well after my "trusted" mechanic has had me fixing the oil leaks and replacing pushrods he has now told me the head needs reconditioning as there is no compression on the 3rd cylinder and barely anything on the 2nd cylinder after spending about $1500 having it fixed and driving it from his garage and back again

so question is how much will it cost me to have this issue fixed versus the cost of purchasing a new Mexican motor?

anybody have any input or advice at all?

Reco the heads will be cheaper than a new donk,

From memory the mexican motors are about 3k for the long block

Cheers

Shaun

I wouldn't think reconditioning heads is going to bring your compression back, unless leaking at the valves.

Does this mechanic claim to know VW's.

And as above, heads would be a lot cheaper than buying a motor but this wont fix your problem if it is the bottom end.

Kev

new heads would be cheaper in the long run

sure the tappets have been set correctly ? maybe your valves are not fully closed.

the mechanic has been in the business a very long time.

im slightly mifed because i already paid him a lot of money for him to turn around and say that was what was needed for blue slip, now you can sort the other issues....as far as i was aware there were no other issues until i took delivery of it. its been serviced and tuned but was running like a bag of crap....having trouble even turning over. too it back to him yesterday and he checked the compression and told me its buggered....will need reconditioning, i tookm, this as just the heads but from the comments it need a full overhaul?

how much would i be looking at for this in the nsw/sydney area?

anyone know where i can purchase a Mexican block or make enquires....theres a few threads but they are quite old

not decided what to do yet but just covering my options on a long term future rather than a quick fix

Call Vintage VeeDub in Campsie,

even if they can't help (doubtful) they can give you the best advice. They should be able to help you with your problem and have the parts

Cheers

Shaun

Most mechanics would do a comp test first!
Who is this so called mechanic as you seem to be having nothing but trouble.
I would be taking it for a second opinion and not asking questions on a forum as people dont know the condition of the engine, it could be an easy fix like tappets as mentioned

Call this fella
Nymeyer Automotive
0249454811
Real old school vw only mechanic, he stocks motors ready to go or can diagnose the problem quick smart, just up the road from you (sorta :smilegrin in Belmont.

ill ring the guys at Campsie tomorrow and get them to give it the once over.

this was all done already

Push rod tube seals 16
Push rod tubes 8
Oil pressure switch 1
Rocker cover gaskets 2
Oil cooler seals 4
Fuel filters 2
Fuel hose 2
Points 1
Dissy Cap 1
Spark plugs 4
Gearbox 1
Labour, R&R Motor and Box, Repair gear box selector, repair oil
leaks listed, reassemble motor, set tappets and tune motor
Cash price: $1,600.00

so ive been told its def running on 3 cylinders, so to recap the van went in started beautifully sounded great then i had the listed work done and as soon as it was colected had issues with starting and not running right.

the original mechanic tells me it was ok the compression was good when he first did the test.......

looks like ive spent $1600 on a bloody dead engine....what kind of mechanic is this that cant spot issues?

grab the money and run springs to mind. seriously peeved off

before you go spending all that dosh just check your rockers are adjusted properly, i lost compression on 2 cylinders , mechanic couldn't figger it out, could barely get the engine started without roll starting down a hill !, then checked the rockers and they were soooo tight it was holding the valves open !!, quick adjust and compression was back !!!!!!

just pop the roker covers off and see if there is ANY movement in the rockers, if not adjust them to what eva the speck is ( i cant remeber) till theres a small amount of movement.

So the car was running alright before you gave it to him, he stripped it down to fix the oil leaks, did he check what else had to be done before he reassembled it, did it get a set of rings, did he check the valves and guides, it sound like a complete lack of interest on his part, by your discription he does not sound competent to me, it would apear to me that he is responsable for the job and to inform you of any more work that would need to done when the engine was apart.

Get a 2nd opinion. My2c

He cleaned the heads?!?!?!?!? Probably gouged the crap outta the valve seats whilst cleaning the chambers.

Either way, HE did something to make it run like crap. NO reason what-so-ever for it to go to the garage fine and come back so bad.

I had a tuned small motor once that weren't running great and sent to rolling road garage to be fixed and tuned. came back running worse than b4 and spotted that they'd just swapped the primary air jet with the secondary. Ended up the oil pressure from the new pump was so high it held the valves open when cold so had to chop the prssure release spring. Anyway, paid good money for shit work cos after pump was fixed it still ran like crap till i swapped the jets back. That was $500 well spent

Take em to small claims

If you were near Brissy I could fix the engine pretty darned cheaply. Did mine with crank grind and recon heads for $700 inc rings, bearings and gaskets

I bet he did not even touch the heads, just put them back on, lap the barrels into the heads, what about the rings, were they replaced, if they were the bore should have been honed, no mention of that, once you disturb the heads you should reseal the barrels or the engine will leak oil from there, get a second opinion and go to the small claims court, you do not want him to touch it again as it will be under duress so the next time it might be worse.