Screwing around with a Eurovan!

[d67u57]

well most of the noise will be coming from the starter which is probably not in the same place as the source.

dont think theres another way to spin the engine.

now if the engine is not shaking itself to death,that means its probably not bad enough to seize itself either.

removing the oil pan might shed some light.

 

[Cole]

Took a few moments between snow storms to check the van out a bit more today.

Nothing going on with any of the belts or pullies.

Checked all the TC bolts and they are tight.

Dropped some oil off the dip stick to look at it and good news......I got to play with my ancient macro lens! :sombrero:

Unfortunately that is where the good news ended again. :Wow1:

Here is what the oil looked like on a glass slide....um....okay, it was the bottom of a pint glass

....and just for my buddy Stan I also dropped some oil from the 928S4 on the pint glass. Its the amber colored stuff. Can't see it so well in this picture but the 928 oil is perfectly clear (and about a year old) vs the more grey/brown colored Eurovan oil that is filled with particles (and only weeks old)

 

[d67u57]

are those particles metal?

edit : nice photography btw

 

[Cole]

They seem to be.

Probably worth just pulling the pan in a few days to see what I find.

Edit: Thanks.

 

[Cole]

Well, something fun happened with the Eurovan today! The original owner, the artist of the below pictures, sent me the other two original drawing:victory:

 

[d67u57]

one day you will show your grand kids

hows that oil pan removal business paining you?

 

[Cole]

Still waiting on parts to move out my other car so I can really work on the van again.

 

[rockwood]

Easiest way to check for metal in loose oil is of course a Magnet.

Awesome build.

 

[Cole]

Got 5 minutes with the van today. Had the wife crank it while I looked/listened with the valve cover off. Everything seems tight, unbroken and moving as it should.

But.....the oil flowing in the head is obviously filled with metal filings.:yikes: So the next step is to remove the whole passenger side axle assemble so that I can get the pan off.

 

[d67u57]

filled? ouch. gl man.

 

[Cole]

Okay, I got about an 1.5 hours of work in on the van and need some input from you guys.

Drained the oil and it was VERY silver and metallic looking.

Every rod has some play to it. I can "fairly easily" wiggle the rods back and forth, but no noticable up/down movement. There was no obvious single rod problem.

I pulled the bearing caps off a few of the "looser" rods and found some scoring on the rod bearings but the crank looks perfectly polished.

Here was the worst of the group. (I was going to measure them but A) couldn't find the stock spec and B) the batteries in my calipers were dead)

Thoughts on this?

 

[d67u57]

for all of them to magically play up? i dont know.

did you use some new miraculous oil? (ok bad joke)

was there some play in the crank maybe? though that wouldn't last (long)

but then again it would do the shake rather fashionably.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_V6UnOUJd4

'VERY silver and metallic looking'

that worries me. a lot. sure you can replace some parts,but that gritty oil has gone places,and 'sand papered' down left and right.

not the same engine,and not there yet.

http://volksweb.relitech.com/21rodbrg.htm

the important part with this one is 'metal everywhere'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPXODzIBycU

 

[mapper]

Bummer man. VW motors are generally robust. As such I've never had to dig that far into one in my 19 years of driving, using and abusing VAG cars so I can't comment on the wear. Regardless, not sure I'd waste much more time on that one, because something obviously went very wrong. Either some contaminant got in during your previous work, there was more damage to begin with or something else failed miserably. Sourcing that Tdi or a replacement VR6 might not be a bad plan.

 

[Cole]

Bummer man. VW motors are generally robust. As such I've never had to dig that far into one in my 19 years of driving, using and abusing VAG cars so I can't comment on the wear. Regardless, not sure I'd waste much more time on that one, because something obviously went very wrong. Either some contaminant got in during your previous work, there was more damage to begin with or something else failed miserably. Sourcing that Tdi or a replacement VR6 might not be a bad plan.

I agree. They are usually pretty robust. I haven't had a rod bearing issue in any of my crazy projects since 1987 and that car was already 20 years old at the time.

The PO had a pretty well documented history of frequnt, Mobile 1, oil changes and maintenance on the van. However, the conditions inside the engine would suggest very infrequent oil changes, with cheap oil. It may be a case of the PO being swindled buy a shop claiming to do an oil change, but not doing it.

I have a feeling that the oil sludge/crusting caused the first issue that allowed me to get a deal on the van. The same issue probably caused the rod bearing issue.

Of course I would prefer the van run, but I'm not really going to stress about it. Maybe it will be a simple fix, maybe it will simply be an opportunity for an upgrade. TDI? Maybe a 3.2L VR6 block? Maybe an Audi 5cyl 20v Turbo ?!?!

 

[AeroNautiCal]

...Of course I would prefer the van run, but I'm not really going to stress about it. Maybe it will be a simple fix, maybe it will simply be an opportunity for an upgrade. TDI? Maybe a 3.2L VR6 block? Maybe an Audi 5cyl 20v Turbo ?!?!

I like your outlook on this, viewing it as an opportunity rather than getting stressed.

Highly commendable!