Opinions wanted re what to do engine wise

[ghost123uk]

Some of the regulars on here will have read on here about my ongoing 3 month old saga of disasters re the engine in our "Colin" the Camper.

Briefly =

DG engine starts burning oil badly on one cylinder.
It was never a very good engine, just OK
It's a bit rattly, has 2 x damaged exhaust studs on one head, always used a bit too much oil, you know just getting tired.

So, bought a so called "really good" replacement that turned out to be only a DF and was mixing oil and water like no-bodies business. It was very quiet mechanically though.

Got a refund eventually.
Got to keep the DF

Spent £100 on getting new liner seals, head gaskets etc fitted (and new rings whilst at it) - this was done at cost price by a local place that knows about WBX engines.

Fitted it back myself only to discover now no oil pressure

The local garage who fitted the gaskets etc managed to clear a blockage and get oil pressure back.

Now I find it is dumping oil into the water at a rate of around 1/2 Ltr in half an hour ticking over, BUT no water seems to be getting into the oil.

I am so fed up with removing and re-fitting engines on my back at the side of the road, often into the evening and in the wet, and having one disaster after another, plus the expences incurred, I have had to give up and put the van off the road so as to afford to put the Scirocco back on the road to use as daily transport.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Questions =

Does anyone who really knows these engines have any thoughts as to were the oil is getting into the water ?

1 - cracked head ?

2 - cracked crankcase - are there oil-ways in the case that could leak into waterways?)


If considering, note water does not seem to be going into the oil, just oil into the water !!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Second lot of questions =

If this were you, would you :-

1 - Buy another second hand WBX (that has been seen running and inspected!!)

2 - Strip down the DF and try to find the problem (it was a very quiet engine with good compressions etc)

3 - (I am very tempted by this option) get the engine bracket etc required to fit a 1.8 Golf / Passat / Scirocco petrol engine (I can still use the existing LPG with it)

Re Option 3 - I like these engines and could fabricate exhausts etc myself.
They are more powerful, more reliable, much easier and cheaper to get from any breakers. I wonder how much money / work is involved ?

E D I T = I cannot afford the £1000 plus for an Elite recon.

Regards to all

John in Chester

[Ian Hulley]

Elite.

[ghost123uk]

Elite.

Cannot afford it = over £1000 plus a £300 deposit in case old engine is no use

[toomanytoys]

Mmmmm sorry tale of the usual problem when trying to do it cheap..
Oil in the water on a wbx will never come from a head, the oil is not at pressure in the heads as it comes up the pushrods under pressure... and drains back under gravity...
Barrel base seals shouldnt be a problem either as there is no pressure in the case and oil is only splashing around at that height in the engine.. in both cases the water system will be at a higher pressure than the other sides so water in oil....
if oil is getting into the water than it will be from a crack or machined part in the oil supply system in the case...
Oh unless you have an oil cooler fitted as per 2.1 engines?? then this can leak into cooling system...

If you can get a second hand engine and test it before buying, or from one of the regulars on here then its still viable.. have a word with syncrospares, billy 789, etc etc....

[ghost123uk]

Mmmmm sorry tale of the usual problem when trying to do it cheap..

True though the so called gem of a DG that I bought that was in fact a duff DF was £450 !! ( I did get my money back eventually)

Oil in the water on a wbx will never come from a head, the oil is not at pressure in the heads as it comes up the pushrods under pressure... and drains back under gravity...
Barrel base seals shouldnt be a problem either as there is no pressure in the case and oil is only splashing around at that height in the engine.. in both cases the water system will be at a higher pressure than the other sides so water in oil....
if oil is getting into the water than it will be from a crack or machined part in the oil supply system in the case...

Thanks for that, just the info i was looking for.

So the DF should be considered scrap then ?

Oh unless you have an oil cooler fitted as per 2.1 engines?? then this can leak into cooling system...

No oil cooler fitted (I did have that happen on my other (now gone ) Scirocco.

If you can get a second hand engine and test it before buying, or from one of the regulars on here then its still viable.. have a word with syncrospares, billy 789, etc etc....

