What probably broke?

Hello,

My Golf III TDI 1Z broke down again today. It's been making a ticking noise since I had a rebuilt engine installed. The engine rebuilder told me at the time, when I called him about it, that I should have it checked out by a workshop.

Okay, so they did it, and then the friendly people said, 'They can't hear anything. I can drive through there without any problems.' That was in November last year.

Today on the highway... speed dropped from 190 to 130 suddenly, but the engine was still running.

I then tried to shut down the motor and restart it in order to eliminate any potential emergency mode, but the motor would not start.

Once I got it running again, I tried it once more. Besides a dull thud and what seemed like a short-circuit causing a very high starter current – which even reset my air conditioning – nothing else works.

However, the engine itself didn't make any unusual noises as it crossed the Jordan River.

What would you suspect to be the cause?

'With the last engine failure, it was different. I only saw a black wall of smoke coming from the back, and the engine also made very clear noises that indicated it was about to fail.'

Best regards.
Oliver.

Hi there,

I once had a seized crankshaft on a V6 TDI engine. The car behaved exactly as you described yours did, except it didn't make any 'ticking' noise. I couldn't even turn it over with 400 Nm of torque.

The strange 'ticking' sound coming from your engine might be due to a faulty connecting rod bearing, which could indicate excessive clearance between the crankshaft and the connecting rod.

Best regards, Christian.

Hmm...

How much would it cost to have it checked by a mechanic?

Can you tell if there's a problem by just looking at the oil pan, or would you need to remove the engine?
A more extensive repair is probably not worth the cost financially, considering that the car itself is already 9 years old and has 245,000 kilometers on the odometer.

I will now send an email to the engine repair company with a complete description of the process.

I'm curious to see if my initial, positive impression of this company holds true.

I'll keep you updated.

Best regards.
Oliver.

I will now send an email with the complete description of the process to the motor repair company.

I'm curious to see if my initial, and at the time positive, impression of this company will be confirmed.


I would like to know the name of the company.

The engine is manufactured by Meyer Motors.

www.meyermotoren.de

Mal ein 1. Update...

Meyer Motors informed me by fax that they will examine the engine for me free of charge. They will also cover the cost of transporting the engine to their facility. This is regardless of what the cause of the problem turns out to be during the inspection.

If they acknowledge responsibility for the issue, they will also pay for the renovation.

So far, so good.

I'm not sure what else could have caused the engine to fail. I always used 5W-40 full synthetic oil with VW approvals, had all scheduled oil changes done, and the last two maintenance services were performed at a VW dealership. A new turbocharger was also installed when it was put in 1.5 years ago. So, any parts related to the turbocharger (especially since it wasn't defective back then) are not likely the cause.

Let's see what happens next...

The next update will probably be released only 2 weeks after my vacation...

Best regards.
Oliver.

Here's an update...

The company Meyer rejected the warranty claim after inspecting the engine.
The reasons were as follows:

The engine had a temperature gauge sticker on the head. This indicated 121 degrees (Celsius), which is the maximum reading. The engine was therefore likely overheating.
My temperature gauge definitely only went above 90 degrees once. And I noticed it immediately because, along with the broken timing belt for the water pump, the power steering also failed.

Furthermore, the combustion chambers would have exhibited an unnaturally verschandeln appearance, which would suggest chip tuning.
I had added two tanks of diesel fuel with an ATU (InterJect) diesel system cleaner before the defect occurred, in order to potentially free up a stuck injector needle valve.

In addition, the head gasket showed signs of bulging, which likely indicated overheating.

The scale deposits on the engine block were interpreted as water loss, which was correct. I had a bite mark from a rodent on the coolant hose leading to the auxiliary heater, and I replaced it. The water that evaporated onto the engine in the meantime left those traces.

Everything was then interpreted by 'Motoren-Meyer' as follows: the hose probably burst, which I naturally didn't notice, and I let the engine overheat.

Nevertheless, they offered to regenerate the engine free of charge, and I would cover the conversion costs.

I went through with this deal, even though I still believe that the ticking sound, which I objected to from the beginning, was caused by a minor issue present from the very start, and that it may have also overheated the engine locally. But try proving something like that when you don't have legal insurance and 2. all the facts are against you, even if the problem was caused by other reasons.
After the engine was installed, the master mechanic at Volkswagen took it for a test drive, and two days later, while still at Volkswagen, the turbocharger failed.

'When I replaced the engine for the first time in November 2003, I installed a new turbocharger even though the old one wasn't broken. I thought that at 200,000 km, it wouldn't hurt. Besides, there was a good deal on eBay at the time.'
However, I don't currently have the invoice needed to get the turbo replaced under the warranty for spare parts.

I guess I'll have to bite the bullet now and get a new turbo installed for €1200. And that's on a car that I only plan to drive for another 6 months.

Best regards.
Oliver.

Sure, here is the translation of the text from German to English:

'P.S.: Here are the pictures from the engine inspection:'

http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274037.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274038.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274039.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274040.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274041.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274042.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274043.JPG
http://www.hugohiasl.de/P4274044.JPG

'I've kind of been through something similar before. If you don't have legal insurance and all the facts are against you, I probably wouldn't do anything about it either. You should also try to put yourself in the company's shoes – for them, it looks like a classic engine overheating situation with all the signs and evidence pointing that way...'

Basically, that's how I saw it.
And they also repaired the engine again as a goodwill gesture.

Therefore, I don't want to say anything negative about the actions of the company Meyer-Motoren.
Actually, it's still a rather lenient solution from their side.

I think I would buy another Meyer engine if I ever found myself in a situation where I needed to replace an engine.

That's a really awkward situation.

"There are still a few things that aren't entirely clear to me."

"Regarding the 'tickering': do you think it had anything to do with the damage, or was it something else?"

2. The faulty turbo: Did the VW workshop install the engine? Whose fault was it that the turbo failed? Did the mechanic forget to fill the lines with oil during installation?

3. Meyer argues like this: You claim the engine overheated due to a lack of water caused by the weasel bite. But then why are there so many water stains on the cylinder head gasket? And how did the water get into the cylinder in the first place? That doesn't make sense. The markings look as if the cylinder head gasket wasn't okay, or that the cylinder head and engine block weren't properly aligned.

Hello!

'Was I supposed to have the car tuned, or do the pistons normally look like this on a 1.9 TDI engine (I mean, you can clearly see the spray pattern from the injectors on the piston)?'

If so, I would be interested in this chip!

Best regards,
Andi.

Hi.

Quote:

3. Meyer argues like this: You drove without water due to the weasel bite, and as a result, the engine overheated. So why are there so many water stains on the head gasket? And how did the water get into the cylinder? That doesn't make sense. The spots look like the head gasket wasn't okay or that the head/block weren't flat.

because after it had been heated up, it was refilled with tap water and driven for a long time afterwards?

Best regards, Rainer.

So, I think that if the cylinder looks like this, certain parts have gotten into the turbo, and that's why it made that noise during the test drive.

Best regards,

What caused the third piston to fail?
Could it be that an injector was faulty and that's why the ticking sound occurred?