Club 80-90 Forums

We set off to go to the beach 20 miles up the road today, were going to stay at Glenbrittle campsite for a couple of nights and just chill in the sunshine but fate had other plans for us.
The poor tired old engine finally died.
She overheated,water temp shot up, oil pressure dropped due to the heat I think and started clattering loudly, thin oil pissing out of the crankshaft seal and dripping on the hot exhaust, clouds of white smoke. Luckily it didn't catch fire but i got the wife and dog out quick, followed by her oxygen bottles and the butane bottles before peeking in the hatch with a fire extinguisher in my hand.

Got a mate to pick up the wife and dog while I waited for RAC, at least it was a nice day and I had a nice view while I waited.



It took a while for the RAC to get to me so I had nice cold beer out of the new compressor fridge that arrived this morning and watched all the tourists heading for glenbrittle.



One it had cooled down I checked oil and water and they were fine so tried starting it up and it ran but sounded tappety but that could be piston slap or big ends.I darn't try driving home in case it let me down again.
I've got a couple of weeks off now so will drop the engine out and strip it and see what the damage is. Then decide whether to re-build, replace or look for a GTI.

Oh dear, sorry to hear that. By the sounds of things it'll be big end / main bearings

Gutted for you both. I really am. (Both being you and the missus, ). Hope you have a good weekend despite.

Sorry pal but that sounds exactly like a big end bearing, a problem I experienced an hour after buying my van

I've been having a think. White smoke out of the exhaust is indicative of head gasket failure, or some other method for coolant getting into the combustion chamber such as a cracked bore.

I'd suggest you drop the oil into a tray and look for any metal flakes or "shimmer" on the top of the oil, examine the filter too, maybe cut it open, before you go to the trouble of taking the engine out. All when you feel up to it.

Thanks for your input guys.
The engine is old and tired anyway, it's had low oil presure and low compression as long as I've had it which suggests big end wear and piston ring wear to me too.
I think the smoke was from the overheated thin oil escaping from old seals and dripping on the hot exhaust rather than being burned and blown out of the exhaust.
I'll drop the oil anyway as part of the engine out manouver, it'll be easier to drop it with the engine in the van than with it on the bench anyway. I'll report back on anything I find in the oil
I knew this would happen eventually but due to my wife being terminally ill we decided to just use it as long as we could and deal with it when it happened. It's done us well considering.
Unfortunately it's happened at a bad time for us as the wife has taken a turn for the worse recently and we wanted to make the most of the time we have together by getting out and about in the van. She's on oxygen 24/7 but we can take her oxygen tanks in the van and plug in her oxygen concentrator as long as we have hook up.
Thanks for your kind words Roger. We're off to the beach for a day trip in the car today, not the same as taking the van but needs must.

(update)- i just went out and put it up on ramps while I can still drive it, it's pissing out water from several seals, thermostst housing, bleed ring to block under the alternator and i think head seals too. whether this is due to overheating? barrell fire seals gone and gasses pressurising the coolant circuit? or the cause of the overheating? I don't know.

Oh dear again just doesn't seem enough, you are truly going through really difficult times. I'll let others with greater WBX experience comment on the likely engine damage, maybe just dropping another used engine in will be the quickest way to get out & about again, if you can stand the outlay. Only you know can decide what you want to make your priorities are and how to spend your time. If I can help eg. by looking at an engine close to me, please just shout. I'll be thinking of you both.

Bob, I’m really sorry to hear that, I did note your mention of oxygen. She seemed to be looking well (to me, having not met before) when you popped by earlier in the year. My thoughts are with you both.

Thanks for your kind words guys and thanks for the offer Carrera, I'll keep you in mind. Pm sent Roger.
Yes, Ideally I'd throw in a 2nd hand engine for now and re-build mine when I have more time.
My only worry is ending up in the same situation if I get a clapped out engine or a badly re-built one from one of the less reputable companies.
I'll have a think about my options but if anyone on here has a good dg engine for sale I'd be keen to talk about history, price and shipping.

Ask Itchyfeet, he seems to have a collection of engines he rebuilds for fun

He does em right too.

I dropped the fluids this morning, oil was a little silvery but no big bits of big end shell.
No mayo in the oil.
No oil in the coolant.

So I dropped the engine anyway so at the very least it needs new seals all round and new rings might as well go in as I have em.
If the big ends are worn am I looking at getting the crankshaft ground? or will new shells do the trick?

Nice day for it then.

Yep, might as well get on with stripping her then. See what you find when the heads / barrels are off.

On the crank side, you won't know until you look at it. Depending on wear you can get away with just a crank polish and new bearings. Don't simply allow a machine shop to grind to first oversize

Cheers.
I'll start stripping it when I get a chance, The Mrs has plans for me today.
I've had a feel of the head nuts and they came loose easily.
Next up is to get the exhaust off. could be a struggle by the look of the studs.

Soak the nuts in penetrating oil / diesel / engine oil before you crack on with your other duties for today.

If your exhaust is anything like my WBX exhaust then I suspect you'll end up cutting things off, and there might be nothing left to reassemble to

Still, rust cuts / grinds away easy

Thanks for keeping me going Carrera.
Soaked em in diesel while i took the mrs out this morning. Then cracked on with stripping bits off while she had a snooze. Yep! The grinder came out and i got all but 3 studs out clean. The rest will come if i weld a nut on em.
The first clean has started. Everything is knee deep in crud.



I've decided to just rebuild it unless i get an offer i can't refuse on a re-built one. Shipping an engine up here is almost as much as the cost of the engine.