Might do that if summat comes up. No hurry now as I have had to SORN it (just after it passed it's MOT as well !! )

Still wondering about a petrol Scirocco / Golf / Passat engine conversion though...

Thanks for the input

.

[toomanytoys]

So the DF should be considered scrap then ?

.

Well its really a total strip down to find the problem...

[billy739]

can you lean on the garage who fitted the seals, it may be there fault .

[ghost123uk]

can you lean on the garage who fitted the seals, it may be there fault .

Nah, the guy who did it is a decent very helpful bloke.

It's just one of those things that can happen when you take a gamble on an engine from eBay that you haven't been able to check over. Last time I do summat like that !!

I still fancy the conversion to a 1.8 in line VW petrol engine.

Anyone know the ups and downs of such a conversion ?

[KarlT]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe.

I know nothing of doing engine conversions but if you were going down that route the best option has to be a subaru conversion.
You are keeping the essence of a VW, ie a flat 4, & probably the most desired engine conversion whenever you want to sell.

Just a thought.

[Mr Bean]

[quote="ghost123uk"]Some of the regulars on here will have read on here about my ongoing 3 month old saga of disasters re the engine in our "Colin" the Camper.

B

E D I T = I cannot afford the £1000 plus for an Elite recon.

Well I have spent a couple of years propping up what seemed to be a basically good WBX DJ with 110K miles on it. This included oil pump, oil cooler and quite a bit of fiddle time. It didn't burn oil. I have had several good cruising holidays including a couple of 1,000 ish mile French trips. Then a couple of weeks ago with absolutely no warning the oil light came on, went out then it started to clatter on lift off. So I have bit the bullet and put it in for an Elite installed rebuild plus Two year guarantee. I love to rebuild my own engines but maybe I am just tired or it is the wrong time of the year. Time will tell if I made the right choice and I have of course had the "Good money after bad" comment from a couple of people. But we just love the old bus (completely rebuilt Leasuredrive high top) and need it to follow our lifestyle. I will be reporting good or bad in due ourse so watch this space.
Cheers
Wolfie
(WBX's are like a certain type of woman lots of fun and terific perfornmance but tricky if they get a paddy on!)

[ghost123uk]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe.

I know nothing of doing engine conversions but if you were going down that route the best option has to be a subaru conversion.
You are keeping the essence of a VW, ie a flat 4, & probably the most desired engine conversion whenever you want to sell.

Just a thought.

Ah but you are missing one important fact.
.,
.
.
.
£1000 + pounds (more than an Elite Re-Con)

[Vanagonman]

Put in a used Aircooled unit with tinwork

[Laurie]

Given the amount of oil its using, I think that either a head stud has snapped, inside the rocker cover, or the nut is fully on but not seating.

The good thing is that you have new barrels and pistons and (it would seem) a number of cases etc.

For fear of being slagged off, Camper and Commercial recently re-published the article I did for Total VW. It will give you what you need to build your own.

[KarlT]

Sorry to hear your tale of woe.

I know nothing of doing engine conversions but if you were going down that route the best option has to be a subaru conversion.
You are keeping the essence of a VW, ie a flat 4, & probably the most desired engine conversion whenever you want to sell.

Just a thought.

Ah but you are missing one important fact.
.,
.
.
.
£1000 + pounds (more than an Elite Re-Con)

Tish tish my good man.....That's what Credit-cards are for!!


Anyhow is there a big difference in cost?
My knowledge on the subject is little but the big cost seems to be the adaptor for the gearbox but won't you need one of them anyway for your inline motor?

[Fritz]

note water does not seem to be going into the oil, just oil into the water !!

Isn't this the same result you came to with the E-bay engine ?,,,,,,then why spend money trying to fix it if there was a doubt over its internal condition.

If cash is an issue then your only option is to trust one of our on-line traders who may be able to find you a decent enough usable second hand motor to get you by.

To go down the alternative engine route is just making work for yourself.

Your choice is between McGill/Marcus or Billy and trust them .

Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,,