No compression in three cylinders. What now?

[my01glx]

The mechanic bought a boroscope to look inside the cylinders via the sparkplug holes- but the scope he got had issues with focus. I hadnt thought of that, and happen to have one I use for looking into hollow walls- so now its at his shop

He's figuring if the cylinder walls are scored, then its not worth pulling the head.

[my01glx]

Took my boroscope over to the shop- looked inside #2 and #3-
niced x hatching in #2, with light scoring on one side....#3 had a groove machined into the wall by a broken chunk of ring, and deep scoring all over...

Well, at least we didnt waste time pulling the head.

Used motor on the way. Thought about a long block, but found that the price for a whole engine was not that much more- and as the mechanic pointed out, we dont know if anything might have been sucked into the turbo.

Q: Keep the old one for amusement and spare parts, or return it for the $250 core charge?

[my01glx]

Got a used engine- '01 with 72k miles on it.

Turns out the metal coolant line (that the dealer had to back order and my wife never made an appointment for once they had the parts)to the turbo sprang a leak, dumped all the coolant and there we have it.

[billymade]

Well, at least you know what went wrong!

[Too Cold NB1.8T]

I agree with zmladen, a replacement engine makes the most sense here, unless you want car payments.

Even if the short block showed no damage, a new cylinder head on a short block with close to 150,000 miles on it is a bad recipe, if you decide to keep the car, I would look into replacing the engine, check the transmission and clutch while the drivetrain is out.

Other suggestions: If you choose to go the replacement route, stick with factory parts, otherwise, you might be back in a similar fix sooner rather than later.

In the future, you might want to make it very clear to any person that drives the car, do not ignore the warning indicators, do not ignore warning signs, do not postpone maintenance and repairs or more of the same is likely to result.

[builder]

Originally Posted by my01glx

Got a used engine- '01 with 72k miles on it.

Turns out the metal coolant line (that the dealer had to back order and my wife never made an appointment for once they had the parts)to the turbo sprang a leak, dumped all the coolant and there we have it.

just curious how your engine project is going . . . i have a similar situation on my 99 to deal with.

[Picknicker]

Used engines are (partually) really cheap (compared with new ones).
The 1.8T is more expensive than a 2.0l or a 2.8 vr6...

Probarbly the cheapest would be getting a used 2.0l engine with low miles - keeping the old transmission and afterwards (if you want to) or get a used vr6 and try to keep the transmission (dunno if this fits)...

[my01glx]

Just got a call from the mechanic-

The used engine is in (came out of an 01 with 72k miles) He put in a new timing belt, tensioner, water pump before putting the engine in.

The hole in the turbo cooling line was maybe 1/8" diameter- but when you poked at it it got bigger. This is what dumped the coolant.

The test drive indicated a sticking lifter, but it cleared up. Mechanic had the car back on the lift after the drive checking for fluid leaks and said everything is tight. He is wanting me to keep an eye on fluid leaks, and bring it in for an oil change an a few hundred miles.

Its taken a while-the seller was supposed to supply an engine "ready to drop in" but sent an engine without the turbo from an automatic. The turbo snafu held everything up- as he then sent the wrong turbo, finally sent the right turbo, but it was a piece of crap (with major side play in the shaft and the vanes on the turbo were all scored from the housing rubbing) from someother yard as he did not have one. We ended up having the original turbo rebuilt, and I'll be disputing the cost of the engine via my CC company- I was sold a complete engine and only got a longblock.

Just called my wife to tell her to go get the car. I'm waiting for the final bill now.