80 Vanagon's shenanigans, what next?

[cegammel]

Mixed reviews then all around...I would still buy 10 self destructing GEX engines before I buy anything from MOFOCO again...just a bit of personal input there...

[bosco53]

"Again," declared the petulant scolding little bald professor, " We don't know the whys and wherefores of your engine's failure. You CANNOT just slap them on and go with it. What happened? Do you have damaged cylinder walls? Have you checked the intake camshaft lobes after removing a lifter so you can see the wear pattern? Check the lifter bottoms too. Are they pitted or flat or concave? And, *!@#, let me know if #2 has scoring on its walls in excess of the others. Can a fingernail catch any stripes going up and down the cylinder wall. Answer my questions before you walk over them and blithely continue asking yours."

Hanging my head in shame...

Cylinder #1 NOT #2 has more scoring than the rest. My finger nail is caught in a few places going around the wall. The rest are clean. Haven't made it out to El Cajon to get my heads back yet.

[bosco53]

I must suck at life right now. My heads are still at the shop. I haven't gone to get them, haven't ordered new ones, haven't done jack besides walk my bike past Bluey as I head out of the garage to work thinking "gosh I cant wait to get him running again." :'-( And now my time may be getting insanely short as we are looking at a house to move into a better school district for my older daughter. This is gonna get interesting.

[cegammel]

Chin up, dude. Just keep plugging; it'll all come together, and you'll be glad for the project when life settles down.

[Amskeptic]

Mixed reviews then all around...I would still buy 10 self destructing GEX engines before I buy anything from MOFOCO again...just a bit of personal input there...

You go . . . . I have some unfortunate observations here on March 27, 2015 that pretty much conclude that there is nobody left who will do any better of a job than you, the panic-stricken newbie.
Yes you, you are the only person on Earth who gives enough of a damn.
Colin
(Only Raby engines have not set me off in paroxysms of disbelief)

[wcfvw69]

Mixed reviews then all around...I would still buy 10 self destructing GEX engines before I buy anything from MOFOCO again...just a bit of personal input there...

I have to say I'm simply shocked the MOFOCO is still in business. They have to have one of the worse feedback threads on The Samba. I've also seen many pictures of the work that they've completed. Not good.
Sadly, it's kind of the norm in the air cooled VW world these days. Finding a VW shop that's honest, cares about their quality of work and has anything resembling quality customer service is few and far between..

[cegammel]

Regardless of their quality, I'm a big fan of customer service. As a paying customer, I expect certain privileges...maybe I'm just spoiled. The attitude of that company is unbearable. When the owner actually told me that he had thousands of other customers and didn't need my sorry ass, I realized that rebuildable GEX is preferable to non rebuildable attitude...

[bosco53]

(Only Raby engines have not set me off in paroxysms of disbelief)

OK, now that's great and all but I am trying to penny pinch this regardless of what I "should" do. To an extent. Money IS an object in my one-income household and $15k for a motor is just a bit steep for me right now.

Too bad you're not going to be in socal until august. Although at the rate I'm going, I'll still have the motor on the stand. With the way things are looking, I'll be moving as of May 1st. And i really dont want to hire a tow truck to take Bluey to his new home. Now the fire is going to be lit under my a$$ real quick.

[bosco53]

Ok, Im gonna get my a$$ in gear and get this thing going...please have patience with me as I am more than likely about to divulge how little I truly know about these things.

As it now stands, you need to fill all of the combustion chambers with gasoline or kerosene or even windshield washer fluid, to see if your valves are leaking. THEY MIGHT NOT BE. You might have the famous 2.0 piston scuff that occurs from hot headwinds without the modifications from the TSB.

I assume this means pour it through heads? (Which are still at the shop that told me they are cracked.)

Carefully check for any evidence of seat recession! If your seats are exactly where they belong, and there are no cracks to be found, I would, against all tho$e other$ who $ell new head$' advice, reuse the heads. I do not see evidence that you were running especially lean, your combustion chambers/valves were not bleached white.

Seat recession? Like with the valves? How will I check for evidence of this? When I originally took my heads to the shop to be checked out the guy found right away that I was missing a seat completely. Does this tell you much?

I think you just scuffed a piston, and I think it is going to be #2. Let me know if #2 has scoring on its walls in excess of the others.

There is what appears to be scoring in cylinder #1. Its the only one with lines that catch my finger nails. What does this mean? What are the necessary steps to correct this? It looks to be easily another $400+ for a piston and cylinder set. Is that where this is heading?

Also, after I pulled one head and tilted the engine the other way to pull the next, 2 lifters dropped out of the block onto my drip pan. Scared the heck out of me at first. It was loud. Is that normal to just be able to drop out like that? Can I just put them back in?

wondering "what else should I do so this thing is reliable and I don't have to do this again anytime soon? And won't completely kill my already hurting pocket book?"

Too Late!! Get a Dakota Digital CHT gauge so you can monitor destructive tendencies on windy days.
You are here with oil in your cylinders, I suggest a full teardown, notch the connecting rods, do not allow the heads to be flycut because you get only one chance here not to have to use sealing rings (did you have any between the heads and cylinders?).
Colin

Full teardown? I've never been into a block before. Notch the connecting rods? Is the goal to NOT use sealing rings? They were on there when I pulled the heads and you said that may be evidence that the PO didn't mess with it? Should I not need them?


Again, I apologize for what is probably a boat load of asinine questions. It is beyond frustrating and humbling to go from a guru in one forum realm (I.E. Pirate4x4.com) to a dead-weight noob in another.

[asiab3]

The VW factory (or dealerships?) Issued a service bulletin that dealt with piston scuffing on the Type2 2.0L engines. It is mirrored here:

http://www.ratwell.com/mirror/www.dolph ... hbull.html

While I think I understand how removing the spacer/gasket allows more heat into the cylinder to allow it to expand more and dissuade piston scuffing, I won't pretend to be able to help you with the rod notching.

[cegammel]

There is also a bulletin describing the notch...basically a groove parallel to the rod in the piston end, allowing (I think) oil to splash more effectively into the bottom of the piston.

The hydraulic lifters are not tight in theirbores, though mine did not just fall out...maybemy engine was too gooey.

If you have the "How to rebuild your vw engine " book, you should be fine.

Colin is your best resource, but he will drive you nuts with his precision...but....do it. It's worth it.

[Amskeptic]

Ok,
the guy found right away that I was missing a seat completely. Does this tell you much?

Missing a seat completely? Explain. If a seat leaves its home while the engine is running, all mayhem ensues with valve getting stuck open and piston hitting valve and sometimes a full grenade scenario.
If the seat was a little loose, it is is not "missing".

cylinder #1 catch my finger nails. another $400+ for a piston and cylinder set. Is that where this is heading?

Yep.

2 lifters dropped out of the block Can I just put them back in?

They belong in their respective bores because they have a specific wear pattern to the cam lobe. Take the rest of your lifters out ( label them!) and look for pits in the bottom wear surfaces and look to see if they have gone flat by butting the bottoms against each other. They *should* rock imperceptibly from centers to edges. Or you can use reflection distortion to ascertain surface of lifter bottoms:



Look at the camshaft lobes, especially the intakes. If you see cathedral marks that catch your fingernail, it is toast city:

a) wondering "what else should I do so this thing is reliable and I don't have to do this again anytime soon?
b) And won't completely kill my already hurting pocket book?"

Pick One

It is beyond frustrating and humbling to go from a guru in one forum realm (I.E. Pirate4x4.com) to a dead-weight noob in another.

It's good for you.
ColinDeadweightGuruGodOnHighAllRiseForHEIsInTheRoom