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Damaged Engine
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Sorry to hear about your problems.
I'm having some of my own with a possible bad transmission at 100,000 and a possible head gasket leak. Your EV could have been abused by the PO. If this is the case, you can't blame VW. It would be nice to know that VW can get the parts quickly and at a reasonable cost. Although us long time VW owners know this is never the case. I would check into the mileage on your EV. The dealer should be able to search the VIN number to see if the mileage listed at the time of any dealer service matches up with the mileage listed when you bought the EV. It may be possible that the true mileage on your EV is higher than 79,000. I just had my EV in for the auto tranny service 2 weeks ago. Now suddenly the transmission is slipping. I'm afraid to drive it and cause more damage, and afraid to take it back to the garage as they may cover up any damage they caused. I checked the fluid and got no reading on the dipstick. The owners manual says you need to drive it 6 to 10 kilometers before you get a good reading. On other cars I've owned, the fluid would read too high when the engine was cold. I think the garage caused a leak, or forgot to put the fluid in. Steve Lashley '66 Westy '74 Campmobile '93 EV MV <A href="></A> 314-614-0750 Importing German Side Tents, Carver Propane Heaters and other Accessories for Bus, Vanagon and EuroVan |
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In reference to the dealer tech telling you the previous owner may have taken
your van past redline: I don't know how much of an issue redlining the engine would be had your EVs previous owner actually tried to do this. The EVs cut out before they hit the redline (don't ask why I know. . .) At least mine did. Todd 93 EV GL w/88,000 miles and still (knock on wood) running strong. |
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Hello to all,
Please be patient with me since what I'm about to tell you all may happen to you one day (hopefully not) and maybe someone will be able to help me with some information. I've had my '93 EVGL for about three years purchasing it with about 39K on the odometer from a dealer in Tacoma, WA. As a machinist, I understand about machinery and maintenance. I therefore change oil and filter (VW filters only) every 2500-3000 miles. The engine was never "redlined" and usually run between 3000 and 4000 rpm. It was also never overheated and the coolant was changed every year (spring tune up) since I've had it. And finally, I have never ran the engine out of oil, in fact I check it often and make sure that it is between the two witness marks on the dipstick. About a year ago, I began hearing a noise from the engine. My dealer here in Washington State said that the timing belt was rubbing against the upper belt guard. They disassembled it and trimmed the guard back and put it back together. Noise went away...for a while. About two weeks later the noise re-appeared. I began to watch it thinking, as the dealer told me, that the noise was attributable to the timing belt guard. As a fanatic about maintenance and properly running machinery, I have also installed a VDO 0-100 psi oil-pressure gauge. While going to work, the idiot light came on and the pressure dropped to 20 psi at 3K rpm. I pulled over immediately, looked for massive oil leaks, and checked the level which was fine. After waiting about ten minutes I started the engine again and the light was out and the pressure up. I drove the rest of the way to work (about a mile) and parked the van. Since I had this problem I had the van towed to the local dealer. The "technician" told said, "If it were mine, I'd just run it. The belt is just rubbing." I insisted that the guard be replaced because it wasn't proper to have the belt rubbing. The technician then did some checking and determined that the oil pump needed to be replaced ($350.00). Total bill would be about $500.00. I thought this to be strange since the van only has 79,000 miles on it and since it said,"If it were mine, I'd just run it. The belt is just rubbing." As a part of disassembling the engine to access the oil pump the oil pan must be taken off. The mechanic/technician then discovered that the oil pick-up pipe was clogged with debris; what he said was burned oil and carbon. I called foul saying that I'd changed the oil every 200-3000 miles using Castrol GTX 20w-50w (summer) and 10w-40w (winter) with VW oil filters on every change. I did see the oil pick up and there was debris in it, however, I think it was from a defect in the engine. They then told me that the previous owner (50,000 miles ago!) probably abused the engine, burned the oil, and used