[Vwdiesel] Bad experience on TDI club

[James Hansen]

-----Original Message-----
From: James Hansen [mailto:jhsg at sasktel.net] 
Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 5:07 PM
To: 'dieseltdi at verizon.net'
Subject: RE: [Vwdiesel] Bad experience on TDI club

> 1) What symptoms are exhibited by a PD engine, during normal
> operation, that would lead one to believe that the excessive wear
> problem has occurred?
> http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=2414784&postcount=72
>

There SHOULD be a gradual loss of power, but it will be very gradual, most
likely not noticeable, unless it's a big event.
As I previously mentioned, look for shiny bits of metal powder in the oil,
follow the oil drainback path from the cam looking for shiny bits, and
either cut your filter apart to lay the pleats out flat, or use a magnet to
catch metal particles somewhere.  Those little 99 cent neodymium magnets in
the oil flow path under the valve cover really work well.  


 
> 2) If I remove the valve cover, what can I expect to see if the
> excessive cam wear has occurred?
> http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=2313139&postcount=1

If you can see lobe wear, you have it.  You will see what will look like a
layer has been removed and a slightly different color to the metal in the
wear area.  I should have a couple cam followers around that I can snap a
pic of that show this.  (They are chevy, but it's the same thing, cam wear
is cam wear.)  It's most often easier to see on the follower than the cam-
you see a bullseye type wear on the follower.
Those little fibre optic borescope type inspection telescopes have really
come down in price.  You can get a couple feet long, for a few hundred, and
this may turn out to be the PM ticket for this car.  Taking off the valve
cover every few oil changes while not onerous, seems burdensome.

> 
> 3) What parts are necessary for repair and who can supply those parts?
> http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=1998933&postcount=2

Well, there's the rub.
How bad it is will dictate how much needs to be done.  If the cam were done
in a big way, I'd be tempted to pull a rod and a main cap off to inspect the
bearings to tell if particulate steel has migrated to the crank bearings.
Crank bearings are cheap to replace when there is no crank damage. Most oil
systems do bypass when cold, I don't know about the PD motor setup, but the
chance of bypassing particulates will be high if they are present...  I
suspect the jobber industry will most likely be the ones to come up with a
fix for less that just restoring OEM parts to their un-grenaded state either
with a nitriding process, or something similar.
I race a solid lifter flat tappet cam motor with big stupid amounts of lift
that experiences similar issues, I just EXPECT to have to tear into it every
now and again.

I wonder if we can run GM EOS Engine oil supplement in the PD?  That is
specifically a camshaft breakin wear prevention product that is high in zinc
and phosphorus and shear aditives, but then I guess that would poison the
cat on the exhaust.
-James