We get a visit from the one and only Mikey Dove who gives his verdict on the E30 before he sets about the body work. We strip the Golf GTI engine in for warranty, guess what we found inside before we called the customer?
Lee, in the 1800/2000 blocks there is a bush in the block that the oil pump shaft runs through to support the shaft of the pump . Just below where the top of the shaft drives the dizzy. All the oil pressure comes from the pump in a gallery the bush has a hole to lubricate the pump shaft. A is the bush there. B is the bush tight in the block. C is the oil pump shaft tight in the bush . If not all the oil pressure bleeds straight back to the sump. Bought a brand new 2l block years ago the bush wasn't installed ,so little or no oil pressure. Worth a look..😂
Me too (replying to Tam Tran) thats why I read the comments because it's usually knowledgeable people trying to help each other out with have you tried this or thought of that. People just helping each other nice one! No matter how much you know someone else will probably know something you don't and I think if you share information and help people its like making the world a better place! So nice one Nashman600!
This is one of the few channels where i read ALL of the comments. Besides Lee and company, most of the viewers are so knowledgeable and helpful. This community is so nice. Thanks Lee and everyone else from this USA amateur car guy
I have in the past applied oil through the oil pressure gauge sender hole using either an oil pump or pressure vessel and with the sump and rocker cover off you can see where the oil is leaking excessively from , it has saved me many hours looking for low oil pressure issues.
Had this before. There are ball bearings in the crankshaft that seal the oil gallery. Sometimes they are not seated properly and oil leaks past and loss of pressure.
Lee, since that warranty engine does not have the original cylinder head I would look there. Maybe a mismatch of parts/gaskets/o-rings? Check out how the oil gets from the pump to everything else. Charge him for it, your rebuild is not to blame.
I had low oil pressure all of a sudden. I checked it using a manual pressure gauge and it was spot on. I traced the sender wiring back to the gauge which I removed. I then found the problem - the previous owner had broken the bulb and never removed the glass which had got into the mechanism. After cleaning the gauge it registered correctly! Always check with a manual gauge to verify an electronic gauge!
Oil escaping through a a gap somewhere as suggested only way to find from where would be to assemble the engine with everything exposed, sump and rocker cover off and pump up and pressurise the oil gallery manually. Thick oil and a grease gun through the oil pressure switch point possibly. Some time ago I had a newly assembled later Golf engine that had exactly the same issue. Dropped sump and found whoever had assembled the bottom end had let the small thin gasket between the oil pickup pipe and block face slip sideways . Only one bolt was clamping the pickup pipe flange through the gasket leaving a non sealing gap. Engine oil was passing the gasket and not being drawn up into the pump. Essential to check for any leaks on the pickup side also.
Cheers Lee, good video. On the oil pressure problems, you say all the oil fed parts of the engine are in tolerance which ordinarily would give good oil pressure so between the pump delivery side and the engine bearings, pressure is being lost. You will have to rig up a pressure feed through the oil way in the block and seal up anywhere the oil can escape, if it holds pressure then the problem must lie with the pump/filter and/or housing or associated parts, eg, oil pump drive.
Some time ago I was to fix an oil leak on a Torpedo 2cil. marine-engine (old fashioned Volvo-copy produced in Rijeka) the front crankshaft seal had been replaced a few times already,to no avail.... The flywheel is mounted on the front end of the engine fitted with a cone and a Woodruff-key to the crank.... the nut tightening the flywheel needed a socket 60-someting millimeter.... no fun taking apart in the tight space of a smal boat.... Nearby,mounted on the outside of the block and also hiding behind the flywheel is the oilpump... would oil be leaking from there?? I was the third mechanic having a go at this problem.... the boat was owned by a good friend of mine and he was desperate to get this fixed as the oil was leaking out in huge quantities!!... In an instant I realised this was NOT a seal sweating but leakage at the pressure side of the lubrication system.... in a stroke of genius (admitted:occuring few and far between....) I decided to use a compressor to put pressure on the oil galeries without the engine running and without the flywheel being a nuisance.... Oil came from a place in ‘the middle of nothing’ of the engine block.... in big quantity!!!! An oil-bore was plugged with an alloy plug,threaded 8mm.... the salty seawater had eaten away the plug.... it was like a sponge!!!!! I used a cut-off metal 8mm bolt to plug the bore and everybody lived happily after..... Greetings,Henk,the Netherlands...
