Blown Up VW ALH TDI Tear Down

[@Ruip69]

Great teardown man! That's insane that happened with low mileage on motor. My ALH golf has 400k and still runs like a champ and it's original engine and transmission.

[@rickyALH]

Same here! 02' jetta going strong at 390k with a fresh tb, fuel pump and new fluids in the gold old 5MT

[@cavemanjoe79]

Yep, I have a 2001 Golf with 350,000 miles original engine and original automatic transmission. The only things changed on the transmission is the torque converter and the valve body.

[@sethsmith2982]

Same here man! All stock greasy tune and I can’t kill it lol I love it!

[@zj2443]

pro tip: the cam sprocket comes off really easy with a pry bar. much easier than drilling a hole and punching from behind.

[@phillipporco3456]

Either cam love wore thru lifter or glow plug tip dropped and crammed itself in the valve seat breaking the valve. . Seen it many times . Change glow plugs every 100k with quality ones and change cam / lifters when the lobes start loosing hardening .

[@finlaybichan1275]

My AHU did that too, not the whole valve, just a small chunk out the edge, did plenty of damage though! i was gutted, that engine was running sweet until it wasnt!!

[@davesjettacamper]

Thanks for the tare down video !
I have a 2002 VE Jetta 1.9 TDI that I converted from an Automatic to a 5 speed manual. It has 330,000 miles on it now and I get 52.75 mpg on a trip. I am having a problem with my turbo losing boost right now. I have replaced my N75 valve twice and it works for a day or two and then starts giving up again when I wind her up over 70mph in 4th or 5th gear.
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[@gearhead4266]

Have you cleaned the turbo the veins can get stuck due to soot and cause a over boost and or under boost condition. I like to take the top of a wd40 can with the flexible hose and put it on easy of oven cleaner remove the 3 13mm nuts that hold the down pipe on and spray some of that stuff in there until it comes out( be careful I got a very nasty burn from that stuff and now I have a scar bigger than a quarter on my arm) after you do that I like the un bolt the actuator 2x10mm nuts then work it back and forth until it freed up and smooth then bolt everything back together and give it hell

[@gearhead4266]

To help prevent soot build up in the turbo shift at 3k+

[@burbman60]

1:11 good shop technique. I use that one too.
good editing, thanks for chopping out the slow parts.

[@gearhead4266]

Right lol. And thanks man I try my best

[@1wisestein]

This is a pretty sweet tear down of one of VW’s best ever engines.
As far as I know those head bolts require loosening like how manifolds do since there a slight outward bowing that happens. So loosen/break from both ends going inwards, but only just enough to loosen. Don’t remove any bolt until all are loosened. Not so much to do with the tools as with the bowing which creates more tension on the remaining bolts.

[@1wisestein]

WOW that cylinder looked gnarly

[@gearhead4266]

Thank you
As far as the cylinder head bolts go it had nothing todo with bowing sitting outside for over a year in Florida while going through 2 hurricanes before I tore it apart had alot todo with it

[@gearhead4266]

I don't think I put it in the video but all the cylinder had water in them

[@Jefty49]

Thank You ! Like everyone else mentioned... great teardown. Very informative. Something I really needed. God Bless ! Jeff

[@jagosspasojevic4356]

The best video I watched in a while 👏

[@littlehumby535]

I think the valve will get carbon build up and stick to the piston. Happened to my alh, but got it resurfaced. More rare for the valve to snap

[@gamingvenom3379]

atleast it wasnt the headbolt XD damn

[@deanmc]

My Golf VW 2004 station wagon (ALH 1.9) is currently at the mechanic, I caught a headgasket leak, exhaust/combustion gases pressurizing my coolant system (resulting in excessive coolant consumption & and soot in coolant system) , luckily no oil / water mixed. Cylinder head is currently at the engineers/machine shop for resurfacing, they are also replace all valves, guides and seals. Should I be concerned that the bottom end will now have to deal with essential a new cylinder head? and higher compression.
Cheers, and Great video.

[@gearhead4266]

The bottom of these engines are very strong for there size it sounds like you lifted a head this can happen when the boost is turned up and cause the head bolts to stretch. Kermatdi.com has some ARP head studs that will solve the issue

[@mrviktoriordanov]

Same thing happened to me at 320k km on the highway on cruisecontrol with 120km/h ;(

[@gearhead4266]

Ouch that sucks man

[@thomaswyatt1703]

OK are you great VW 1.9 ALH TDI gear Heads not much experience with this motor yet it was running fine come to a stop sign went take back off noticed it was down on power few more miles notice smoking out the back another mile or two it got really bad (275k -2003) idles fine but smokes little

[@gearhead4266]

Get vcds and check your timing sometimes on these injection pumps the timing will slip it happened to me once but my car would not run at all

[@gearhead4266]

Also check vacuum and intercooler piping no boost no power lots of smoke

[@thomaswyatt1703]

@@gearhead4266 Thanks for some info Man that’s what I want to try next I cleaned out the EGR valve it was pretty bad Didn’t help

[@thomaswyatt1703]

@@gearhead4266 when I started it up it run OK for a few minutes and then started smoking really bad and idling started fluctuating up-and-down I just turned it off the injection pump was leaking a little but stopped I’ll check the timing on the injection pump

[@gearhead4266]

You might have a bad injector or injection pump

[@TsunamiKitten]

I have 2002 ALH TDI built and swapped into a Vanagon Syncro. Makes me wonder. LOL.

