Which engine to choose

[Wesley]

Hi,

I was hoping from some advice please.

I need a re con engine for my t25. It's a 1989 1.9 petrol caravelle.

When I purchase it, it had a vege engine. However the guy at the mechanics where the van is being fixed has recommended the vw engine shop in catford. The plus side is the engines from here are £1595. This is £200 cheaper than the vege engine from just campers I was going to purchase.

However there seem to be lots of people recommending the vege engines and then others saying to stay clear. Has anyone used the vw engine shop, catford? And if so how good are their re con engines?

The guy from garage obviously knows his stuff and is very helpful. I guess I just want to make sure I get the best engine for my money. Can't afford for anything else to wrong- at least for awhile!

Many thanks
Wesley

[ghost123uk]

Have a browse through the results of this lot. As so often, opinions vary a lot. Buying a re-con (or more often, better described as "repaired") WBX is always a lottery it seems.

What is up with your engine? - There are a couple of professional / reputable places on here who undertake WBX repairs.

[Wesley]

Thanks for the info- will take a look. Seems abit of a minefield all this engine stuff and can't afford for it not to work!

As for the old engine the head gasket went on it. My fault as didn't check the water level and didn't realise the heater gauge didn't work! Guy at garage tried to replace the top end but the last bolt snapped when being put back together. It snapped low down apparently so re con seems my only way out now.

Any advice will be helpful- I don't mind spending the money as long as the engine is worth it.

Cheers
Wesley

[ghost123uk]

If your engine was otherwise good, I would be getting it fixed. Better the devil you know and all that.

Where in the world are you?

There are at least 2 companies I know of that can be relied on to do a good repair, and whilst not an easy job, for someone with the right gear, removing a broken stud is certainly do-able. If this happened to me, I would be ringing either Andrew at Campershack or Simon at T3volution. Someone told me that Steve at Gasure is doing more engine work these days, but I don't know if that is correct info or Chinese whispers.

[Wesley]

Hi John ,

Thanks for that. Based in Bromley Kent but the van is currently at the garage in Carshalton.

Just out of curiosity what kind of price (rough of course) would I be looking at to repair?

Many thanks for the help

Wesley

[ghost123uk]

Just out of curiosity what kind of price (rough of course) would I be looking at to repair?

Without seeing the job, I really cannot say. I doubt the guys I linked to would give more than a rough ball park figure. Reason being, as your man found out when the stud broke, things can crop up that make the job more complicated than it first seemed. Try ringing Andrew at Campershack for some idea as to cost. I believe he was planning on keeping a couple of repaired engines in stock, though last I heard he was too busy doing other T25 work to keep up ! Worth a phone call though.

[Wesley]

Will look into it thanks. Shame I'm not nearer as it's too far to tow.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Wesley

[ghost123uk]

Will look into it thanks. Shame I'm not nearer as it's too far to tow.

Almost sure they have a low loader available.

[Dougal devon]

By carahalton i take it it is with the guys on the high street. Silverbullet is in sutton pm him and see what he can do to help. I always thought he was an air cooled guy in carshalton (he was when i was there ) he did not do my van any favours ..wrong plugs beetle ones . Wheel bearings did not fit so on ......not saying he is rubbish just he is not really clued up on wbx engines and late model stuff.

[kevtherev]

if it's just a snapped stud I would repair it

[Tinium]

I'm on my 3rd engine block from the VW engine co. First one installed by my vans previous owner sprung a head gasket leak just outside of warranty, so agreed a fixed price to replace. 2nd made a mysterious noise when warm that they couldn't identify, so was swapped for free for another engine. That blew it's crank oil seal in Belgium and I crawled back, where I was told that the 3rd engine was supplied as a gesture of good will and therefore not covered by warranty... gave up arguing and got my local garage to fix out of my own pocket in the end

12 months down the line I'm informed by my garage that the engine now has low compression on one of the cylinders, so I'm now saving for a Scooby conversion!

As always, if you're close to them (travelling up from Devon was a PITA) and make sure that the warranty's tight, then you may get lucky, nice people and knowledgeable, but I don't think that my experience was a good one I'm afraid.

HTH.

[kevtherev]

That's pretty poor Tinium...
You can get a replacement engine from Elite VW.
It comes with a warranty.

[Sir Brixalot]

That's pretty poor Tinium...
You can get a replacement engine from Elite VW.
It comes with a warranty.

ARRGH DON'T USE ELITE. You've been lucky with yours Kev, perhaps Elite were OK in the past, but it's now an expensive and time wasting lottery. I would not under any circumstances recommend Elite VW. (just search recent posts on this Forum). Campershack are busy and there's a very good reason for that! T3volution are also often praised one here.

[kevtherev]

That's pretty poor Tinium...
You can get a replacement engine from Elite VW.
It comes with a warranty.

ARRGH DON'T USE ELITE. You've been lucky with yours Kev, perhaps Elite were OK in the past, but it's now an expensive and time wasting lottery. I would not under any circumstances recommend Elite VW. (just search recent posts on this Forum). Campershack are busy and there's a very good reason for that! T3volution are also often praised one here.

See Wesley? every one has a hard luck story with these engine suppliers.
It's up to you really

I would fix it

Never had an Elite engine flyinghightop but I know a few satisfied customers

[silverbullet]

I am not in Sutton.