An afternoon as long as the six pack isn't opened to soon...otherwise it could take a case and the whole weekend!
Boys, you're making me feel better about things!
I suppose that a new engine is still a haunting possibility, but I'm encouraged that there's still a chance that all of this motor's guts haven't been ruined, and that I might be able to escape this nightmare without throwing down $5k (+ or -) on a crate job.
What will kill me is a huge diagnostic bill to cover the determination that it can't be revived anyway...
You're right, Gordon... There's a dark side to the madness. I just didn't think night would fall so soon.
LOL Bill on the case and the weekend!
Cory,
Removing the motor and a complete tear down should be about 3.5 hours....If it is due to excessive crankshaft end play most likely the case is shot..but this is again speculation so don't let it eat at you. When you do get a motor diagnoses don't make a hasty monetary decision until you run it by a few of here.... hang in there. ~Alan
All joking aside, I am glad you weren't out carving your favorite canyon road. Imagine carving the twisty's and having the motor seize up around a turn...
Perhaps an oil pump failure?
Alan Merklin posted:Cory,
Removing the motor and a complete tear down should be about 3.5 hours....If it is due to excessive crankshaft end play most likely the case is shot..but this is again speculation so don't let it eat at you. When you do get a motor diagnoses don't make a hasty monetary decision until you run it by a few of here.... hang in there. ~Alan
Thanks, Alan…
Will definitely report all results here. I'm growing very keen to learn the cause of this trouble myself…
Cory, years ago I had my new 2110 engine bite the dust. Luckily, it seized while the builder was driving it, so he couldn't accuse me of abusing the new engine.
He was accelerating through the gears when the engine just went 'clunk'. Turns out it was the rear main bearing. I didn't have to pay to have the engine fixed, but it ended up only costing my builder his time, as all the main engine parts were undamaged.
Hopefully, you'll be able to reuse most of your engine parts. If so, this will keep your overall cost down.
Cory McCloskey posted:Boys, you're making me feel better about things!...What will kill me is a huge diagnostic bill to cover the determination that it can't be revived anyway...
If you go with the shop that you've dealt with to do the tear down and repair (whatever that might entail) then the "diagnostic" part of it shouldn't be that much of a factor. And here's an idea- if the shop has room, maybe they'll let you help with the engine removal; you could pull the aircleaners, carbs with manifolds and exhaust (to make it easier to pull out, since it's coming off anyway) off, disconnect the throttle cable (and heater box cables if you have them), gas line, electrical connections (mark them so you'll know where they go back for the install) and the 4 engine to trans nuts and bolts (guys- did I forget anything?). Once the engine is bolted to a stand you could take the shroud and the rest of the sheetmetal off, unbolt the rockers and heads and even undo the 6 main and 15(?) perimeter bolts (don't forget the one by the cam near the bellhousing!).
Question- have these guys built modified engines before? I ask because I have met a couple VW mechanics over the years who won't really deviate from factory, and don't know much about putting a hotter than stock engine together. And if the thrust is gone, the case may be still saveable; but then again, it might not. The only way to find out (if that's what's happened) is to open it up...
I'm sure more to say I will later, but sore my butt is from sitting here so long! Al out.
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Cory - I just read your news about your engine. I think we've all experienced similar downer moment with our cars at some point. I realize its a gut-wrenching event and the anxiety of $$$ to get it back on the road may seem daunting, so just take it one day at a time.
My only advice is to put ALL speculation aside (I know that will not be easy) until the engine is pulled and & torn apart for inspection. Once you have ALL the facts, THEN you can determine the course you will take (engine choice & $$$ to spend).
Otherwise you will stressing a lot about engine stuff you don't need to be stressing about!
Additionally, its guys like Paul Ellis who populate this forum (and there are quite a few), that make this group of guys the best friends you've never met (yet)!
Sending you positive vibes for a minimally painful outcome,my friend! 
crhemi (Bill) poboiinhawaii posted:All joking aside, I am glad you weren't out carving your favorite canyon road. Imagine carving the twisty's and having the motor seize up around a turn...