non-detergent type oil. I don't think that non-detergent oil is even available anymore except in very specialized applications. Anyway, the connecting rod caps were removed and the bearing shells are scored, crankshaft is damaged and there are metal particles in the oil pan; complete long block needed at a cost of $4350.00. I called VW of NA and spoke with Jennifer Gardner who told me that she'd "look into it." The service writer that I'd been dealing with mentioned that Jennifer called but said that, unless a district representative stopped by, there was nothing that they'd do. I have, like Richard Golen with the engine fire/fuel leak, owned VW products before with no complaints. They are "stone axe" reliable which was my reason for buying a EV. I will continue to pursue relief from VW of NA, however, I'm not holding my breath. As for a long block, ATK does not stock them anymore saying that the returned cores were not "serviceable". Where can I go if I decide to do it myself? Are the Audi AAF and ACU engines a direct swap? Anyone else had such a problem? Any remedies from VW out there (recalls, service bulletins) Thank you all for listening to my rambling and being patient. Sincerely, Doug Shrum Washington State |
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TYA
At 08:55 AM 11/16/1999 -0800, you wrote:
Hello to all,Dear Doug, You can buy a whole 92 VW van from a local wrecker here (edmonton) and it is driveable. It would be worth it for the parts. You can probably sell the tranny to Eckhard since he needs one. REG |
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Norman Leong
Doug, Wow, what a downer of a tale; I'm sorry to hear of anyone's engine woes, but this one's a toughie 'cause you tried to take such good care of engine. I can't answer most of your questions but I'd say if you wanted to replace what you have with an equivalent engine, I'd call over to places like GEX in L.A., or Campbell-Nelson, or the place in Auburn Hills, MI (whose name I forget..) for a complete engine. Reg's idea sounded pretty good, too, getting a donor vehicle and then parting it out. Either way, sounds like it's still a big coin project. :( Of course, if you were daring, you could find a TDI engine+harness in a recycle yard and have a pretty unique vehicle, for the North American market anyway. Norman ______________________________________________________ |
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Chris Noeske
Since you took such good care of you engine you probably still have a strong
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Show quoted text
upper end of the engine, and the engine is worth keeping. How bad is the crank scored? Depending on the answer to this, you could probably get oversized bearings for the crank, and have it turned to accept oversize bearings. These parts should be available from VW, although expect long lead times. Or you could buy the used crank, from the person on this list that overheated his engine. They are parting out the old block, and I'm waiting for a price on the exhaust manifold. Correct me if I'm wrong but the crank should still be fine in an overheated engine. Personally I'd probably go with the used crank. In addition, you may get buy with "just" pulling the transmission. Leave the engine in the car, and remove the crank from the bottom. Remember to always store the crank in a vertical position, never horizontal, as it may get excessive runout. I have no idea how the crank will have to be packaged to ship without damage. Hope that helps -----Original Message-----
From: shrum@... [mailto:shrum@...] Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 1999 8:56 AM To: ev_update@... Subject: [ev_update] Damaged Engine Hello to all, Please be patient with me since what I'm about to tell you all may happen to you one day (hopefully not) and maybe someone will be able to help me with some information. I've had my '93 EVGL for about three years purchasing it with about 39K on the odometer from a dealer in Tacoma, WA. As a machinist, I understand about machinery and maintenance. I therefore change oil and filter (VW filters only) every 2500-3000 miles. The engine was never "redlined" and usually run between 3000 and 4000 rpm. It was also never overheated and the coolant was changed every year (spring tune up) since I've had it. And finally, I have never ran the engine out of oil, in fact I check it often and make sure that it is between the two witness marks on the dipstick. About a year ago, I began hearing a noise from the engine. My dealer here in Washington State said that the timing belt was rubbing against the upper belt guard. They disassembled it and trimmed the guard back and put it back together. Noise went away...for a while. About two weeks later the noise