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2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 08:24
by crazydiamond
Thats it...... had to remove cylinder head and one of the studs sheared off alongside the piston barrel. I still dont know if my problem would have been solved with a new cylinder head, but now im screwed. The head stud will be almost impossible to extract without removing barrel. So options? New engine or put it back together (I havnt disturbed the head yet) I need some help
Re: 2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 08:57
by davidoft1
The studs are pretty accessible ,pull the head and barrel , you can remove the gudgeon pin and pull the piston , it’s not a terrible job on an air cooled
Re: 2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 12:14
by sarran1955
Hi,
A broken stud is not the end of the world.....
Which cylinder.... inside or outside??
All covered in burnt oil.. or nice and clean..?
Can you see if the studs have been previously helicoiled??
Why did you have to remove the cylinder head??
This would be an ideal opportunity to drop the engine and go for a good tidy and clean...
Here is a video to help....
https://youtu.be/uRXNqBHH-LE
Cordialement,
Re: 2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 13:03
by crazydiamond
I am in middle of lymphoma treatment and getting old nearly 72. Havnt got the energy to pull and rebuild engine a list of not goods on the engine now. A head swop is still a thing that I can manage and I do have a brand new one already.
Problems:
1.stud thats snapped between cylinders 3 & 4 roughly in the middle alongside barrel its burnt and wont easily undo.
2. LH inlet manifold stud in head pulling out cylinder 4 outer (possible reason why inlet manifold cracked and had to be replaced.
3. tried all electrics and fuel all good but LH cylinders not working, pull leads one at a time on tickover and cylinders 3 & 4 make no difference but there is a spark there
4. cylinder 2 has spark plug stuck in, cant shift it and scared of causing more damage by forcing it
5. oil pressure can sometimes appear to drop, light comes on, usually on a long downhill road, or when hot idling
Did a compression test on 3 of the 4 cylinders and have 140psi cant do cyl 2 as plug stuck but that bank cylinders 1 & 2 appear good.
It makes no difference if I run on LPG or petrol.
As you see a few things . This engine was a recon engine about 20 years ago and lots of hellicoils used across engine. Its done probably 120000 maybe more. A new recon is what I want. Where from around west midlands i live in Kidderminster
Re: 2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 13:08
by crazydiamond
Just to add to my wows, put it all back together and have a brown wire with female spade on loom next to distributer where does it go?
Re: 2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 17:45
by sarran1955
crazydiamond wrote: ↑Today, 13:08
Just to add to my wows, put it all back together and have a brown wire with female spade on loom next to distributer where does it go?
Hi, should be the brown earth wire that goes on the distributor mounting stud.
I sympathise with your dilemma, I will be 71 this year, and I lost the best part of 2 years with cancer.
These VW's are a lifetime project....
Cordialement,
Re: 2lt CU Aircooled engine wrecked
Posted: 16 Jun 2026, 20:06
by mioba
crazydiamond wrote: ↑Today, 13:03
I am in middle of lymphoma treatment and getting old nearly 72. Havnt got the energy to pull and rebuild engine a list of not goods on the engine now. A head swop is still a thing that I can manage and I do have a brand new one already.
Problems:
1.stud thats snapped between cylinders 3 & 4 roughly in the middle alongside barrel its burnt and wont easily undo.
2. LH inlet manifold stud in head pulling out cylinder 4 outer (possible reason why inlet manifold cracked and had to be replaced.
3. tried all electrics and fuel all good but LH cylinders not working, pull leads one at a time on tickover and cylinders 3 & 4 make no difference but there is a spark there
4. cylinder 2 has spark plug stuck in, cant shift it and scared of causing more damage by forcing it
5. oil pressure can sometimes appear to drop, light comes on, usually on a long downhill road, or when hot idling
Did a compression test on 3 of the 4 cylinders and have 140psi cant do cyl 2 as plug stuck but that bank cylinders 1 & 2 appear good.
It makes no difference if I run on LPG or petrol.
As you see a few things . This engine was a recon engine about 20 years ago and lots of hellicoils used across engine. Its done probably 120000 maybe more. A new recon is what I want. Where from around west midlands i live in Kidderminster
I just had my JX rebuilt by AW collected done and redelivered in a week.
Keith there is brilliant - a proper old school engineer.