Quote:
Originally Posted by anders
Yes indeed an experiment!
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That is for sure. Quite a story with that 2.8, never knew you could oversize a block with a hone! That must have taken some work!
That's funny, this project took me back to some early experiences trying to learn my way around the inside of a motor too. Don't know if that's a good sign or not, but fun memories anyway.
Well, my science project TDI is back together and on the road, and so far seems to be running good. I ended up having to use a couple more new parts besides a headgasket; it needed a few new heater hose sections, and I also threw in a new thermostat just on principle while it was apart. I have never owned a new-to-me vehicle that did not need a thermostat right away, seems like the single most likely to be overlooked part on the whole engine, so I figured the pattern would hold and I would need one sooner or later here too anyway. I also put on a different used turbo to replace the one I took off it, which was a little tired from too much time at double (!) its factory boost level from the crazy computer chips in this motor, and also was drenched everywhere inside and out with oil from all the blowby when it got driven home by the PO on two and a half cylinders.
A couple weeks ago while it was still apart, I also picked up a good spare long block that luckily popped up for sale nearby. Felt better to have it as a backup in case this experiment didn't work out. It was actually kind of fun working on this project, knowing there was no reason to worry too much about the outcome or trying some "creative" ideas, since nothing I was going to do could make it any worse than it already was.
I reused the rod bearings, head bolts, and rod bolts, and cleaned up all the filthy black sludge inside the pan before putting it back together. This engine had some of the nastiest, thickest old oil inside it that I have ever seen -- I am guessing a combination of too much fueling causing heavy soot contamination, plus massive EGT and oil temps causing oil breakdown from heat, and seemingly also too-long oil change intervals to make everything even worse. Hoping a few short interval oil changes with cheap oil helps clean it up inside a little for the next time I have it apart, and I might do a diesel fuel flush with it too at some point. Reused the timing belt and rollers, for now, since they only have about 35k and 6 years on them. If the engine still seems to be healthy in a few months I'll probably at least throw a new belt on.
Everything looked and felt pretty good overall going together, but I wasn't really sure how it was all going to turn out until I got it spinning over on the starter to prime the lube and fuel systems, and heard it crank with an even rhythm. I was pretty certain at that point that this engine was going to run just fine.
Sure enough, after getting injectors bled it fired right up and ran on all four! It's actually quieter and smoother feeling in this heavy vehicle than these engines seem to be in the small cars they are usually installed in, maybe a little more mass and sound deadening helps. It's surprisingly refined and decent to operate for a diesel 4-banger.
Been driving it around and the rest of the car is in reasonable shape and seems to drive well, despite having sat for a few years. Needs some new fluids elsewhere and a few other little tweaks but not bad, even the A/C works. Hopefully will give some good usage this summer as a camping/recreation rig. I found a set of stock tune chips on ebay that I need to put into it, and it'll probably need a set of stock size injectors too, then it will be much slower, but hopefully give as much life as this engine is capable of. Right now it's quite quick, but smokes like a train at full throttle, and runs way too much boost and timing, obviously experience shows it's able to hurt itself at this power level in sustained use.
There was one very strange other episode that happened with this engine several days after I first got it running that I'll describe later, completely unrelated to the internal engine repairs. Something that I had never seen or heard of before, I think having to do with the IP's reaction to running on 6-year-old diesel. I'll save that for next time though. For now here's a video of it running, and some photos below.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8j1Sopn83kaDjZxn9
Any bets on how long this engine will survive?