Boy, no kidding, Bill…
I really was in a cold sweat, actually, right after it happened, thinking about what I had narrowly avoided. Had I gotten another mile down the road, I would have been doing 75 mph in the left lane of the 101 freeway before I skidded wildly to a stop, perhaps then being immediately decapitated by some kind of lifted F-250...
Oy.
ALB posted:Cory McCloskey posted:Boys, you're making me feel better about things!...What will kill me is a huge diagnostic bill to cover the determination that it can't be revived anyway...
If you go with the shop that you've dealt with to do the tear down and repair (whatever that might entail) then the "diagnostic" part of it shouldn't be that much of a factor. And here's an idea- if the shop has room, maybe they'll let you help with the engine removal; you could pull the aircleaners, carbs with manifolds and exhaust (to make it easier to pull out, since it's coming off anyway) off, disconnect the throttle cable (and heater box cables if you have them), gas line, electrical connections (mark them so you'll know where they go back for the install) and the 4 engine to trans nuts and bolts (guys- did I forget anything?). Once the engine is bolted to a stand you could take the shroud and the rest of the sheetmetal off, unbolt the rockers and heads and even undo the 6 main and 15(?) perimeter bolts (don't forget the one by the cam near the bellhousing!).
Question- have these guys built modified engines before? I ask because I have met a couple VW mechanics over the years who won't really deviate from factory, and don't know much about putting a hotter than stock engine together. And if the thrust is gone, the case may be still saveable; but then again, it might not. The only way to find out (if that's what's happened) is to open it up...
I'm sure more to say I will later, but sore my butt is from sitting here so long! Al out.
Oh, @ALB... How I wish you could be there with me! Or any other of you uber-wrenches!
I'm afraid that my skills are so limited that I really would be of no value to myself.
MusbJim posted:Cory - I just read your news about your engine. I think we've all experienced similar downer moment with our cars at some point. I realize its a gut-wrenching event and the anxiety of $$$ to get it back on the road may seem daunting, so just take it one day at a time.
My only advice is to put ALL speculation aside (I know that will not be easy) until the engine is pulled and & torn apart for inspection. Once you have ALL the facts, THEN you can determine the course you will take (engine choice & $$$ to spend).
Otherwise you will stressing a lot about engine stuff you don't need to be stressing about!
Additionally, its guys like Paul Ellis who populate this forum (and there are quite a few), that make this group of guys the best friends you've never met (yet)!
Sending you positive vibes for a minimally painful outcome,my friend!
Roger all of those kind words, Jim!
Does Cory's link for Wedge Vee Dub work for anyone else?
Cory, I'm pretty familiar with that shop and their reputation is pretty good. A couple of the guys there came from a shop called Karl's Custom which had been around for generations. They definitely know their way around high performance VWs. I myself use Competition Engineering for anything I can't deal with personally. They do complete restorations and racing VW stuff. They are solid and honest, but labor is like $185 or so and hour for any of these shops.
If Wedge pulls your engine down and acknowledges they contributed to the problem when they changed the oil, they should stand behind their work. I really don't know what could have happened during an oil change that would have caused this. Especially if the engine is still full of oil.
Negative Al.
It works Art
"I'm afraid that my skills are so limited that I really would be of no value to myself.
How I wish you could be there with me!"
You'd learn so much, though. And for the cost of a plane ticket I could be 
...but unfortunately you need that cash right now to resurrect your beast...
Cory McCloskey posted:If only we had access to Oscar Goldman's unlimited government resources, Bill...
I have a great Oscar Goldman story...
The funeral home has arrived...
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No no no, it's the EMT's. It needs open heart surgery, but it will survive.
>
>
You beat me to it, Tom! Cory, it will be like the Phoenix, up and running again better than ever. This is only a bump in the road...
Moving the body… 
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I had to look at the 3rd and 4th pics twice, as I though he slipped the strap behind the hubcap and I'm thinking "that's a recipe for disaster"...