I think Jim Mizzi has the best question. Is there a restrictor missing from a oil gallery somewhere? If all the other measurements are dead in spec then a missing restrictor seems like the only possibility. Assuming customer was using the correct weight of oil, the low pressure problem is a true mystery.
Hi Lee, a Cleco is basically like a spring-loaded rivet that holds your panels in place without actually using a rivet, although the holes are identical.
This is a tough one Lee,could there be an oil restrictor missing somewhere, I no some engines had them either in the head or block oil galleries to achieve the correct pressure.
Compressed air in the oil pressure switch orifice with the head on etc. With the cam cover & sump off any leakdown will be hopefully easy to assess. Maybe a smoke test even?
Hello Lee, Great content vlog & as predicted the BMW track car project will help the channel no end...even when complete, the track days, modifications, company advertising etc👍 The Golf low oil pressure warranty job, some very knowledgeable guys commenting on possible causes...my thoughts are, absolutely nothing to do with your machining & bearing running clearances but something is missing or a mismatch on the different head to block configuration. Definitely put some oil pressure in it with the sump & cam cover off... full confidence that you guys will figure out the problem👌.
Some have mentioned a bad pump shaft bushing, also look for a bad or missing oil gallery restrictor. Oiling the block while on the stand sans oil pan will show any excessive bleed off of pressure, you just need a drill motor powered pump for that. You may want to consider building an engine break in stand and charge accordingly for its use. And get a custom metal stamp made up with your company logo, plus stamp the invoice number on the pan rail or valve cover rails. Or do it with an engraver behind the flywheel.
Good analysis on the warranty motor I’ve followed last couple videos about it idk what could cause such a problem either like ya said filter housing oil pressure sensor something like that best of luck I hope everyone is happy with the out come on that golf motor
The engineer in me thinks if the oil pump is up to working pressure, then there is some sort of leakage in the system causing the drop off in pressure. As it does not show externally, then it must be internally. Perhaps a crack somewhere? Only a step by step check of each oilway/section will prove or disprove the internal loss of pressure. I hope this makes sense to you.
With proper clearances like that you should be getting *plenty* of oil pressure at idle (or more importantly, when pre-oiling with a drill or whatever, it should quickly build and hold very strong pressure and also allow you to see where oil is actually going since the engine isn't even spinning, though you can still slowly turn it over by hand to observe the actual oil distribution through all 720°.) Oil pressure at idle should only ever be anywhere even _close_ to the low end of the spec in an engine worn right to the service limits. Something else is wrong. ( *edit:* _fix typo, separate second sentence with newline for clarity_ )
I once had that same problem with an engine in a race car. I ended up with the engine high on the engine hoist with out an oil pan, I then connected a drill to the oil pump and hooked up a suction line to a quart of oil. within 5 seconds we found the leak. Good luck with it
It is worth building up the engine and then spinning it up with oil in the sump as you would on an engine dyno that should give 40psi on cold oil. I would also use a mechanical gauge because they tend to be more reliable and you won't need electrics to the engine. This will then define whether the engine or the car is the source of the problems.
So here is a crazy thought regarding the oil pressure reading slightly low. Not knowing specifics about what and where the manual gauges were located, is it possible that there is a partial / blockage in the oil line between the block and the gauge? Or was the gauge connected directly to the block? Is there a possible blockage in an oil gallery somewhere, or is the gauge reading directly after the oil pump? It might have been helpful for the customer to bring you the complete running engine for testing first.
If the oil pump is driven by a hex shaft, is it new? Is the drive gear tight on its shaft(cam?) Either you are not pumping, you have a huge leak, or a restrictor normally installed at the factory is not installed. Ford Lima 2300 fed their head the same way. Some came with a slug of metal pushed up into the head that forced the oil into a smaller passage as it blocked part of the diameter. They could fall out when the head was removed, and no one would be the wiser that they were missing on re-assembly. tom
I was thinking this aswell It’s a process of elimination and that seems a very possible culprit Everything measures up 2 oil pumps tried Besides possible Oil restrictor missing as other people have said not much left it can be
Check the bearings on the half shaft, you have to pull the shaft out and check the bearing pans, I've had a 1.6TD with the same problem, the bearings are peeling off!
