Ok, so apparently my A4 had dirty heads or something like that and lost compression in the #3 cylinder. SOO, local mechanic wants WAAY to much to rebuild the thing and still can't tell me it will be fixed fully.

so that brings me to option B, new motor, well "new" motor. I'm going to find a motor from a junk yard with low (~60k) miles. My car has 133k on it now, and the rest of the car is in great shape. It's a 1999.5.

So here's my question, I know my engine code right now is AEB. Could I find a motor out of an 01 or so and put in it? I've read the 01's have a better turbo and other things like that. Any help on the topic would be great! Thanks!

 

no, stick with an AEB motor. there are usually a ton of them. check out vwvortex.com, there's at least 3 1.8t being parted right now. also check the classifieds in this forum. somebody might even sell you just the head

 

your mechanic better be able to tell you exactly why he wants to rebuild your head and what reason he thinks you have no compression for, being 'dirty' isnt a valid reason.

 

well, what i'm really worried about is that the mechanic said this is just the top half of the motor, and if it was dirty, what about the bottom? He wants roughly $2000 to fix it (the top half), and for $2500 i can get a "new" motor with half the miles on it.

Well, I know NOTHING about an engine. I really like this car, and my fiance' really likes the car and she will be commuting to school and back and WV winters kinda require AWD.

 

well the main reasons you loose compression would be: bad piston rings, bad/bent valves or valve seats, leaking valve guides, or bad head gasket.

because it is your car and your money you have the right to know exactly why he is suggesting this before he starts working, and exactly what he plans to do. again, being 'dirty' is not a problem. all 10 year old engines are dirty.

ask him specificly what the compression numbers from each cylinder were. what parts does he thinks are causing the lack of compression and what is he going to replace while he has it all apart. if he gives you a quote of however much money, he has to be able to back it up with some reasoning. if he just keeps telling you its "dirty" and its going to cost $2000 you need to find a new mechanic.

an engine swap is almost always more costly and more of a pain in the *** then rebuilding. and if you ever want to sell the car, the buyer is going to be weary of a swapped engine. you can buy rebuilt heads for under $800, figure on 4-6 hours of labor for install if you dont do it yourself.

 

just a little funny...

 

we can rebuild it... we have the technology... i just dont want to spend a lot of money.

10 points if you know where thats from

 

I've pretty much already talked myself into a new motor. I don't want to fool with this mechanic anymore than I have to, and I have other people than can help swap the motor.

The car is already tore down in the service position right now and he hasn't ordered any parts.

 

I have a feeling i'm going to be on this forum a while. Seems like a really good group of people.

 

its your money and your car. you are paying him. you fool with him however much you want to. you need to find out exactly what is wrong with the car before proceeding.