Looking to buy a 2.0 tdi engine soon HELP PLEASE

[markspark71]

If I remove the big end just to check the condition will I still need to replace them 2 bolts or is it just replace when new big ends are fitted ??

Thanks for the info on here guys its helping me finally get the car sorted, I will keep the progress reports coming

[stevegrass777]

You will need to replace the bolts even if you just take one off and put back on again you will need two new bolts.
They are stretch bolts,don't think they cost much though.
On truck engines they never used to change them and they never came in a rebuild kit, but it seems to be the done thing now,to be fair they are only little bolts on these in comparison.

[Crasher]

The sprocket comes off in seconds with a cheap two legged puller. There is a very specific procedure for fitting a new gear as I hope you are going the gear route not Golf pump bodge.

[markspark71]

I did try with a 3 leg puller and it just bent and smashed the sprocket so I used a grinder to cut a line down it but not all the way through and it then came off very easy. Sadly im not looking to replace with the balance shaft assembly as from what im reading on here and other forums it is very likely to fail again and I don't want to be going through all this again as I will be keeping the car for some time, I understand that I could get some vibration due to using the 1.9 oil pump but that seems to be the only problem that I have read about and to be fair the 1.9 engines did do many many miles without having major problems, as an Audi repair man you must be able to vouch for the 1.9 being a lot better engine than the 2.0 BLB. In the time my car has been off the road many people have replaced the chain driven oil pump with the gear driven type and that has subsequently failed yet again due to the hex shaft failing so that in mind it must be better to do away with it altogether

[Crasher]

Personally I would say all the 8v 1.9 and 2.0 litres and 2 litre 16v's are very reliable; in fact (because of my VAG life narrow experience) I would say that modern VAG engines are stunningly reliable to a level that constantly amazes me. The BKD (the non balancer shaft version) engine is bulletproof internally but let down by ancillaries and to a great extent you could look at the BLB in that respect, it is let down by an ancillary failure BUT, because it is inside the sump it is internal, still annoying though when something that is otherwise sound is let down by cost cutting. Even then, the BLB rarely fails before 100K miles and then usually because it was only on its fourth oil change, having been doing this for 33 years I find THAT remarkable! I have dozens of A4's and 3C Passat’s on my books with chain and spur gear balancers and not one has failed-ever! The only time I have to deal with this is when one gets parachuted down to me that I have never seen before and the overriding common factor is **** servicing, how anyone, experienced or not could think that 100K miles and four oil changes is going to work perplexes me. Do the oil every 10K/365 days and just about every engine from VAG will go on forever. For the cars we have done rebuilds on, going back five years now, I have NEVER seen a repeat failure. I have had people bring cars in that they have bought and feel rough and upon investigation, they have single mass flywheels and no balancer shafts. I insist on fixing things to AT LEAST VAG OE standard, if not then higher such as retro fitting a DMF and one way clutch alternator where none was to improve refinement. The key to longevity of a car is the same as with anything, maintenance! If you were in the game in the 70's the VW air cooled engine and the Beetle in particular were considered to be extremely reliable, to such an extent in the 50/60's you would receive a tie pin for doing 100000Km, yes, 62,000 miles as that was considered exceptional and only possible with care and the required 3000 mile (yes 3K) oil changes. There was a magazine called "Safer Motoring" which had a very slowly growing column where people entered their cars if they had covered 100K miles with special honour given to those with the original engine but they were rare, mine is still not there and is on its third engine rebuild! When I bought my 83 Mk1 GTI in 1991 it had 70K miles on it and a few months previously I had rebuilt the engine for the owner because it ate a rod bearing and this was fairly common on the DX engine, still is. These days, if a car needs an air filter before 40K miles people start bleating and whinging about shocking quality and "tut total disgustin it is". The vast majority of car “keepers” these days threat cars like fridges! The main reason cars seem unreliable nowadays is firstly, tu tinterweb, where any one from a Steven Hawking type to....well, use your imagination, can blabber on about things and suddenly a small problem becomes an epidemic. The other problem is that modern cars are so desperately complex, expensive and shear bloody hard work to fix. I can still do a Mk1 GTI timing belt on the floor, outside with minimal tools in 45 minutes as I showed one of my lads a few week ago. The timing belt on a Golf 5 GTI 2 litre can take even the best of us four hours with special tools and in the air, some people six and instead of a genuine belt kit costing £65 the kit is £181. Rant over! Friday.......

