Page 1 of 3
DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 03 Apr 2021, 23:16
by spanishfly
Just in the process of stripping and cleaning my DJ hoping for some feed back...
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 13:41
by spanishfly
Very quiet out there....? I really do appreciate the help and advice you've all proffered in the past. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post what is becoming a DJ rebuild....
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 16:31
by spanishfly
spanishfly wrote: ↑05 Apr 2021, 13:41
Very quiet out there....? I really do appreciate the help and advice you've all proffered in the past. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post what is becoming a DJ rebuild....
Finally a run of dry days so dropped the engine.
Pulled the flywheel off to reveal
Burned and out of spec, enter a member here on a white horse who had a used spare for sale... thanks Stu!
Removed ancilliaries and found one of the waterways was blocked with sealant which can't have been helping...
heads off, haven't cleaned them up yet but only done 3000 miles since a top end rebuild
pistons and liners out some cleaning with paraffin, brake cleaner and green scourer.....1 and 2 don't seem too bad?
3 and 4 have some scratches/ damage as has no.4 liner
Do I need to replace these 2 and 1 liner?
Made a basic stand for the short block
this came apart Ok but a bit nervous as to what may lurk within.....
2 of the push rods are squashed and 3 of the hydraulic lifters missing their clips...
Not entirely sure what Im looking camshaft looks past its prime..?
though the camshaft gear doesn't seem worn. The edges on the left are light rather than wear.
Next I'm going to unbolt the con rods and take some pics of the crank....
Again not sure what it should be like but that doesn't seem too bad does it?
Bigends .....
Camshaft shells
Also found these which were presumably left in the unopened engine when the top end was done.... None of the 4 pistons were missing any ring bits...
Any thoughts, advice on what needs replacing or what just needs polishing would be much appreciated....
I do seem to have messed up the editing, ideally only this third part would exist as it has all the bits so far...
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 16:44
by Stesaw
Welcome to the world of endless cleaning
That barrel isn't going to hone out by the look of it and the piston is pretty shot so probably look at replacing those. That blocked water pipe cannot have helped the engine at all
Check those head bolts, if they are pitted or have damage you might want to think about replacing them, "bar-steward" of a job but its insurance.
Get the crank polished and check the journals. New bearings all round I'd say.
Replace those pushrods that are flat. The cam looks a bit rough ( one of the engine gurus might be able to tell you if it's no good) , If you are buying a new cam to go in the engine you will need to replace all the lifters anyway.
Buy new conrods as the bolts are NLA. Plus if you can get a hold of bolts it works out cheaper to buy new rods with new bolts included.
I certainly wouldn't reuse any bearings, your's look a bit scuffed compared to the ones I removed from my 2.1 build. Could be to do with the fact you had a blocked coolant line and it was overheating maybe.
Theres one of the circlips for the lifters in the engine, not sure why there is bits of piston ring in there
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 16:57
by spanishfly
Thanks for that, ......there were 2 hydraulic lifter clips missing when I took them out and my theory is the engine had a ring failure and head gasket leak so had 2 new heads and a few new studs but the case wasn't opened so those bits stayed inside. One was snarled up in the drain plug thread so that's knackered too. Oil pump had two gaskets a victor reinz or elring over the original vw one which can't have been good for the oil pressure...?
The studs look pretty good to my untrained eye. I'll clean them up and post some pics......
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 17:03
by Stesaw
Ive had clips go missing on my 1.9. I think it's when the pushrods aren't seated right and they bash against the lifter edge causing them to get damaged and then the clip pops out. Depending on what cam you get (if you replace it) you would have to get a different oil pump to fit it.
Generally there is a gasket between the pump and the engine case and a gasket between the pump and cover, althought sometimes people only use a smear of sealant due to using a gasket would make clearance out of spec.
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 17:36
by spanishfly
That makes complete sense, 2 bashed in push rods and 2 bashed in lifters minus clips, tightened down without being properly seated perhaps? And you're right about the gaskets I was forgetting the pump flange.
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 17:56
by Stesaw
More than likely the case, but they musta been like that for a while to get that bad I would have thought. The lifters probably had clips just got bashed out.
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 08 Apr 2021, 09:54
by Stesaw
Also as I've been doing a 2.1 rebuild its going to cost you more than you probably think unless you're used to doing rebuilds and have all the tools and such.
You're probably looking at about 2k at least, in parts. If your headbolts are pitted then you really should replace them which is a "pooh" of a job.
Save yourself the headache and just pay someone like ajsimmo to do it for you and let him have the headache instead.
Its been a year since I started mine
where the heck did that time go?!?!?!
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 08 Apr 2021, 18:22
by silverbullet
Scored bearings come from a dirty rebuild, muck in the gallery or the crank getting pushed into fresh bearings. The piston skirt gouges dont look good either, suggesting a couldn't care less attitude by the last spanner monkey who laid their hands on the engine.
Its getting harder and harder to make a good job of a wbx when so many have been abused in the past.
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 09 Apr 2021, 21:13
by spanishfly
Are you saying it can't be resurrected?
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 09 Apr 2021, 21:26
by Stesaw
More like, you're gonna need new bearings on everything as well as the piston/cam/rods etc
Just make sure that if you do build it yourself clean clean and clean. Make sure the oil passages are all clean as any dirts gonna mess up bearings. Measure up your crank to see what bearings it needs as there are different sizes, get a new cam, ajsimmo on here could hook you up with one and fit your old cam gear if it's in good nick and you send it off to him obviously.
There's lots to go through as I've found out!
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 13 Apr 2021, 23:24
by spanishfly
Crank is 55mm so STD I guess. Getting down and dirty with a dremel and 10 wire wheels (so far!) the bottom of the studs in the water jacket show signs of Wookey hole at the bottom otherwise very clean!
Stupid question perhaps but assuming no pitting is acceptable?
Picking away at the bases with a curved scribe suggests they sit in a machined recess?
Do the wise favour scraping away at the scabs and soaking in penetrating oil, (I'm trying Aerokroil, new to me but love the old school design and smell and so far seems to work very well) before hitting the aluminium around the base with blow torch then double nutting?
How long with the blow torch roughly? Don't want to overcook it.....
Also does anyone know if decent OE camshafts will come back into stock anywhere ever or is that it?
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 14 Apr 2021, 09:03
by spanishfly
Re: DJ rebuild... piston damage....
Posted: 14 Apr 2021, 09:44
by 300CE
spanishfly wrote: ↑13 Apr 2021, 23:24
Crank is 55mm so STD I guess. Getting down and dirty with a dremel and 10 wire wheels (so far!) the bottom of the studs in the water jacket show signs of Wookey hole at the bottom otherwise very clean!
Stupid question perhaps but assuming no pitting is acceptable?
Picking away at the bases with a curved scribe suggests they sit in a machined recess?
Do the wise favour scraping away at the scabs and soaking in penetrating oil, (I'm trying Aerokroil, new to me but love the old school design and smell and so far seems to work very well) before hitting the aluminium around the base with blow torch then double nutting?
How long with the blow torch roughly? Don't want to overcook it.....
Also does anyone know if decent OE camshafts will come back into stock anywhere ever or is that it?
Might be worth contacting TES to see if they have any camshafts available - they have these available but not OE:
https://www.theengineshop.info/acatalog ... 9TES5.html
