1987 1.6TD JX Dumping Oil under load out of dip stick tube.

[dogrady1]

Is the 1.9 a petrol engine?. I don't know what I would have to do to get one to fit. I think just taking the engine out is the limit of my mechanical capability. I was always good at taking things apart at Christmas. They were always broken by boxing day! I really need to turn this engine around and get it fixed asap.

Cheers for the info though!

[andysimpson]

Is the 1.9 a petrol engine?. I don't know what I would have to do to get one to fit. I think just taking the engine out is the limit of my mechanical capability. I was always good at taking things apart at Christmas. They were always broken by boxing day! I really need to turn this engine around and get it fixed asap.

Cheers for the info though!

No a later diesel, found in mk3 golfs tec. There are a couple of very slight mods but nothing drastic.

[camper]

Is the 1.9 a petrol engine?. I don't know what I would have to do to get one to fit. I think just taking the engine out is the limit of my mechanical capability. I was always good at taking things apart at Christmas. They were always broken by boxing day! I really need to turn this engine around and get it fixed asap.

Cheers for the info though!

Are you doing this single handed or with help ? two heads are better than one. With regard to fitting the engine back to make it easier for me i will drop the gearbox before refitting.Once the engine is back on the mounts i will refit the box.Its a fair old lump that engine .

[dave friday]

The £700 was for parts and machining and cylinder head [boared max oversize] and didnt enclude the oil pump ] i dismantled and de-built the engine.When i think about it there were lots of bits added on as the re-build took place.. bigend bolts,flywheel bolts,injector parts,crankshaft bolt cam belt, etc...
Good to do though and frustrating!!.

[dogrady1]

I am doing this single handed at the moment but there are guys in the garage that I am using that would help with the more physical moving if I get stuck. I am sure they would want paying though and I am trying to keep the cost down. I am currently looking for a job and so all this work is going to have to be on the 'never never'.

[VanDiesel]

They also fixed a leaking diesel injector and replaced the small tubes that link them. They cleaned around the injector with some spray and washed it down with water. The injector does not leak anymore. However, when the camper is under load (I drove over the mountains to Rome) the oil was leaking out of the dip stick tube.

Hi Dogrady1

I'm new to this forum & have only just spotted your posting. Upon reading the threads I think fellow member 'Krisis' might possibly have highlighted your oil leak problem with the dip stick tube.

Some five years ago I encountered the same problem; I had just thoroughly cleaned my engine prior to removing & replacing all my injectors with a proprietary spray cleaner.
Low & behold my previously ultra reliable oil tight diesel motor suddenly developed an oil leak from the dip stick tube.
The oil initially appeared to be being pumped out of the dip stick tube, down the block onto the sump. As the oil dripped off the sump it was picked up by the airflow below the vehicle & tiny oil droplets were sucked back up onto the rear of tailgate.
I too was ready to drop the motor but luckily I gave the issue some more thought & asked myself what have I done recently to create an oil leak? Answer cleaned the motor
I checked the spray cleaner caution label & it confirmed my suspicions. Label read; Caution do not use on any plastics or rubber. I went back to the engine bay & dry wiped the oil leak with paper towel around the dip stick tube/block. I then started the motor & carefully observed said oil leak. Upon revving the motor oil was seen leaking from the base of the dip stick tube & not pumping up thru tube as I initially thought. Back to the workshop to study exploded parts diagram showed a rubber o-ring oil seal fitted below a washer on the lower section of dip stick tube. I popped back out to motor & pulled tube from block to examine suspect rubber oil seal. It was shot/knackered; the highly volatile cleaning spray had damaged the rubber seal. Popped over to my local VW dealer & purchased a new seal {VW part # N 90032203} couple of quid from memory.
I then thoroughly cleaned up old dip stick tube/washer & fitted the new seal. I then re-located the tube in block, now nice & snug.
I took vehicle for test drive & problem cured for a couple of quid.
Worth trying this before dropping the motor.

[dogrady1]

Well what can I say.... what a day. I finally got the engine out of the camper tonight. I couple of things on the way (I broke the hose at the vacuum pump... going to have to get a new one but the vacuum pump look knackered anyway. Its probably the rustiest thing on the engine other than the 4 turbo bolts which I can not get off). I had to take the exhaust box off to get the engine out. This means the rest of the exhaust is still attached to the engine through the turbo! I'll take a photo tomorrow for you all to see. I have also inspected the gear box shaft. It looks a little wobbly. Is this normal / OK. There was a bit of an angle trying to get the engine out and the gearbox mounting surround has come forward at a very slight angle (maybe 5mm away from the back mating surface only at the top.) I assume this will all pull back together again when I put the engine back in and bolt up?

