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Death of a Digifant? (long)

I think I just killed (or fatally injured) my 1991 Jetta GL.

1-2 Months ago I was having problems with the engine stuttering. I found the plugs *very* fouled. But I expected them to be since I had bad valve stem seals. I replaced the seals and for about a month the problem went away.... and then it came back. After some diagnosis I found that oil was still getting into the combustion chamber via the waste gas recycler. So I fashioned myself a little 'by pass' so that the oil wouldn't be sucked down into my intake:
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This has been running fine for a while. I started looking online to why I have this problem. I found 2 reasons: 1) Blow by or 2) Clogged oil separator. Mine looks pretty dirty, and it's the optimistic assumption, so I assumed 2, and planned on cleaning it once the temp warmed up and I could get out to it. A few weeks after this I noticed I had an oil drip on the left of my engine. It seemed to be coming down directly below the rear motor mount. Well I can't do much since I'm in an apartment complex and It's 10F out. Yesterday I went to see my girlfriend and on the way I stopped, and added some oil... but I forgot the oil cap. So now I have all my oil billowing out of where my cap should be. I got into a gas station, went to check the oil, found it on fire. Luckily the coolant I had in the trunk put it out. (Nothing freakier that seeing your car on fire in a gas station...) I fashioned a new cap out of Duct Tape, a Mud Flap and 2 oil bottles.

But In the middle of nowhere, I didn't have a choice. I finally made it to an Auto Zone, got a new cap. I got to a self-car wash and tried cleaning off all the oil (because it was still smoking). I got it cleaned off, topped of the oil, and let it sit over night. Started it up in the morning and drove it back. I'm only losing a quart every 90 miles (much improved). It's still smoking. It's smokes harder on acceleration. My pulley's are soaked in oil. ... And It refuses to idle. I have to keep it at 1k with the gas, because on it's own it just wants to stall.

I think I killed it. Based on everything... I think I had a lot of blow by. The final trip that killed it blew an oil seal somewhere on the left of the engine. My girlfriend (who just doesn't understand) is pressuring me to get a new car as she sees this nickel and dime me. But... I just have something against it. The car cost 800, and I've probably put twice that into it. The engine/transmission is all there is left to fix. Exhaust, Suspension, Tires, Door handles, euro lights ... the car is in mint condition (from the exterior). I don't have a place to fix it right now (un lucky). So should I just try and find a longblock... or should I pull it and rebuild it myself?

Reply to
Matt Anderson
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Take your girl friends advise, time for a newer car!

Reply to
Woodchuck
Reply to
Matt Anderson

Reply to
Craig Williams

"Fatally injured"? is that an oxymoron :)

Reply to
JD

choices:

  1. have it checked out at a VW friendly shop
  2. you check it out.

I have heard that on some vehicles that had blowby (excessive pressure at the oil cap) people used kerosene or another type of solvent that helped to loosen any debris causing the piston rings to bind in their lands. A couple said that it was successful with their vehicles. Now are you sure the PCV system is functioning? If not the system might pressurize and oil will be blown out of almost every seal on the engine. I handled this on an aircooled Super Beetle convertible. He used over 12 quarts getting it from St Louis to Chicago. And when he left I think he used 1-2 quarts going from Chicago to Alaska. He was happy again! He engine's PCV system was not hooked up correctly and oil was showering the engine.

You need to do a compression test and a leakdown test to determine what is wrong inside of your engine. If needed yes you could rebuilt it. Or you could find another engine to fit in your car and change it if the engine is bad. You could sell it the way it is.

IMHO I would say since the body is excellent............SAVE IT!! later, dave

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

How's the O2 sensor? Unplug it, see if that 'fixes' the problem. Perhaps it's kaput and the leak is where you're losing the oil. Perhaps not but it's a free test.

Do you still have the plastic(?) oil splash guard under the cam cover? You should be able to see it under your new oil cap.

Darryl.

Reply to
Darryl

Reply to
Darryl

no

-Andrew

Reply to
DruG

I was thinking the same thing; however, they're not contradictory.

From the original post...

A fatal injury eventually leads to death (or having been killed).

There is much more to this than DruG's simple response leads us to believe. Especially in the context of Digifant. We need a congressional hearing or something. Now, back to Stern.

Reply to
Darryl

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