When I was a kid in the seventies my dad had a friend who had a vacation home in Lake Arrowhead. It was early January and there was lots of snow on the ground and for a kid in a house full of adults who were just sitting around, drinking, and swearing at Woody Hayes I was bored. They had been filming The Six Million Dollar Man up there at Shirley Temples old house.
So while the adults watched football I headed out for a hike. I wound my way up the roads to where I could see the lake. On this particular stretch of road I ran across Richard Anderson aka Oscar Goldman on cross country skis. I was a talkative kid and so at hello we started talking. I asked why he wasn't home watching the USC Ohio State game. Although I knew who he was I didn't say much if anything at all about him being Oscar Goldman.
He asked where I lived and I told him that I was, by the Erickson's term, a flatlander and that I was up here with my dad visiting his friend John Erickson. "You mean John Erickson the actor?" I said I didn't think John was an actor. "There are a lot of actors up here. He did mainly westerns" I said well I don't know but I think if John were in any movies he would have been a gangster. Mr. Anderson asked where they lived and I pointed and said, "Oh, just down that way a ways"... "You mind if I meet them" he asked. "Seriously? That would be an honor Mr. Anderson"
We started down the roads, way down, to where the Erickson's place was, Mr. Anderson asking several times along the way if we were getting close. We finally arrived and I ran up the stairs, through the door and I interrupted their conversation. "You have to see... "Don't interrupt"... "but dad there's" "I said don't interrupt when other people are talking" Then John spoke up and asked what the hell was so important? "John did you ever star in a western movie?" "Huh?" "Oscar Goldma, Richard Anderson, the guy that plays Oscar Goldman is downstairs and wants to meet you"
The whole family followed me out onto the deck. I pointed up at John and said, "This is John Erickson". Mr. Anderson was very polite. He said, "You're not the John Erickson that I knew". He smiled and engaged them in a little conversation but declined the offer to come in. He said he needed to "get back up the hill" as he looked at me then up that hill with an awkward smile.
It was an hour of my life that I have never forgotten. I just bet that he has not forgotten that either! That would have been a loooong walk back up to the top and he was probably cursing me at some point. I have always wanted to write him a letter and tell him this story and see what his response would be.
Cory, I'm sorry about your motor man. When I first got my car I had a similar experience. Looking back I probably could have gotten a better deal had I bought a long block and used my peripherals. I know how disappointing it is but you will get the car back on the road and you will regain the joy of driving it once again.
Even like this, she still gives me good vibrations…
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Cory, these cars can wrap us around their little fingers.
A few days ago, you were like a little kid, posting a video of your windshield wipers. Today, you're in mourning as the dearly beloved is carried away to be embalmed.
I doubt that anyone has ever posted movies of the wipers in their Toyota or much mourned their Volvo's passing.
They can bring us the highest highs and the lowest lows.
But as much as we treat them like family, they are just metal and plastic - both things that can be repaired. The doctor bills may hurt a little now, but you'll soon forget about that the next time the two of you are out dancing down the road.
Gray skies are gonna clear up.
Subscribed...
Before putting the engine back in you may want to install the metal pieces that go below the push rod tubes.
MusbJim posted:Cory - I just read your news about your engine. I think we've all experienced similar downer moment with our cars at some point. I realize its a gut-wrenching event and the anxiety of $$$ to get it back on the road may seem daunting, so just take it one day at a time.
My only advice is to put ALL speculation aside (I know that will not be easy) until the engine is pulled and & torn apart for inspection. Once you have ALL the facts, THEN you can determine the course you will take (engine choice & $$$ to spend).
Otherwise you will stressing a lot about engine stuff you don't need to be stressing about!
Additionally, its guys like Paul Ellis who populate this forum (and there are quite a few), that make this group of guys the best friends you've never met (yet)!
Sending you positive vibes for a minimally painful outcome,my friend!
Jim---this is such a warm, friendly, supporting post. It is exactly why you are so well-loved within the SOC community. I know I am a better person for knowing you, my friend.
