(TECH) (VW) (need input) LONG

["balance" <BALANCEPERF@prodigy.net>]

Hello all,

   I have a 92 Jetta Digifant in my shop right now-(1.8 74k, automatic)
the customer brings the car in complaining of coolant leakage.
I determine reservoir is shot- is cracked along the seam. No big deal.
Flush system replace coolant with Phosphate free, and Distilled water.
Run car for a while, car overheats- lots of pressure in the system. top of rad is hot,
bottom is cool.
Diagnosis- Faulty thermostat. Go to install thermostat- start car up to drive car into
shop- (only a few feet)
hear a horrendous engine noise- kind of like a pencil in a fan. Oil pressure light on,
buzzer buzzing. Shut car
off-scratch head- start car back up- runs great. Now I am curious- what the hell could
have
caused such a racket? I though maybe i dropped a socket into the transmission bellhousing
or
something. (but the oil light?) (Oil is overfilled by customer by 3/4 of a quart-not
recommended, but shouldn't be enough to allow the Crankshaft to dip into it)
 Start car back up- noisy again. rev it slightly, hear lots of cam noise, shut off.
Call customer to ask for further details on coolant leak- tells me that on a trip to Pa,
he saw the car starting to get hot, and went into a service station to let it cool off.
got back into car, Nothing. he assumes it is a fluke and
waits 20 minutes, car starts right up.  He tells me that it had happened to the Previous
owner once before, and didn't think it was anything serious.
  I pulled the oil pan to inspect, and found trace amounts of metal filings. not much, but
some. Pull # 3 main bearing cap, all looks well.

I still haven't taken off the oil filter to see if maybe that was plugged,
and I need to check if there is a faulty bypass valve,which
is integral with the oil pump.
My questions are-

A)- do you think he heat seized the motor on the trip?

B) if he did, and didn't ruin it, could a possibility be that the oil filter is plugged
with metal filings, and starved the engine of oil for a bit?
- --The engine sounds good,(when it is running ok) other than
some very slight bottom end noise (kind of sounds like a train on the
tracks

C) do you think I should flush the system to get out any remaining metal fragments,
put a new bypass valve (oil pump) in, and hope for the best, or do you think it is
time for a new engine?(Possibility of metal fragments embedded in the cam galleys,
Other galleys possibly plugged

D) compression was 150 psi across the board, while the oil looked to have just a *tad* bit
of milky
residue at the bottom- Possibilities of a small crack in the headgasket, pressurizing  the
cooling system?
(blowing out the original reservoir) or just a bad thermostat

E)- how does one check the bypass valve in the oil pump?

Thanks in advance for any help,

     Percy-
Balance Performance





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