Reconditioning engine

[Jimmy68]

Im thinking about maybe getting my watercooled 1.9 petrol engine reconditioned, its done 97,000 mls, will be traveling to france so want it as reliable as possible, is recon the way to go ?

[phil_b]

97k doesn't seem that high to me, although it depends on how hard a life it's had and if it's been properly serviced. Do you already have reliability problems with the engine?

Although I don't know that engine specifically I imagine that most reliability issues are related to fuelling, ignition and electronics etc rather than mechanical failure of an engine component, so rebuilding the engine would only help reliability if you also overhauled all those other elements too.

If its currently running well, I would just have it properly serviced before you go and take out breakdown cover in case the worst should happen

[Ralf85]

Mine's done 135K and still running sweet, cos it's been well looked after over the years, by VW in Germany up to 2007 and by my garage over here ever since. Doesn't matter that you are off to France. I will be over to France again for my 30th trip there this Summer. Make sure you have breakdown cover and you will probably have no problems. If the engine is working fine don't fiddle with it!

[kevtherev]

Don't fix what ain't broke!
Reconditioned engines invite a whole world of unknowns.

Just keep up the regular servicing, ( twice yearly)
And remember to change the coolant every two years.

At 30 years old your van can break down for many reasons.
Ya can't cover them all, but you can be diligent with regular inspection and prompt fixes of what is broke.