[Vwdiesel] Piston Ring questions

[lbaird119 at aol.com]

  Smoke at startup.  Oil smoke or unburned fuel smoke?  Typically I'd say startup smoke wouldn't likely be rings but I've experienced where it was.  Generally I'd first blame worn injectors.  Otherwise valve stem seals and the occasional turbo are more soon to blame on the TDI motors, so it seems.  Not too common for the seals on those either.

  Boring's not bad.  Clean the block well and strip it.  You should be able to get it done for $20/hole or less.  It's the pistons that get you!  :-)  As stated, if it needs bored, it's not worth doing wrong.  You'll get about 30K at best and use oil the whole time.  Experienced that one too, all on the older, IDI engines of course.  Only way to tell is to mic the bores.  If the pistons are worn a bit and cylinders a bit, new rings might just do but if the bore's worn beyond spec, it's just a time consuming band-aid.  

  How much blowby?  If you compare it to a gasser, a diesel will always shock you at how much blowby it has but is still perfectly fine.  If you don't like blowby, spend some more money (how much more depends on if you're buying Co-fap or Goetze rings!) and buy Total Seal rings.  There will be little blowby and once the boost hits, it goes almost completely away!  :-)  Well worth it IMO.
     Loren