It would be worth connecting an air line to the oil pump flange on the block before you strip the low oil pressure ones. It would tell you if there was a hidden casting plug missing. Maybe even a crack?
Hi Lee, sound like you may have a crack somewhere. If possible pressure test the oil galleries, or get some crack developer spray, it would be worth it just to be sure. What do you reckon mate.? Does the oil pressure fall dramatically when it gets hot.?
Check the ball valve and springs in the piston cooling jets and look for the resricter in the turbo oil feed. Found these to be problems I have come across in the passed hope this Helps. Keep up the good work guys.
Is there a difference in the oil feed from block to head or a specific bolt that closes down the gap at the top of the bolt hole to force the oil through the little hole
I had a PB (1.8) that had the oil pressure light/buzzer go off a lot when hot but sounded fine. I had an opportunity to get a 2e with a PB head that did exactly the same. The only part that stayed the same was the clocks. Rust on the body is what did me in, engine was fine until the bitter end
You need to think outside the box and not get stuck on an unhelpful train of thought like, "only thing that can affect oil pressure is the bearings and the housings". That simply isn't true, but thinking such will prevent you looking beyond. A missing o-ring , a crack, an incompatibility of the 1800 head with 2000 block, a sticking relief valve or a fault with the pick up maybe sucking air at the top all spring to mind. Unfortunately when you build an engine for a customer, the expectation of reasonable oil pressure is upon you and therefore you must find the reason for it lacking. Have you guys actually witnessed this low oil pressure on a gauge yourselves? Did you say 4psi was measured, or 4psi below that expected? The former greatly concerning but the latter could be nothing more than a minor gauge calibration issue. And warning light senders often fail.
The VW dash from this era did suffer with a fault that caused the light and buzzer to come on. That obviously doesn’t explain the mechanical gauge reading low. Would be tempted to check the calibration of his gauge against one of your own. I chased this fault years ago on a mk2 scirroco. Changed the pump etc before finally working out it was the dash. When I spoke to our local vw garage he told me it was common.
Check the oil pick-up pipe and strainer positioning is correct for the engine and sump. I had low oil pressure caused by the plastic end of the dipstick breaking off and jamming in the pick-up!
@@samrodian919 i'm not to clued up on this paticular engine but most older engines of that era had relief valves that are situated in the block its self
I had same issue Opel 2.0 16v Superboss (Limited Race car produced 12 or so a year in South Africa for Group N racing). It kicked the BMW 325is 2.7ltr on the track. I used first part synthetic Castro, oils on her when they first came out, and many hours later it came down to not just 20/50 but other spec too...! SF/CD or similar. Did he mention buckets are noises on startup by any chance?!
Wrong grade of oil will lose pressure when hot, hence why i always put a 20/50 (millers) in my xflows, and oil pressure is up around 50-60, even when very hot, yet a 10/40, lighter and thinner, when hot was down at 20 psi
Sounds silly but any chance of a blockage crack or other fault with the oil pick up to the pump? Vey worrying when no fault is found as when the VAG engine is built chances are there will still be low oil pressure,no fault of Barum but still it would be nice to find the cause? Also wonder if theres an oil bypass valve that could be faulty?
Check oil pickup tube from the sump, even a small air leak will make the pump cavitate... Also check the overpressure release valve doesn't have crap in the seats.... Didn't hear you mention any of this...🤔😳🇬🇧
Were all of the oil squirters, if installed, at the base of the cylinder bores still intact? I've seen those get knocked out when the pistons are installed or removed and then you have a larger orifice spraying oil though I don't recall it causing you to loose enough to kick a light on, especially on a fresh engine. I've worked on many watercooled VW engines over the years and usually oil pressure isn't much of a problem. Quite the mystery.
Has he had the oil pressure checked with a couple of gauges, just to make sure he's getting the right result and it's not a wiring fault causing resistance on the sensing wire for oil pressure. Was the engine getting top end knock from oil starvation, or was the light just making him panic
Cleco sheet grippers cone in variety of diameters. They are available in any Aviation suppliers, You will also need the special pliers for fitting them. Hope this helps.
