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RXStdi

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  1. Thought I should attempt an update on repairs to the Lupo after it went bang. I intended to take photos but always seemed to be trying to finish off whatever bit I was working on and not wanting to waste time cleaning hands to use a camera. When I stripped down the head all the valves were bent and all except one tappet were damaged so I bought a secondhand head on Ebay. This came without injectors and removing the injectors from the damaged head proved to be more difficult than the manual indicated (they had been in position for 122k and 17 years). I then had to buy new injectors seals before fitting them to the replacement head and setting the adjustment - this all took quite a while. I bought a new VW head gasket but the head bolts and cambelt kit came from ECP to save some cash. The cambelt kit is a Dayco one because I needed the hydraulic damper as well and VW charge over £100 just for this item - not sure about the Dayco kit as neither the tensioner or cambelt look to be such good quality as the original VW parts but much cheaper. Costs: Second hand head £100 Head gasket £40 Head bolts £20 Cambelt kit £125 (needed hydraulic damper so expensive) Injector seals and bolts £22 Total cost was over £300 and this was cutting a few corners by re-using gaskets etc and also the fact that I already had all the tools that I needed. I have now had the car running again and have changed the oil and coolant and at least it seems to be OK - time will tell! I initially thought the failure was due to the tensioner stud breaking and that the damage to the hydraulic damper was caused by the assembly dropping but maybe it was the other way around and the damper failed first? All in all an expensive problem and a warning that when cambelts are changed then all the other components should be replaced at the same time. Thanks to all who gave advice.
  2. RXStdi

    engine rebuild

    I bought a manual on CD from EBay for my VW a few years ago and it was a good idea as there are lots of details which you really need to know if you are doing a full engine rebuild - lots of bolts are single use stretch bolts with torque settings followed by a further specified number of degrees turn etc etc. Can not remember details of the seller I used but you should be able to find one online.
  3. Sorry it has taken a while to respond - have been busy sourcing info and parts and stripping down the old head. Thanks for the offer of the head, I may well need some bits but should know better by this time next week. I could not find a complete secondhand head as all the breakers remove injectors - bit of a pain as getting the ones out of my old head proved really difficult after being there for 125k and 17 years and it means I have had to buy new seals as well. Will probably not have time do anything more till the weekend.
  4. Interesting mix of opinions but after a fair bit of thought I have decided to have a go at fixing it - guess I must be a chancer too! I have had a close look at the top of the pistons and there is only slight marking (which is surprising considering the state of the tappets) and the engine turns over freely. Although the tappets look bad in the photos I do not think that many damaged bits have actually come off and agree with Rich and Skezza that any bits should just end up in the sump so will take that off and check (obviously will change oil and filter). The cost of a set of new tappets and valves added up to quite a bit so I have ordered a secondhand head off EBay and also head gasket (TPS) and timing belt kit so hope to make a start next week - may well regret this decision but will keep you informed so that if anyone else is unlucky enough to have this happen it may help.
  5. Thanks - looks like I will be needing one as I stripped the head down today and the damage is worse than I expected. Five of the tappets are badly damaged and although the camshaft looks OK I do not think I want to use it after it has taken such a hammering. I have attached a couple of photos of the damage - all caused by one broken stud!
  6. Think I am inclined to agree with Rich (he gave me advice on fixing an ECU problem around 5 years ago when my wife (KermitGirl) had the car and it was still working fine before this failure). The bottom end looks to be pretty strong on these engines and think it is worth taking a chance on it being OK - not sure about the top end so will probably opt for a secondhand head if I can find one. Anyone know whether I could use a head from a later car like a Polo TDI? Always feel that a secondhand engine is a big gamble anyway unless you can hear it running or buy it from someone you know. I will probably strip the head down this weekend to find out how bad the damage is. Thanks for all the input.
  7. Lots of useful info - thanks. I had to do the head gasket on my old Golf TDI last year and used an OEM head gasket from TPS for peace of mind as the early cars like mine have a bit of a reputation for HG problems so will probably do the same again. I managed to take a few photos at the weekend but it is difficult to show the detail. The first one shows the broken stud for the tensioner and it seems to be simply due to metal fatigue and the tensioner then damaged the damper assembly as well when it dropped. When I was looking at the cost of parts I noticed that the cambelt kit from INA now includes this stud so maybe failure is more common than I thought. I have not yet stripped the head down but it is obvious that most of the valve heads are no longer central to the seats and I can only rotate the camshaft a small distance. Think I will probably look for a decent secondhand head rather than repair mine. Have also taken some photos of the tops of pistons to try to show the slight marking to piston crowns but do not think this is a problem?
  8. Have not stripped the head down yet - will try to take some photos at the weekend.
  9. Those are good prices - where are they from? I looked on Eurocarparts and they are quoting £165 for cambelt kit (I need the one with the hydraulic damper), £75 for head gasket set and £31 for the head bolts - I would obviously try to buy when they have one of their discount offers on. Do not think it would be a problem getting the stud out as it has not snapped off flush with surface and I have a MIG welder but not sure about replacing valves as the bent stems must have caused some damage to the valve guides?
  10. Thanks for all the replies. Not decided what to do but really feel I should fix it as we are attached to the car and have owned it almost from new - as someone has pointed out I have done half the job already. The broken stud is not really a problem as it is on the head rather than the block but the head bolts are single use so by the time you add in these plus head gasket set and cambelt kit it is well over £200 and also need to buy a decent secondhand head (and there is always something else needed that you forget about) The failure was unusual and seems to be simply metal fatigue as the cambelt and tensioner were well within service limits and other than the damage caused by the breakage seemed fine. I usually do my own cambelt changes but the last one was done by a VW dealer as I was laid up with a bad back at the time. The cambelt kit normally includes the idler roller and retaining bolt but only the nut for the tensioner - I will always renew the stud as well in future.
  11. After 125k our Lupo TDI has just gone bang and am not sure whether it is worth fixing so thought I would ask for advice. It is one of the early cars (2001) and was in reasonable condition except for rust starting on wheel arches but diesels seem to be out of favour now and I am finding it difficult to get an idea what it would be worth if I fixed it? The cambelt was changed approx 40k ago (by a garage) and the cambelt still looks fine but the stud holding the cambelt tensioner had sheared off totally allowing the belt to jump. I have just got around to pulling it apart and it has bent almost all the valves but the tops of the pistons look OK and the engine turns over fine now I have the head off. I reckon I could pick up a secondhand head OK but with the cost of cambelt kit, head gasket and head bolts it looks like being a costly repair so not sure if it is worth it. Did think about a secondhand engine but if I got one I would need to do the cambelt anyway for peace of mind. Any words of wisdom?
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