New to the forum. Immediate Q's on 1.6 8 valve interchangeability!

[Scuby]

Hi there.

Mechanic in classic cars by trade. Look after all of the family's cars for some reason, lol. So I work on 'new' stuff too from time to time. Case in point:

My sister has a '99 MKIV Golf with a 1.6 sr in it. The infamous AKL engine. And as the AKL's are prone to or known for doing: it has cracked a liner on cylinder 2.

I pulled the head this morning "hoping" to find a failed head gasket but unfortunately the liner is cracked. So out comes the whole lump.

My question is: can I replace this AKL with a less crack prone AEH, APF or AUR engine code 1.6 say out of an Audi a3 or a4, passat, bora or new beetle? Are all the major components the same? These seem to all be the same lump according to wiki. Same power output etc. Deleting or adding the ac pump and all that isn't an issue. As long as the lump itself, inlet outlet is the same and it's compatible with the 99 Golf's wiring en ECU I'm good.

As the AKL is prone to cracking I'd rather not put a scrappy's AKL in and run the risk of this happening again. Can't find any info on the web, what are differences? Castings? Metals used? Factories? Why are the AKL's the weak ones? Which is best of the four? Are they interchangeable.

cheers,

David

[kameleonic]

I have an AKL 8v In my mk4, its done 170,000 miles and the timing belt and water pump has only just been done for what i suspect to be the first time, it runs like a new car again now. 👍

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[Scuby]

I have an AKL 8v In my mk4, its done 170,000 miles and the timing belt and water pump has only just been done for what i suspect to be the first time, it runs like a new car again now. 👍

Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk


170k miles mate and first change? No way. Belt would have snapped long ago. 80k miles is the interval. Either way great that your car runds like new. Thanks for contributing nothing of any value that has anything to do with my question other than that you have an AKL too. Nice work :confused:

I have an answer to this question for people in general looking for an answer. The four motor codes on these engines are interchangable. Just the basiscs though. Things like a range of sensors and even coolant distribution blocks wil need chaning over from your old, in my case, AKL engine.

A tip for AKL owners: MAKE SURE you keep the red long life in there. It's got some kind of unicorn magic that's special to the mix of aluminium blok and whatever the cilinder liners are made of. The green stuf makes them crack. cheers