VanDiesel... thanks for your posting. I will check the bottom of the dip stick tube and look at the 'O' ring. I hope it is this. That would save me stripping the engine down tomorrow and getting the bottom half off. It would also save me a lot of money going any further. I was thinking of just getting the CAM, rebore, pistons, rings etc done. What are your thoughts? I don't really want to mess with the top half. In the Just Campers book it says that post 1986 1.6TD engines have hydraulic tappets?? I assume they don't need setting and I have never had any problems with knocking / noise from the engine. I was thinking of leaving these well alone. What do you think I should do. If I find the 'O' Ring knackered, should I just try and put the engine back in and forget about getting the lower half done as well? I really am regretting not waiting a while before I took the engine out but the garage guys are sure the piston rings have gone and they are a great bunch of guys to be working with. They have let me use a couple of sockets I did not have the right size for and a hydraulic crane to lower the engine to the floor. The engine has done 345000km as well, so it is a safe assumption.

Don't know what to do now.

Please let me know.... I will be going back to the garage again tomorrow at aroun 8.00am to carry on. It would be helpful for some replies before then!

Cheers everyone.... at least I am still smiling even though I am covered head to toe in oil!

[andysimpson]

Ok just on bottom half pistons,gaskets,bolts,bearings,oil pump, cambelt and tensioner will cost easilly £700, this does not cover cost of rebore or crank regrind if needed(it will). The top end if the biggest weakness of the JX, it will defo NEED attention. These engines are designed/priced to be thrown away when knackered.

[dogrady1]

Andy, Do you think I should touch the top and bottom then or should I just replace the 'O' ring on the dip stick tube at the bottom attachment to the engine and try to put the engine back in?

[fergus77]

Dogrady,

I would check that dipstick seal before going any further. As i mentioned in a previous post, my engine had the same problem. Oil flying out, up the back tail gate and losing loads of it with every journey. Instant gasket around the dip stick based cured it!!

Andysimpsons right, you would be better off investing in a 1.9 1Y diesel engine instead of rebuilding your own. You'll get a good engine for way less money than you would have to fork out for a rebuild.

[andysimpson]

Andy, Do you think I should touch the top and bottom then or should I just replace the 'O' ring on the dip stick tube at the bottom attachment to the engine and try to put the engine back in?

If its breathing heavy it will force oil out of various places. I think yours has a piston/ring or bore problem form your description. If i had a JX with the symptoms yours has i would just bin it and get a 1.9 which are far superior. To fix a JX bottom end you would have to be insane there are so many issues with them and parts are exspensive unless you get nasty ones which will go wrong quick and even then won't be cheap.

[dogrady1]

Where would I get a 1.9 and how would I get it to fit in my camper. How much are they? Is it a big job? The only info I have is from the Just Campers manual which is for 1.6 & 1.7 Diesel and Turbo Diesel. Either way, what ever I do is going to be on credit, so should I just clean her up, fit the 'O' ring in the bottom of the dip stick tube and try to put her back in the van. I did find that the big hose to the air filter had desintagrated and a large piece of it (like foam in a mattress) was half blocking the infeed. Would this have anything to do with it? The garage guys said that would not cause handfuls of oil to come out of the oil filler cap (when the cap is off and the engine is revved). Any thoughts?

[dogrady1]

My symptoms are definetely oil coming up the inside of the dip stick tube. I know this because when I did my test run of 20km, there were no leaks on the engine but when I checked the dip stick, oil was creeping its way up the marker. Ie: looked like it was overfilled, however, when wiped and re-iserted, the oil levels were correct. Would the faulty 'O' ring seal cause this symptom or would the oil be coming up the outside of the dip stick tube?

[andysimpson]

A BIG blockage in the air intake could cause all problems apart from oil out of dipstick hole.

1.9's most common in golf 3's, vento's, toledo's,audi 80's, 3A passats. Avoid ABL's in transpoters and AEF in polo's and caddys.

[dogrady1]

Do you mean that the blockage would NOT cause my symptom of oil out of the inside of the dip stick tube? ie: The half blocked air filter is a red herring for my symptom.