In my working days I put a 79/80 GTI Passat motor into my mother in-laws .78 Golf )) The good thing other than performance was ! It bolted straight in Bar a few very minor things But that performance compared to the old golf motor ! The Golf of the day should of been released with such motors as it took it from a car to a performance car, The Golf's were so Light back then so we added just a little bit of weight before the axle's (2kg per side) plus wider wheels and tyres
Had issues with a car I had years ago, engine would not work right, had it striped down, rebuilt put back in the car and rechecked everything and it still ran like shite. Turns out it was the engine computer that was a fault. No one ever thought to swap that out to see if that changed anything. Cost an extra thousand dollars jus because of a misdiagnosed problem. Damn electronics……
Could it be an issue like the BMW where something is blocking an oil galley? Can you somehow tap into the galley close to the oil pump to see what the pressure is before running through the engine? It sounds to me like either an internal blockage or an internal leak, like a missing galley plug or mismatched gasket. Maybe do a leakdown test on the oil system with the pan off to see if there is excessive oil coming from somewhere. With a gauge installed that can even show an issue, if the pressure at the gauge is lower than the pressure being fed to the block. From the number of people talking about oil pressure in 2.0 VWs, it seems to be an issue.
Had an Alfa many years ago, showed bugger all oil pressure on the guage. My mechanic said it needed a new oil pump so I trots off to Mangoletsi and parted with a substantial lump of cash for a new oil pump. Got it fitted, fired her up...bugger all oil pressure. WTF??? After a moments head scratching I bought a generic sender unit for next to nothing and fitted it in under 5-minutes. Hey presto, we have pressure. Happy to have oil pressure, sick as a chip to have one too many oil pumps and a hole in my current account where there used to be cash.
Thoughts on the low oil pressures issue: 1) does the sending unit specs match the gauge (calibrated to one another)? 2) where is the oil pressure sending unit mounted - is it in the proper location? 3) is there supposed to be an oil galley restricter plug and is it installed?
I had a problem with a gauge showing low oil pressure which I did not really believe. Eventually I twigged it was an earthing problem and a new earth wire from the battery fixed it.
Checked the suction side of the pump? Seave not against the oil pan?? are all the bungs in the head, So it does build up pressure there?? my suspicion is something whit a oil return in that 1800 head thats different whit the 2 liter head..
I'd defintely check the oil pressure car in the car. e'g Nissan Patrols have a recognised problem with the instrument cluster wherein the fuel tank gauge is never accurate, In fact it's hopeless and can't be trusted. They are often 25% out either way, full or empty. This has ben traced to poor wiring in the dash area and bad earth connections overall. The slightest variation in voltage sensitive gauges such as dashboard guages can cause havoc in the readings you get. Me? 75 year old ex retired mechanic and auto leccy, Good ,luck with my favourite fun car- VW GTI!
The oil feed to cyl head is through a different profile head bolt , you MUST use a genuine vw item , made for the head , not the block , so if the engine was a dx , or eg or whatever the head came from then the oil way bolt must be the one used for the donor engine code, and tightened as per factory spec. Seen low oil pressure caused by it leaking past a re-used oil way head bolt . seen low oil pressure caused by internal casting cracks to oil gallery in head .
Lee, I believe you said that was down about 4 Lbs from what the factory rating was. I would think that that would be within tolerances considering that you didn't do any machine work, just cleaned, replaced consumables and reassembled. I am assuming that standard oil pressure is at least 40 Lbs, so the loss of 4 Lbs isn't catastrophic and the owner is freaking out over nothing.
On the golf engine idle speed too low something simple and over looked, what advantage does the 1.8head give over a 2.0 or is it has to be used to allow the original manifolds to be used
what year and mark is the gti engine ? don't know if this is related not been following the videos on this...but my loved mk6 gti has thrown a oil pressure warning light a couple of times over the years ive owned it,it was investigated by vw specialists and apparently it was down to very small amounts of unspent petrol getting by the piston rings in small doses into combustion chamber...and over time once the oil has been thinned out by the petrol slightly between servicing it throws oil pressure issue warning.(oil contamination) we do a oil change and filter change as soon as warning appears usully at 5 k and oil pressure warning disappears.its happened twice before and we thought it wa that,now tho i haven't had oil pressure warning since non stop using 99 ron fuel for better combustion,and have not had oil pressure warning light in 2 years since using the 99 fuel non stop at fll ups..and just to add my piston rings were not shot they were fine no heavy scoring on cylinder walls..
