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View Full Version : Passat AJM 115Pd Rod Failure


alexb1969
16-01-2009, 08:53 PM
Hi - My first post here, came across this forum whilst trying to sort my dads sick 2000w plate tdi passat.
Its a long story - basically last march my dad got home on a friday, turned his car off to open his driveway gate, started it up to park on the drive and it clattered - sounding like a cam follower had collapsed & running rough.
I collected the car on my car trailer and brought it back to my workshop where I removed the cam and replaced the followers, pur it all back together with a new genuine belt and tensioner kit and an oil and filter change ( genuine vag PD oil as it has had for all of its lfe) Started it up and still clattering and running on 3, Spoke to the service manager at my local (actually friendly! ) Vag main agent & they suggested it could be the loom in the head - quoted a resonable price to replace the loom and I booked it an and trailered it over. The service manger looked it over when i dropped it off, commented on its 122000 miles being low for this sort of trouble and said it sounded like a cam follower - I showed him my reciept for a set of genuine vw followers so he agreed the head loom was the next course of action - got a call at lunch that day from him to say the loom was done & the engine ran on 4 but still clattered & they thought the only other problem could be a little end. I collected the car and trailered it to my dads and stuck it in his garage for 6 months whilst i sulked !
Last monday I picked it up and trailered it to work where I got it on the ramp, took the head off, removed the sump and pulled out no 3 rod and piston that you could move up and down the bore!!

Heres the rod

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bfp/passat-rod1.jpg

and heres a close up of the rod end bearing



http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bfp/passat-rod2.jpg



So I am now trying to source some more rods - AJM code rods only come from VW in sets of 4 at £368 + vat a set! .For some reason most other Tdi rods are sold singly and have replacable rod end bearings (although this rod is beyond a new bearing!)
Having spoken to a couple of engine shops they both seem to think that tdi rods only have two sorts of castings and are all interchangable - anyone got any 130 or 150 pd rods they would care to compare as I would ideally like to replace the set in this engine with something better

Cheers

Alex
stonedagain
17-01-2009, 07:13 PM
Judging by the state of that rod, I would expect the crank to be trashed!
alexb1969
17-01-2009, 07:18 PM
Suprisingly the crank is fine - big end shells are barely marked, although the engine was not run above idle once the noise appeared so its not taken as much of a beating as it would if it had been at high rpm under load :D
Crasher
17-01-2009, 07:19 PM
It won’t be the crank that is trashed, it will be the piston pin, or Gudgeon pin in old money. I can’t tell you if the other PD’s use the same rod, my main PC is packed away whilst I decorate my hobby room. I haven’t seen that happen to an AJM for quite a while.
kenney
17-01-2009, 08:54 PM
The state of the small end bush suggests the lack of lubricating
alexb1969
17-01-2009, 11:42 PM
the weird thing is that these rod end bearings appear plain - no lubrication holes or grooves, any idea how they are lubicated ? Does the pd engine have oil squirter jets to spray under the pistons ? as these could be the lubrication route & maybe the one on no 3 is blocked with this engine ?
stevegrass777
18-01-2009, 10:41 AM
Yes they do have oil jet's and i would replace that one for sure.
You need a ball ended 6mm long allen key socket (snap on).
This guy will sell you a rod.
http://vwenginerecon.co.uk/index.htm
Also they are handed so I hope you can remember which way round it was.
I would check the oil pressure with a gauge.
kenney
18-01-2009, 12:50 PM
As far back as i can remember starting with the air cooled 30hp beetle engine,i dont beleive you can buy 1 conrod from VW,they have always been sold in sets, the reason being mainly, equal weight.Having said that i have used rods from other engines.
Col
18-01-2009, 01:00 PM
Just to add my little bit here until the part numbers are verified;

The 115 engines had a higher compression ratio than the other 1.9 PD's

I don't know if this was achieved in the head or by the crank having a longer stroke.

Obviously for that reason alone I'd be very weary about trying to crossmatch parts from other engines to the AJM.
alexb1969
18-01-2009, 09:40 PM
Just to add my little bit here until the part numbers are verified;

The 115 engines had a higher compression ratio than the other 1.9 PD's

I don't know if this was achieved in the head or by the crank having a longer stroke.

Obviously for that reason alone I'd be very weary about trying to crossmatch parts from other engines to the AJM.

I think the variation in Comp/ratio comes from head gasket thickness- there are 3 different head gaskets for the ajm engine, I am waiting for pics of some 130 rods that have been offered by someone on another forum I use - if they seem similar then I will take a good rod out of the engine & measure it accurately & compare the measurements with the 130 rods - I plan to change the full set if I have to - however I have also mailed the company mentioned above (Cheers :D) for a price for a single ajm rod (although etka list 2 variations so I will need to compare these too) and may jut replace the one rod if the others are in good order - I will remove the oil squirter jet in the morning & see if it is obstructed, if that is the case I think a full set of new jets may be in order and maybe another oilpump (engine has done 122k)
With regards the handing of the rods - the rods have a factory paint mark on the side of the big end cap and rod so you keep them all the correct way :D

Thanks for all the advice so far :D
alexb1969
19-01-2009, 11:50 AM
Just ordered a rod, piston pin and head gasket & bolts from http://vwenginerecon.co.uk/index.htm

Very helpful and gave very good advice

Cheers for the link :D
hongkongstuey
19-01-2009, 12:42 PM
any chance a mod could get them to support the site etc, i reckon they'd jump at the chance and would be a very good source for everyone on here, old school specialist engine firms need places like this, just a thought, if i had problems i'd definately use them, what did it cost for the rod etc? i build engines for cat/perkins and we machine our own rods and know our suppliers of bare rods make millions from us 3600 engines last year with an average of 10.5 rods per engines, (inline 6,8, v12,16)