craiGTi's ph2 GTi

[craiGTi]

see, extra money getting a VE and all would have been good

sorry to hear that though dude

Oh don't - i wish mate :drool:

Thats nearly exactly the same thing as what happened to my primera GT engine. Wierd. Except my bearings were knackered afterwards.

hhmmmm, you're making me nervous about p11 engines now! lol. And for all i know everything could be shagged in this one too now, we will see...

also, what you mean corbs - you had 2 gaskets go close together or one went in the same way?

 

[Corbalicious]

The needle crept up once or twice but fell again straight away.

Then half a mile from home a loss of power, stopped and popped bonnet - steam everywhere!!

This bit. The whole car shut down basically.

 

[Sam]

you officially have THE worst luck man, bad times

 

[craiGTi]

you officially have THE worst luck man, bad times

i genuinely nearly shed a tear last night when i lifted the bonnet!

instead i just spat on it in disgust :lol: Surely, nothing can go wrong next time?! *rushes to touch wood*

Only cool thing will be when next engine's in i might have cat back on too, so having not driven much with cams it'll be cams and cat back all in one go


respray's off though

 

[Sam]

your not that far from me, should have a lil meet give your car a good kicking

 

[craiGTi]

your not that far from me, should have a lil meet give your car a good kicking

sounds like a plan. i nearly torched it last night, then thought bout how little the bloody insurance would pay out anyway! :lol:

 

[Chris180]

Sorry to hear mate, gutted for you! Very lucky you got Kristian and his engine/skills, something like that happened to me I'd be fucked and wouldn't know where to look/start so little silver lining there lol

 

[craiGTi]

Sorry to hear mate, gutted for you! Very lucky you got Kristian and his engine/skills, something like that happened to me I'd be fucked and wouldn't know where to look/start so little silver lining there lol

haha, not sure Kristian would see it like that! lumbered with my issues. lol

 

[kristian]

When we lifted the cam cover off the engine when we initially started the work I actually told craig, Had I seen the degree to which the headgasket was gone ( Sheer Volume of Mayo ), in advnace, Id have insisted on an engine swap..

But with the ball Rolling and with us having a fresh gasket and new head to go on, We both thought this would solve the Obvious problem.

When we lifted the head of the engine , the headgasket that was gone, was not a standard headgasket
and torqued up low..

The engine being on its 2nd headgasket already.. When we fitted the 3rd, I ensured it was done correctly and torqued up to spec.. Esp with the engine now known to have a history ( So to speak ) of popping at least 2 headgaskets

This being in mind, the engine wanted a complete flush and Im sure it should have been 100% fine as it sounded nice when we fired it up and Craig left.. New Headgasket.. And known good head - skimmed..

After This subsequent Problem I initially thought our only cause for concern is poor circulation of the cooling, and hence it over heating.. this due mostly to it requiring a good flush..

Craig did a Pressure test and it came back good.. and subsequently after more driving, its gone. This brings me the only conclusion that there is a big, terminal problem with the short block.. There is a reason the 1st headgasket went.. and somthing has not been sorted as it Went again. When we swapped the Gasket and head.. its not solved the problem and its gone a 3rd time..

The block wants a complete breakdown and investigating.. Well have a good look at it when we change it, as the cams are coming out anyway. Im expecting a warped block face, a serious defect in the face, or a crack somwhere breaching the cooling system.

Thing with problems with the short block.. Its a complete engine removal and strip down.. This is significantly labour intensive and hence expensive..

With New SR20's being relatively cheap.. Its simply much more economical to change the engine..

I feel aweful about Craigs bad luck, and were changing the engine pretty much for cost..

So he will be Flying about within a week..

 

[shaggy_master]

Agreed there must be a cause with the bottom half of the engine..

 

[craiGTi]

i just hope there's nothing major, major ie. cracked block, so i can have a little go at stripping, rebuilding it etc.

what could be gone theoretically, cracked block? i heard something about cracked liner? what's that referring to?

 

[VVLwezz]

cracked liner is the cylinder wall, the SR20 has liners in the bores dude, like sleeves if you like

 

[craiGTi]

WOOP

wish me luck guys, hopefully a case of 3rd time lucky - new engine's in! mank thanks to kristian and crew - again!

here it is in all it's dirrrrtyyy engine bay glory, will be cleaned up soon. Cams swapped over and intake cam advanced to 2, not had a great chance to test it, but seems like a corker.

here's the old one in half and due a kick in methinks :lol:

And here's 2 more, the old block, it absolutely stunk of burnt oil, real smelly, and those pistons look different to before - scorching hot perhaps. Also, on cylinder 4 you can see a fairly major blemish on the block between cylinder 4 and water jacket - not good.

I might get the old block tested to see what else is wrong with it, and perhaps rebuild if it can be sorted. If not i have decided to make a coffee table out of it! :lol:


Hopefully, kristian has a pic of the old engine's knock sensor too, it looked like it had totally melted, major overheating problem by the look of it.

Hopefully all is OK now, bring on cat back and decat to finish things for a while, and maybe an fpr

 

[CoV]

forget that go straight to the coffer table idea!!!

mmm TOP GEAR!

 

[craiGTi]

Well nothing major lads, but had a very productive day today.

Firstly got all of the remaining sound deadening tar our, here's about 2/3 of it - weighs loooaaddss!

Got my MOT on wednesday so tidied a few bits up to hopefully pass, loose brake pipe, few bulbs etc etc. Also got all carpets out and was relieved to find only minimal surface rust in a few spots which i'll sort soon.

Main reason for postin though was cos i've had to put my standard rims back on to get through the MOT, my rotas/toyos are just about illegal tread wise and i can't afford new ones at the mo!

I just can't believe the difference in the cars looks with the standard rims! I'm not sure whether i like it or not but it looks soooo different to the rotas, what you reckon?

Hopefully pass MOT, then few performance mods comin soon.

 

[Sam]

I really like the standard wheels, your rear needs lowering a tad though :lol:

I would think about the ride height at the front, ie. when they drive it onto the brake rollers

 

[Dale]

Your Rotas look better imo. Stock GTi rims are just that, stock. They dont do it for me.

Good luck with the MOT, you might need to raise the ride height up, so you dont bottom out on the brake tester.

If i ever buy a GTi, i want this colour blue.

Edit: damn sam beat me to it!

 

[craiGTi]

I really like the standard wheels, your rear needs lowering a tad though :lol:

I would think about the ride height at the front, ie. when they drive it onto the brake rollers

:rasp: the rears are on their highest setting as well you know! Don't get me started on that again,, i still say something was awry!


Yeah i think i'll lift the front up tomorrow morning, give me a good excuse to clean the coilys up a bit too! How would you protect them after cleaning them? Just grease on the threads? i was thinkin about some kinda tape wrapped round the theads to really keep the water and shit at bay, or am i being stupid?! lol

 

[tommo]

can you not get a pushbike innertube round them?

OEM FTW, paint the wheels black :lol:

 

[craiGTi]

can you not get a pushbike innertube round them?

OEM FTW, paint the wheels black :lol:

ooh inner tube is a v good idea tombo, as for the black wheels - are you on commission from a powder coater or summin toget every set of standard rims black?!