[stevegrass777]

You are right that good quality servicing is very important, keeping it original is also a good thing.
But I was talking to a vw parts man about 8 or 9 months ago when I was gathering parts for a 1.9 oil pump conversion and he said they couldn't get the balance shaft units for love nor money because Vw/Audi had sent loads of new ones out and had to recall them within a week because of the swarf gathering in the sump.
They were having to recall them all.At the price they knock them units out you would expect a 5 year warranty yet they still come with a 6mm shaft as far as I know.
"The BKD (the non balancer shaft version) engine is bulletproof"
What does the BKD oil pump look like I haven't seen one myself but I would imagine it looks like the 1.9 oil pump,why is this OK for the bkd and not blb and bkp.
The bkp I did runs smooth as anything I put the timing on 0.6% and it is very smooth.I wouldn't put a single mass fly wheel on it as it would run rough and the price of dmf is OK and last just fine in my opinion.
Its just down to price and reliability to most folks and this is where the new balanced shaft unit has let customers down,at the price they knock them out at +labour you should get a 5 year warranty and I can't see that happening any time soon.
I passed two cars on the way home a Toyota I go or whatever had a 5 year warranty sticker on it and a kia had a 7 year warranty.
These are littered all over the internet with full dealer history or even with more regular servicing and demolished engines just out of warranty.
Would you give a 5 year warranty on a balanced shaft unit with 6mm shaft,I wouldn't and neither would VW /Audi
You just have to look to countries that have larger land mass than us to see they often choose the conversion as the Audi unit doesn't last the big miles needed.

[Crasher]

I had trouble getting the balancers at a point due to that “alleged” issue but I never experienced it and if you clean bits before you fit them…..

Yes the shaft is still 6-mm hex but longer at 100-mm, they don’t fail with proper oil changes



As I said I have never had a single customers car we have previously maintained suffer this failure and we do huge numbers of 3C, A4 and A6's with these engines, sometimes four a day.

The BKD oil pump is the simple chain driven pump which you are intending to use, it is the source of the bits!

An interesting point is that in the USA they have a long held mentality of regular (almost excessive) oil changes and there are no issues like we see BUT then again the balancer shaft TDI is not exactly common over there, quite rightly, many Americans think diesel engines are a bad idea. As soon as people started following VAG’s oil change recommendations in the States they nearly ended up a dead brand due to oil sludge issues.

The problem is the engines we use are nothing more than spruced up versions of what Otto and Karl came up with in the 19^th century and the oil we use just sophisticated blends of the same stuff they used and it has to work MUCH harder. The simple fact is that oil cannot last 20K no matter what brand or base. Do the oil very 10K/365 days (which for me is 4K miles as I don’t go anywhere except work!) and you won’t have issues. Customers of mine who do as they are told do not experience oil related engine issues.

[stevegrass777]

Balance Shaft Upgrade/ Delete Miles Since - TDIClub Forums
BHW Balance Shaft Module replacement - TDIClub Forums
They have lots of trouble with the balance shafts over in the US so much so that the specialist motor factors stock balance shaft delete kits and new balance shaft pumps,but the newer ones seem to be holding up better but its the cost that is so scary.
you must be talking 2k or more by the time you have finished, I can see the attraction in the cheaper method as it seems to be holding up at least just as well.

[Crasher]

Yes, and the rest. Conversion from chain to spur when no other damage is done, circa £2500. I did notice that one of those balancer shaft failures was at over 160K miles, pretty impressive stuff I feel. I think people expect too much these days. After all it is just iron ore and cursed insects, 150 year old tech where the lifespan has double or even quadrupled in my career, if you can call it that-sentence is sometimes more applicable!

[markspark71]

My engine did have long life servicing prior to me buying it with 80k on the clock it has now done over 115k could even be 125k (its been off the road that long my memory fails me) but in my ownership its had oil and filters every 10k, this was all carried out via a local to me audi dealership worker. What im thinking now just sat here bored on a Saturday night is would it be worth my while just to change the big ends shells as part of my rebuild ?? does anyone know the cost of the shells and bolts ??. I have ordered the delete kit and a new turbo (not a recon), the turbo is from turbo clinic in Leeds at a cost of £414 inc vat & delivery also have ordered the delete kit plus timing belt kit with tensioner and water pump, exhaust mainifold gasket and a new dipstick as mine has got broken somehow all these have been ordered from TPS at a cost of £430 inc vat just hope they solve my problems and give me some trouble free motoring once its all built up