Cory, In the future, find another transporter that guy has no clue WTH he is doing ....(Me having been an transporter owner operator) He has the two front straps through the wheels slots which can do two things: cut the straps and knock the crap out of your alignment ...a beginner at best.
Alan Merklin posted:Cory, In the future, find another transporter that guy has no clue WTH he is doing ....(Me having been an transporter owner operator) He has the two front straps through the wheels slots which can do two things: cut the straps and knock the crap out of your alignment ...a beginner at best.
Let's hope for Cory there won't be a "next time" and that he drives it home on her own power. 
oh man - i'm really late to the party.
first - sorry about this Cory. We'll figure it out though. i agree with MusbJim.
oil light went on. 12 seconds is a long time to run an engine with that on. that means your engine has near zero oil pressure. not that you want to hear it, but next time, turn the motor off right away.
moving forward - do you have any tools? If you have tools, we can walk you through this. you'll need a socket set, some screw drivers, jack / jackstands and the willpower.
assuming you do. when you get the car off the trailer - check the oil level. engine looks clean and i'd guess it should be fine. what you will need to check for is stuff in the oil. there will be a copper tinge to the oil (shine a bright flashlight on the dipstick) if a bearing went (or bigger stuff like pieces of metal, etc). take pictures (or the videos are pretty great) and post back.
the trans i think is a red herring. most trans' look like that after a while and with the oil pressure light - i'm putting my money on the engine being the issue. especially if the tow truck pulled it up the ramp without skidding the wheels (ie dragging it up) which is what would happen if the trans was seized.
either way - the engine will need to be pulled. wolfgang is right on the disassembly / end play. the end play is set at the other end (clutch end), so the pulley being loose is weird and probably related, but no the cause.
Are you comfortable pulling the motor? is can be done by yourself with very simple tools in only a few hrs. it seems a lot scarier than it actually is.
I think i've said enough for now.
Alan Merklin posted:knock the crap out of your alignment ...a beginner at best.
That's my first reaction. "Oh no, hope that doesn't mess up the alignment!"
-=theron
MangoSmoothie.ca posted:oh man - i'm really late to the party.
first - sorry about this Cory. We'll figure it out though. i agree with MusbJim.
oil light went on. 12 seconds is a long time to run an engine with that on. that means your engine has near zero oil pressure. not that you want to hear it, but next time, turn the motor off right away.
moving forward - do you have any tools? If you have tools, we can walk you through this. you'll need a socket set, some screw drivers, jack / jackstands and the willpower.
assuming you do. when you get the car off the trailer - check the oil level. engine looks clean and i'd guess it should be fine. what you will need to check for is stuff in the oil. there will be a copper tinge to the oil (shine a bright flashlight on the dipstick) if a bearing went (or bigger stuff like pieces of metal, etc). take pictures (or the videos are pretty great) and post back.
the trans i think is a red herring. most trans' look like that after a while and with the oil pressure light - i'm putting my money on the engine being the issue. especially if the tow truck pulled it up the ramp without skidding the wheels (ie dragging it up) which is what would happen if the trans was seized.
either way - the engine will need to be pulled. wolfgang is right on the disassembly / end play. the end play is set at the other end (clutch end), so the pulley being loose is weird and probably related, but no the cause.
Are you comfortable pulling the motor? is can be done by yourself with very simple tools in only a few hrs. it seems a lot scarier than it actually is.
I think i've said enough for now.
Aw, thanks, @MangoSmoothie.ca! I'm continually stunned by the depth of knowledge that you boys display!
Car is already on the lift, and I'm leaving things to the pros...
I'm about to post an update!
UPDATE ------------ UPDATE ------------ UPDATE
Call from shop.
All oil present and accounted for. All hoses intact.
(Oil that I observed on undercarriage was old, from slow, small leak that it has had for some time.)
Asked me if I authorized further exploration -- yes, of course.
More as I learn it...
Thoughts?
Can you let us know what brand and type of oil you used?