Cosmic's Winter Pulsar Project

Hello all, i thought i'd detail my Winter project here for anyone to tear apart i mean review.
I recently bought this GTIR spares/repair which sounded like a diesel. I suspected worn valve gear, seller suspected big end. Anyway only one way to find out....
My intention is to strip and rebuild the engine (in situ) and then treat and underseal the underside.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/33/41/51/image15.jpg

Removed rocker cover and measured cam clearance at 0.18-0.2   which is a lot bigger than the target of 0.1-0.15 i believe. Ill remove the cams next to see if they've worn


https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/33/41/51/image17.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/33/41/51/image18.jpg

Just drained and filtered the engine oil through the wifes jam making cloth and i'm pleasently surprised to find no metal at all! This indicates maybe bottom end hasnt gone after all?

https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/33/41/51/image19.jpg

Spark plugs are carbornated which indicates fuel mix was too rich and gaps are 0.6mm.

https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/19/33/41/51/image20.jpg

Look forward to the progress reports and pics

I bet your in the bad books with the missues, hopefully you've bought her a,New one.

You might get a few helpfull tips but no one on here is going to rip you a New one mate. Good luck with the strip down and keep us update

Yep, done ya dash, no jam for you this winter

You doing the strip down on those ramps out in the open, a cold toosh coming up for you.

hopefully not the bottom end, you still cant be sure as someone may have dropped the oil and put new stuff in.
You can generally tell a bigend knock fairly easy on these cars as it will be much more noticeable between 2-3rpm if you lightly feather on and off the throttle when shes hot.
You will hear a distinct dull type knock as you just come off the throttle when theres play in the bearing/s.

Valve train and incorrect shim adjustment is generally a loud rattling noise which is normally in time with the engine / cams and is very noticeable especially when cars warmed up to running temp

I've moved the car into the garage and jacked it up so ill be quite cosy over the Winter, just got no *^%*ing room at the sides though.

From your description it def sounds like its valve gear, theres no knocks, just a rattle at all speeds from the rocker cover which got louder as the car warmed up. I recently measured the cam clearances at 0.2mm which is double the spec so that ties up. Once i whip out and measure the cam lobe heights i'll Be Pretty certain i reckon.
My plan is to simply strip and replace everything not within spec.

My big worry is that the piston bores are worn and ill have to remove the block for a rebore. I dont fancy trying to pull off the gearbox.

I would compression/leakdown test it & not tear down unless something up.
Also chop the old oil filter open & check for metal debris.
Money & time probably best spent on valve train & perhaps head off overhaul leaving block alone if looks ok.
Other main thing to check is spray bar & oil pump pressure seems ok.
If all that goes ok once back together it needs running on RR & fuelling/ignition etc checked & any problems resolved. then use it a bit & see how goes &spend time/money on any glitches that may crop up
If you do need remove engine you drop it out bottom with gearbox still attached.
Your son is quite small so send him in the garage tight spots :-D
Hope you have fun & good luck .

I should've comp tested it first but will only be able to do a cold comp test now . Would the lower pressures results still tell me something or does it have to be done hot?

That's a good point about the oil filter, i'll whip it off tonight.
My gut feeling is that the block will just need a deglaze and new rings.
Oil pressure looked good when i bought it.

blocks very rarely wear, even if piston ringlands have cracked you can generally re-hone / deglaze them and ideally fit forge pistons if you've got the wedge (86mm cp are cheap from the states)
Cold compression test will be fine, you may find compression results down a little over hot but what you are looking for is a balance across all 4 mainly and that will be indicated hot or cold.
But obviously youll need to do the shims first.

Definitely a day of one step forward one step back today.


I couldn't remove the turbo till the air con pipe was removed.
Being a 'responsible' person i called a mobile air-con tech to remove the r134a first. Within a minute of arriving i was told the tank was already empty and after 2 he left 35 notes heavier.


So tonight, the big turbo removal. The f^*%er wouldn't budge.

Tried everything but it was catching on part of the down pipe and wouldnt budge an inch.

After 30mins i realised the rusty downpipe bracket had twisted and was jamming a turbo stud.

Another 30mins later and after jacking up and twisting back the downpipe, the turbo popped straight out!


Anyway heres some pics;




Next, inlet manifold! Oh joy.

Ah, forgot to ask;
Can anyone recomend a good company to service the turbo?
Cheers

Think someone on here works for Midlandturbos?

Not that im aware of ....

Matt (scrim R) on here recently had one built by midland turbos and said they had a good name and very reasonably priced

My view is if you intend to keep the car is to either buy a roller bearing core or buy a complete new turbo as I've never been very lucky with rebuilds

I plan to keep the car for a good few years so buying a new turbo with roller core sounds attractive.

Any idea where from and how much ££?
I don't want anything too extreme, just easy to fit and reliable

theres a couple places on ebay that sell the roller bearing cores
you need a gt28rs core to fit the housing I believe

Yeah I brought the core from turborebuild and they fitted my housings to it etc cost around 350-400 quid all in including postage etc. Its on the car now and pulls very well!

I think I'll do the same Shroom, cheers,
I'll give them a tinkle this weekend

I brought the core and was going to fit the housings myself but for the sake of 30 quid they did it all for me ao it was bolt of bolt on saving loads of time and hassle. Nice company and I know a few who have used them to balance rebuilt turbos etc.

I made a right pigs ear of an Pug hdi turbo so i'd rather leave it to the experts.
And like you say, for sake of £30 it's a no brainer.
Cheers

I emailed midland turbo and turborebuild so hopefully I'll hear back from them soon.  

Definitely had a good weekend in the office which i needed after the mare last week.  

Got the engine into tdc and whiped out the camshafts in no time at all.
Tbh it was only the chain tensioner that was a pain to remove as i was trying to access it from the top, but from the side it was a lot easier.

I measured all the shaft clearances at around 7 to 8thou and some shim clearances at about 6thou which is quite a lot out of spec, but i'm surprised at the lack of wear on the cam lobes which I'll properly inspect tomorrow.




Hiwever there are signs of wear on the chain.



Does anyone know how you're supposed to measure the clearance on the guide shims? I couldnt fit a feeler gauge in the groove?


Tomorrow ill try and finish removing the intake manifold. I,ve got the nuts undone but somethings not letting go.

Just measured all the camshaft lobe heights. They all came in between 38.71-38.72mm.
Spec, as far as im aware is 38.65-38.84 which means im pretty much smack in the nominal and dont need to replace them.