[@gearhead4266]

I had to look up what that was those things look cool

[@eugeneoreilly9356]

That engine was driven for a long time with a collapsed valve lifter and eventually the valve dropped.Why didn't you show us the lifters during the disassembly or the corresponding cam lobe on the camshaft?That engine was repairable.

[@gearhead4266]

These engines have solid flat tappets they can't collapse cause it's 1 piece of metal and the cam was still useable along with the crank 3/4 pistons all the rods and block

[@eugeneoreilly9356]

@@gearhead4266 thanks,thought they were hydraulic.Those hydraulic lifters can wear thru and loose the oil cause that happened to me on a PD engine at 260,000 miles despite regular oil changes.I think many viewers would have liked to see a rebuild.They are otherwise a good engine.Regards.

[@gearhead4266]

@Eugene O'REILLY yah im not rebuilding that engine. This one had around 126k when the valve stem broke it was serviced very very well as I used the vehicle for delivery driving and it was my main source of income at the time so it got and oil change every 8k miles instead of 10k and only with liqui moly. Along with timing belts every 80k so it was on belt #2. The new engine was a used one with 120k on it I serviced it the same way and it's been good just hit 210k on it and it's smooth. Both engines had the shit beat out of them but that dead one ran super smooth until I was cursing home then it locked up with 0 warning. The current one is still running smooth infact I just put a 11mm injection pump on it and bew lift pump with a diesel geek shifter it's much faster now

[@simontist]

Could the valve have been mildly damaged earlier in its life? (E.g. piston contact during a timing belt change if the timing wasn't locked properly)

[@gearhead4266]

It is possible but in this case unlikely looking at the valve off camera it looks a quality control issue you can see a fresh break and what appears to have been a crack in tge stem that has been there for a long while

[@russelldenton8753]

Did you record the rebuild?

[@zaratrusta79]

better call Saul

[@brokenlowridervw]

I have the 02j in my 00 tdi jetta and it's leaking so much transmission oil. I was told the axel seals but I can't confirm the parts I need. Where else could the leak be coming from? Besides those seals and the transmission cover seal.

[@gearhead4266]

The only time I've even had my trans leak was when I cracked the housing there is a input shaft seal so if it's leaking from the bellhousing that could be the culprit

[@brokenlowridervw]

@@gearhead4266 Thank you!

[@mihaiilisei3971]

Salut, la cât se schimba distribuția la acest motor Alh?

[@loxlyons]

I’m confused doesn’t the ALH have 4 valves per cylinder not 2?

[@gearhead4266]

They only have 2

[@drewdavis239]

They all drop valves lol

[@Mr.Engineer.]

Thats the exhaust valve right?
I guess it have been run to hot. Did it have any tune and did it have black smoke?

[@gearhead4266]

100% stock engine and maintenance very well was never ran hot sometimes this kinda stuff just happened

[@cadeh1748]

do u remember how many miles were on it?

[@gearhead4266]

126k

[@dominiqueeybers9186]

What was your mileage on it

[@gearhead4266]

It was around 120k

[@dominiqueeybers9186]

@gearhead4266 was still alot left in that motor. Its a shame the valve dropped. Iv got 02 jetta same motor, sunny south africa. 373000km on it and its my daily. Bought it in 2010 with 159k km on the clock.

[@gearhead4266]

@Dominique Eybers yah I know my new engine has 202k miles on it so 325k km and running strong so it worked out in the end

[@miketaylor6282]

So let me see if I’ve got this straight. Are you saying this engine is fucked? 16:13 😉

[@gearhead4266]

Yes

[@Jesus-hx5vg]

How many km did it have?
I'm worried my valve in my alh may drop anytime now.
I've been hearing some ticking noise while accelerating

[@gearhead4266]

120000 miles/193000km this is very uncommon these engines are known to last 30000 miles/480000km with no major problems just routine maintenance

[@Jesus-hx5vg]

@@gearhead4266 alh are my favorite engines I cant drive anything else as a commuter

[@Jesus-hx5vg]

@@gearhead4266 subbed, thx and great video

[@gearhead4266]

@@Jesus-hx5vg thanks man and yah I love my alh as a daily I couldn't see myself driving anything else

[@roykowalski4125]

@@gearhead4266 I won’t part with my 02 Golf tdi...375,000k and going strong..