1st Beetle but 2nd TDI

[Riley]

This is my first bug my second TDI. I also have a 96 Passat TDI wagon that I drive everyday. My 02 Beetle TDI has a burned up #3 piston but I'm confident that I can repair the damage and get it back on the road. It'll be fun. Now if I can find stuff like pistons and advice on repairing a cylinder head...all the piston pieces were rammed into the head and valves....not a pretty. The pretty girl in the drivers seat is my 5 yr old daughter, Shannon. She's a big fan of Slug Bugs.

[gforce1108]

Head over to tdiclub.com if you aren't already over there. Franko6 (o, not 0) is the tdi head guy. He rebuilt mine and I've seen pictures of the miracles he's worked. He also sells all the parts needed to put it together and I believe he has the pistons too. Make sure you get a 'real' piston, like nural brand.

There is also a guy over there myke_w that sells nural brand pistons. They run about $500 for a set (way better than like $1400 from the dealer).

I just finished rebuilding the engine in my beetle and used Frank to straighten out my head (literally and figuratively). Here is the post with some pics of the work:98 Beetle TDI Resurrection

Do you know the cause of the piston damage? Injector streaming? Either way - welcome and good luck with your project!

[Riley]

I am on the TDIClub.com and have learned quite a bit from TDI wagon. I'm a shade tree mechanic since I was 16 and still am plus I'm an A&P mechanic on a lot of Cessna's and Beechcrafts. I've done some heavy work on gas and turbine engines but this will be the first time to look inside a TDI engine. Good thing I have a Bentley manual on the way. Thanks for the help and info. I'll be getting my parts list together as soon as I can get the engine out.
I also have to do some front end work to my Passat but that's another forum.

Oh yeah, I'll be looking for a grill or lower valance or whatever it's called. I'm hoping to find a used one this is already painted green. Mine must have gotten torn off by the tow truck driver when it was towed by the previous owner.