find that and THEN decide how to procede. I call that an easy kitchen table rebuild. I would pay someone to clean the case and do the rest myself despite living on a boat working on the bus in a car park and not really having anywhere big enough to rebuild an engine. That's just me.
With my selfish hat on. Because you've handed it over we won't learn much about your failure which is a shame. We'd be asking for photos of the other piston skirts. It might not have had enough clearance for example. Or it could be a simple duff part but in either case we won't know which manufacturer to consider avoiding. Good luck with the rebuild though, I understand you not wanting to tackle it really but for most people it does turn out to be unfounded fear of the unknow.
Mahle dished pistons, made in Brazil. Should have been okay but it depends how hot the engine got on the way from the Lakes to London. Was the failure #3? That’s usually the hottest. “the left-hand valve on cylinder three and both valves on cylinder 4 were tight with no gap or play whatsoever on the right-hand valve of cylinder four.” The heads need to be checked too, if the valves have needed adjustment there could be seat recession. Left side of #3 and right side of #4 are exhaust valves.
You may well be right @zedders but I just couldn’t bring myself attempting it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It probably wasn’t the run back from the lakes. I think that the engine overheated a couple of years ago when I had issues with the thermostat and wound up breaking the flaps spring, Don’t Ask How..... I’m a muppet, MUF said. It was cylinder number 3 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