Lee, Where is the pressure sender or the mechanical gauge reading pressure taken FROM in system...( beginning, midpoint, or end of furthest oil galley path ) since many things could cause a low reading, but is it certain that actual pressure is low at bearings and other critical surfaces ? Is there any provision for a redundant sensor elsewhere in block / top end, or could one be tapped into head elsewhere ? (Effective pressure likely is sufficient if valvetrain was unaffected, right ? ) Another thing to check is oil filter restriction you mentioned... try mechanically blocking open the internal oil bypass inside filter so it CANNOT restrict flow for a comparative reading just running for a few minutes with 2 identical spec/model/brand etc filters so you know how much restriction vs back pressure it contributes. If the "normal" filter currently in usage immediately opens bypass in filter ?...
GTI oil pressure... if it were me and id got to that point, id be tempted to rebuild it and test the pressure myself. maybe who tested it before has a faulty gauge. maybe they are just wanting more work on it for free. i dont know about the oil passage through the bolt hole, with the 1800 bolts is it possible its less restrictive and pressure just drops? or if head was torqued and squashed the gasket too much, would that choke the oil off? i know very little about that engine so im likely to be way off but i thought id would just write it and be prepared to be told i know nothing lol
Replace the oil pressure switches. The guage is telling you that the pressure is low, yes, but the switches fail a lot and you get an oil pressure alarm. I had one fail on my GTI, went to the dealer, the replacement was bad, so they stole one off of a car on the floor.
Was just watching an 1800 turbo build and it became obvious to me, oil squirters. You kept repeating about clearances being the only thing to check, but the squirters if fitted, have ball valves to maintain oil pressure at low rpm. As viewers, we cannot see if that 2 litre block has squirters, but I'm betting it does.
so if all the tolerances are good oil pump good where is the pressure going is there a leak from a oil gallery why was engine refreshed low oil pressure why 1.8 head what was wrong with 2.0 head what externally could cause low oil pressure i can see where the golf owner is coming from but hes not running big turbo and the oil pressure is flying through that back to sump pity you cant cold run it with no covers/sump on or run oil pump to see where the most oil is returning from something like this would fry my head till i knew the fault
Can be irrelevant but ... In a automatic gearbox i had a problem , running hot lost pressure , disassembled the dam thing maybe 5 times , Bought a new main body (in fact a new gearbox to diagnose) and problem solved. The result , due to expansion running hot some crack not visible open and lost pressure in the main line . If you had a new block or head would be nice to try.
Lee. If I heard Mikey correctly, that acid dipping the shell would cost £200, set up a Go Fund Me or any method you chose and I'm sure enough would support it. I'll be in for £10 as payback for the hours of knowledge you and the lads freely give on your channel.
Little bit bent? I noticed that the other day, right wing was sticking out further than the other - nose was bent like a Picasso oil painting. But yes, certainly not terminal.
Take the aux shaft out and have a good look at the bearings. we have seem several of those that feel fine but the bearing is delaminating. Dont assume its ok because it spins nicely.
in the 6 weeks leading up to christmas 2022 a mate had me put several new panels in a mini moke, as soon as he asked me i ordered a set of clecos, damn they made the job so much easier, i'd wanted a set for years and finally had an excuse to buy some.. someone on the Australian Mini Moke forum told me how to make a simple jig, and i mounted the jig & body on my rotisserie, we had to assemble all the panels to figure out the order of assembly and alignment, it was recently painted and is being reassembled. i've wanted to get my hands on the moke for 20 years since i met the owners, it's been in peices in their shed until mid last year. new panels installed were main floor pan, 2 pannier floors, and extensions to the 7 panniers baffles, the lower inner pannier, the lower seat panel, the lower firewall (kick panel) and the nose panel. 5 weeks of planning and a week of welding, it would have been quicker but i didn't do the strip down and we had to figure out how it went together, the owner worked with me, it was great to work as a team to realise him dream of getting the moke together.
Engine interesting but there will be something wrong somewhere with it prob something simple if oil pump and filter housing have already been changed and if he's done very few miles with it and flaged it up very early he deserves a deal from you but we'll done hopefully you will get it sorted
what ever happened to the mitsubishi evo engine you was doing as did you do any videos on it as keep checking the channel but not come across anything yet with it
