team illuminata

Got the head off. No problem with any fasteners or anything. Took me a while to figure out hoe to slacken the timing belt though. Never seen that before.

Here are some shots of the pistons and valves:

1240378_4589847960760_997257388265748875_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

1622612_4589848280768_5447259164635422943_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr



10559877_4589848640777_7957956191490443419_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10590594_4589849040787_3552389422416382544_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10402929_4589849240792_1519067894475350300_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10170714_4589849400796_6939671066026195417_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

13582_4589849760805_3437682752668629591_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10511294_4589849960810_4009478500258595522_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10462602_4589850200816_5606671163187407647_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10501643_4589850600826_1507296606445626367_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

And the valves:

10480202_4589851200841_144939564676059940_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

I filled the head with gasoline but couldn't see any leaking past the valves.

team illuminata

So yesterday I did as suggested: flipped the head, filled the combustion chambers with gasoline and aimed compressed air at the valve seats from below. Results can be seen in this video.


<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/k2VaQljBErg?list=UUID6AciwFXFct3HiWQk8BIQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As you can see, almost every cylinder has an issue. The worst is #1 though which is the one with bad compression. I think we'll be putting the new head on when we put this back all together.

I also did a similar thing with the piston rings. No compressed air though. I just poured some fuel into each to see if it leaked by fairly quickly. I have no benchmark for this test but in my opinion they leaked down very, very slowly. I'm thinking the pistons are OK but I need a better way to prove this before reassembly.

One thing I'm not sure about, how to remove the large pulley on the front also seems to be called "vibration damper". Big central nut or four Allen screws or all five? 9, 10 and 12 below.



Any suggestion for stopping the crank rotating?

team illuminata

This is scary.

How about locking the crank off the flywheel, like this?

10368391_4603634625418_4989138158757684671_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


The four Allen screws actually came out very easily.


So an air impact gun should free the center bolt up then? But I'll still need the tool to torque it back up when it's in the car?

team illuminata

Took the oil pan off yesterday. All the screws were very loose. That's been a feature of this project so far. Hope it extends to the crank bolt. Some screws were even missing!

10557159_4607633725393_1965755289317236242_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10599464_4607633565389_3177427322720607211_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

1546415_4607633805395_5644706767318884935_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


While it will be nice to check the bottom end out the main reason for taking off the oil pan was to wedge the crank in preparation for the dreaded crank bolt extraction.

10559702_4607633885397_7593363943951006681_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


So I tooled up and crossed my fingers.




I needn't have worried. Came off like butter.

10559702_4607633645391_205008138190614395_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr


It certainly wasn't loose but I doubt it was fully torqued.


So, relieved, I put the kettle on for a well earned brew and then dug through my boxes of spares and pulled the reconditioned head I bought earlier in the year to see if it matched the old one.

10565129_4607635405435_3823639279177941789_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

Slightly different part numbers:

10552585_4607635445436_9158960707479556268_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10552585_4607635565439_3539743691564270254_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

What's this tube sticking out of the side for?

10544332_4607635485437_115982354742202958_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

Different boss arrangement on the left side. Problem?

10606242_4609112082351_4399206140791206893_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

And the cam lobes look smaller in the refurb head.

Shall I use this one of fix the old one?

team illuminata

I just found this quote from the ad when I bought the car a few years ago:

"The car has a modified head and a modified ECU to allow use of the Euro wastegate spring."

What do you think they did? Maybe I should contact the previous owner.

team illuminata

Isn't Google amazing? From the previous previous owner's ad:

"Modifications include,,, port matched intake and exhaust, multiangle angle valve grind, chipped ECU with euro wastegate spring"

Doesn't mention anything about the cam but I am intrigued by "chipped ECU" now.

team illuminata

I disassembled the turbo, manifold, down pipe and waste gate over the weekend. It put up a bit of a fight but nothing a bit of heat and an impact gun couldn't handle.

10565123_4610214029899_5116158346131189916_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

12499_4610214269905_7151674819689183790_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10457859_4610214869920_4568737449148905272_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10561801_4610215109926_4604287780690867317_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

The manifold is cracked. Need to decide whether to repair it or install the later Audi "fix" manifold.

There is a little play in the turbo bearings so I think I should have it rebuilt. Any recommendations for a rebuilder?

Should I rebuild the waste gate too? I've been told they wear over time and bleed off boost.

team illuminata

Progress is slow. Please stop ordering wheels so I can work on this car more LOL. Oh, I meant "Please order more wheels so I can afford parts for this car".

Today is brought to you by the letter Oil Pump.

10384228_4610215349932_1361418370398512838_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10580268_4610215709941_197495448913129139_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

and Cleaning pistons. I used gasoline and a soft wire brush. A lot of grease from my elbows helped too.

10505297_4610216269955_8716098810117373762_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

I went through my parts stash over the weekend. It's amazing what I have. Am I missing anything though?

10523152_4612404324655_1117274435689025327_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10561794_4612404364656_8453615274936754392_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10603364_4612404444658_1132630521255135398_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10433139_4612404484659_3911560420178835334_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10577115_4612404404657_8829777673874186445_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

10256803_4612834575411_5584758317085427037_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

11207_4612834735415_6850145678433412066_n by Team Illuminata Motorsport, on Flickr

team illuminata

So I'm ready to start putting this engine back together but I'm still not 100% convinced my refurbished head is correct for the WX engine. Are the 38mm intake valves and slightly smaller cam lobes stock for the WX?

Of course I will need a head gasket and apparently new head bolts for this job. I assume these should all be OE right? Any suggestions where to buy (USA preferably). I'll obviously need a few other seals and gaskets but I might have them in my parts stash already. If you noticed anything that wasn't pictured above let me know.

Time to turn the corner on this project.