Is my TDI engine DONE? :(

hdlo

Member
I just bought my first A2 (1.4 TDI 75hp AMF). It hadn't been driven for months and was sold with known errors such as faulty ABS controller. Car was high mileage (200k miles), looked clean, great spec, and was cheap.

I got in a rush... Owner was very nice and an Audi guy.. He knew cars. And he'd just made the A2 ready for me, put on summer tires and done a quick wash. I remember asking him about the oil change, and he said it was done last spring. Car had only been driven 10.000 km. Engine looked reasonably dry/dusty.

I was appalled when I found the dipstick a few days later.... I had to put in a lot of oil before it even reached minimum.. Yesterday I did an oil change (5W-40 VW 505.01) and inspected every creek of the filter. I found 4-5 pieces that looked like aluminium, tested non-magnetic. (Camshaft bearings?) Drained oil looked OK as far as it didn't have shine to it. But when emptying the pan I found A LOT of flakes. I am in disbelief that these flakes can have been inside the sump. (I didn't actually see them come out from the sump.) But I am quite sure my drain pan was clean.. the bits looks like rust scales, and the magnet confirms it is ferrous.

I always keep an eye on gauges and lights when I drive my cars. Thing is, this A2 may have duped me as well? As it has DIS (driving computer) and an ABS fault that does 3 loud beeps when you drive away, and then constantly shows an alert symbol in the display. I have now read that the very same display is used to display and OIL WARNING/ALARM.... ahem.... :oops: does anyone know how the computer prioritizes these faults? There was NO beeps from the display during my trips with this car. DIS has pixel fault. I have scanned it with VAGCOM and can't find any stored fault codes of low oil level or oil pressure alarm. But I don't know if these events would throw any code.

Please advise ?
 
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Barry can you highlight what you’re seeing for the benefit of the rest of us?

All I see is a reflection of a cloudy sky!
The first photo in an earlier post shows it best: if you run something (finger / screwdriver) through used engine oil, you don't want it to leave any sort of trail: imagine algae in a pond. Pond looks solid green but if you run a stick through it, you'll stir up a pretty pattern behind the stick.

If it was old gearbox oil, you might expect some brassy sheen a bit like this, but not on an engine.

As Paul suggests, a quick crankshaft end-float test would be a fast, free check. Also, if engine revs dip when the clutch is pressed, it would point to crank thrust bearings but absence of slow down doesn't rule out bearing disintegration.

If all seems well it'd be wise to check the balance shaft / oil pump drive side of things, again, as per Paul's post above.

If apart, you'd give the sump a good clean whilst you're in there and obvs do another oil filter change.
 
My 50 cents… if this is metal, the engine is presumably beyond repair=drive the car until it seizes

If this is not metal, drive the car

Alternatively; what if you drain the new oil, and carefully recheck for metal? You could just reuse the oil so no money wasted if careful. And no major engine stripdown necessary involving alot of hours
 
My 50 cents… if this is metal, the engine is presumably beyond repair=drive the car until it seizes

If this is not metal, drive the car

Alternatively; what if you drain the new oil, and carefully recheck for metal? You could just reuse the oil so no money wasted if careful. And no major engine stripdown necessary involving alot of hours
Yes, I am going to try that and post results here.

I'll drive it a bit more.
Dump oil in a CLEAN pan. (oil cost €50)
Inspect oil and run it through a paint strainer (it is 190 micron I think).
Refill.
Park it or use it.

As adviced I'll check crank end play (by hand feel). If it is confirmed bad I may plan an engine swap. Complete motor teardown to replace crankshaft bearings seem out of scope for me. (But there has to be a first time for everything.)


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I did an oil change after 300+ km. Bought a new oil tray as the one I had was too complex a design to be cleaned properly. Inspected the filter like last time and found nothing. 125 micron filter did catch something though. It wasn't magnetic. Could possibly be dirt from surroundings, e.g. my. clothing after laying in the gravel..


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