re-appeared. I began to watch it thinking, as the dealer told me, that the noise was attributable to the timing belt guard. As a fanatic about maintenance and properly running machinery, I have also installed a VDO 0-100 psi oil-pressure gauge. While going to work, the idiot light came on and the pressure dropped to 20 psi at 3K rpm. I pulled over immediately, looked for massive oil leaks, and checked the level which was fine. After waiting about ten minutes I started the engine again and the light was out and the pressure up. I drove the rest of the way to work (about a mile) and parked the van. Since I had this problem I had the van towed to the local dealer. The "technician" told said, "If it were mine, I'd just run it. The belt is just rubbing." I insisted that the guard be replaced because it wasn't proper to have the belt rubbing. The technician then did some checking and determined that the oil pump needed to be replaced ($350.00). Total bill would be about $500.00. I thought this to be strange since the van only has 79,000 miles on it and since it said,"If it were mine, I'd just run it. The belt is just rubbing." As a part of disassembling the engine to access the oil pump the oil pan must be taken off. The mechanic/technician then discovered that the oil pick-up pipe was clogged with debris; what he said was burned oil and carbon. I called foul saying that I'd changed the oil every 200-3000 miles using Castrol GTX 20w-50w (summer) and 10w-40w (winter) with VW oil filters on every change. I did see the oil pick up and there was debris in it, however, I think it was from a defect in the engine. They then told me that the previous owner (50,000 miles ago!) probably abused the engine, burned the oil, and used non-detergent type oil. I don't think that non-detergent oil is even available anymore except in very specialized applications. Anyway, the connecting rod caps were removed and the bearing shells are scored, crankshaft is damaged and there are metal particles in the oil pan; complete long block needed at a cost of $4350.00. I called VW of NA and spoke with Jennifer Gardner who told me that she'd "look into it." The service writer that I'd been dealing with mentioned that Jennifer called but said that, unless a district representative stopped by, there was nothing that they'd do. I have, like Richard Golen with the engine fire/fuel leak, owned VW products before with no complaints. They are "stone axe" reliable which was my reason for buying a EV. I will continue to pursue relief from VW of NA, however, I'm not holding my breath. As for a long block, ATK does not stock them anymore saying that the returned cores were not "serviceable". Where can I go if I decide to do it myself? Are the Audi AAF and ACU engines a direct swap? Anyone else had such a problem? Any remedies from VW out there (recalls, service bulletins) Thank you all for listening to my rambling and being patient. Sincerely, Doug Shrum Washington State ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the market for computer hardware or software? Compare prices on more that 100,000 products at CNET.com. Get all the latest news, reviews and prices! -- 20 megs of disk space in your group's Document Vault -- |
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Eckhard Rolz
Where can I go if I decide to do it myself?Sorry to hear about your problems. Mine has the exact same mileage. I guess next oil change I will remove the oil pan and check for any particles. While searching for a transmission I came across the following sites. I don't know if they actually carry the EV engine. If you are looking for a used one try I know John's Westside Auto Parts in Oregon just got a wrecked 93 EV. I bought the transmission-supposedly 49 000miles. 1-800-386-1399 Also Lakeview Auto Parts in Charlotte NC just got one today (they called me and tried to sell me the transmission) 1-800-336-7595 I also saw a 93EV for sale on the following web site. I think he wanted $3000 (he is in Texas). click in the bottom scroll bar on Auto Discussion, then type in "Eurovan" and mark the box "messages containing . . . " I have a long list of junk yards that sell over the internet. If you need some addresses, send me an email privately and I'll send you the list. I did hours of research in an attempt to find the right transmission. I found a number of them, but mine has a really obscure code and it was difficult to find one. But there used to be an engine with those transmissions and they are all the same. According to the Bentley manual it seems to be a pretty straight forward job to remove (drop) the engine. I will put my new tranny in next week and I will let you know if there are any difficulties. Good luck Eckhard |
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