Club 80-90 Forums

Having an engine dilemma, as my existing 1.9 DG WBX has reached the end of its life, with leaking water jacket, suspected broken oil ring on one cylinder and a general lack of power under load.

Spent ages reading the threads on this, so my options seem to be:

1) Get replacement 1.9. Have spent hour’s now reading threads on here regarding the various engine rebuilders / re-conditioners, and reached the conclusion that with all of them you may get a good one, you might get a duff one. Elite seem a cheap option with the 24 month warranty, but it appears you may have to use the warranty. I’ve had a variety of other VAG engines from Volkspares, The Engine Shop and one other that escapes me and they were all rubbish for one reason or the other!

2) Rebuild the one I’ve got. Looking at parts though they come in at approx. £2k assuming most bits need replacing. This is “expensive” compare to other options, plus I might bodge up the build! Also makes me wary of anything cheaper than this in terms of replacement / refurbishment – makes me wonder what they aren’t doing... Plus still then stuck with 1.9 and the power and economy that goes with this!

3) Buy ‘good’ 1.9 / 2.1 from on here, assuming anyone has one to sell. Makes me nervous I might buy an engine that isn’t that much better than what I have (not wishing to suggest anyone is intentionally selling a dud, more that they are all getting old now!)

4) Stick in a 1.8 golf GTI engine. Improve performance, MPG, but have to source all the diesel parts to get it to fit, which might not be as easy as it first looks. The 1.8 8v golf is cheap though at about £200 for the whole car. Loose flat four noise, and spend hours on my back under the van cursing whilst trying to fit an inline 4 into the engine bay.

5) Fit a Subaru engine. Experience power beyond my wildest dreams, but high cost probably out of my reach, and probably an inability to insure it! Also suspect my gearbox, brakes, suspension and rusty sections would all need work to deal with the power!!

Am I being overly pessimistic, as none of these options seem that good! Have I missed an easy one?!?

Would appreciate anyone’s views on what they’ve done, and what they’d do if doing it again!

Thanks – if you’ve made it his far your deserve a medal for perseverance...

Cheers,

Alex

We had the same dilemma! In the end we went for one of the engine reconditionres that you mention (Not a posotive expereance). I did most of the work and ended up costing close to £2000 (1.9DG). We should have gone with a diesel convershion but we had the old girl lpg converted some time. In my very humble opinion and if i could make my choice again I would go for options 3 or 4, hope this helps.

helga592 wrote:. In my very humble opinion and if i could make my choice again I would go for options 3 or 4, hope this helps.

I agree, if I was to have to do it again I would go with the 1.8 Injected golf / Passat / Scirocco (or even Audi) option. From what I have read (mostly on Brickwerks, were there is a load of info on it) it's not that hard at all, once you have the Diesel X member and sump etc.

Mind you if I came across a good WBX on here, I might just risk it, it's what I did 5 years ago (thanks to Billy739 the T25 spares guy in Gloucestershire), and it's still going strong (and was my daily until very recently). On LPG by the way.

I went from petrol to a TDI and I would do so again. Of course you will need to source engine bars, mounts, bell housing etc but you will if you go the GTi route anyway. I'm pretty sure the 2.0 is a better and more common route than the 1.8.

Thanks for the replies - looks like inline four power might be the way forward then!

Ninja.Turtle007 - that is an option I hadn't considered I must admit. Sounds like a potentially good idea though, as you get the low down power of the diesel, decent-ish speed and economy. Will add this to the dilemma!!

Cheers all,

Alex

TDI, is that not a fair bit more work though, what with chassis bashing, exhausts and wiring ?

Not saying it is as I know diddly about that conversion other than what I have read here, and even more so on Brickwerks where they seem to like fitting smelly Diesels

T25Convert wrote:Thanks for the replies - looks like inline four power might be the way forward then!

Ninja.Turtle007 - that is an option I hadn't considered I must admit. Sounds like a potentially good idea though, as you get the low down power of the diesel, decent-ish speed and economy. Will add this to the dilemma!!

Cheers all,

Alex

My TDI has way more power and torque than a 2.1. I raced a new transit from the lights and I left it trailing behind. You should have seen the look on their faces when they caught up at the next set of lights.


This is in a Syncro westy and I have had longer gears fitted. I average 32mpg. It will happily cruise on the motorway at 70mph (3050 rpm).

That is a good advert / testimonial for a TDI Tom, esp with the bit of extra weight of the Westy

why is fitting a 2nd hand inline motor any better than a 2nd hand dg/dj?

decide if you do lots of miles / are keeping the van for years or weeks

if longterm and using it alot then just get the best rebuilt motor you can or buy the parts and do as much yourself as poss - not cheap but the most reliable long term.

in line vw motor is not an easy / cheap option and to get the best of almost any conversion you need to included a g/box rebuild/ change with gears to suit- no point having a subaru on a 1.9 4 speed box!

i run a peugeot 2.1 td in my camper , 45000 miles so far in 5 years 34mpg high top , fully loaded (28-32 with loaded traior) - not to everyones liking but has been very reliable touring europe italy-gibraltar

Same Dilemma!

Billy ^^ (Above post) any documantation/pics of this conversion? Pugs are reliable old engines (As well as an old 320 Merc i've got a 406 approaching 200k and its its still strong as an ox and dry as a bone!..Oil every 6-8k, but bought it with 140k miles and it still pulls like a train)... allthough the gearboxes on pugs seem light, but I would be interested to know what box you're running based on your comment?

Billy - Its a fair point regarding why is a second hand 1.8 / 2.0 litre golf engine better than a second hand DG - I guess its a real lottery both ways. I guess part of me thought it was a way to get a bit more power for about the same as a recon DG engine. You're right though, the gearbox isn't exactly in great shape and would probably be another cost to make the most of any extra power!!

I have read with some alarm a number of new posts in the last few days from people returning from summer hols on their 'new' engines which are giving up in the first few thousand miles.

I have the skills and about 90% of the tools I'd need for a rebuild (an engine stand and some decent micrometers are all I think I'm missing), so you're right, the best solution is to rebuild what I have. At least that way I know what has and hasn't gone into it.

I'll limp on through autumn winter and strip it down next spring (assuming it lasts!)

Thanks all for reading - I'll be asking stupid questions about rebuilding in the next few months!

Cheers,

Alex

If you are contemplating a re-build, there are a few "project" threads on it, here is one I have "bookmarked" =
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=52374" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;