How Bad "tdi ran out of oil"

T

turbom700

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To make a long story short last week when the high was -20 out my brothers 1998 NB TDI wouldnt start, so I pulled started him with my car and it fired right over. He called me from 10 miles down the road and said his oil light came on and the motor just killed.

Called a tow truck and got it back to his house and on his hoist. Upon further inspection it appears that the gasket between the oil cooler and filter "was leaking" and caused the oil to leave the motor where it belongs.

We can start the car put it runs rough and its obvious something is wrong. Pulled the oil pan and the valve cover off. The cam bearings "caps that hold the cam down" are gone.

Whats the likely hood of just putting a reman head on this and it being ok? or is the bottom end is trashed also?

Part of me says just do a head but if the bottom end is bad your going to ruin the new head.

Thoughts???

Mike
 
pull the engine apart, i bet the crank is in pretty rough shape.
 
If you already pulled the pan, pulling a rod and main bearing cap should be pretty easy and will tell you how the crank looks. But run for 10 minutes with no oil is not a good sign. Did you guys not see a puddle below the car or has it been leaking for some time, in which case it has been run with low/no oil for even longer???

Probably needs a full rebuild.
 
I'll have him pull a main and connecting rod cap off.

No signs and no leaks up intill the light came on. I guess this is a common problem with these motors but most get caught before they ruin the motor.
 
oil light in a vw means no oil not low oil. Just from what I've seen. If you see a piston wipe the cylinder make sure to have the block checked, also seen a cylinder wall crack after the engine light came on, causing the cylinder to melt just a little.
 
Car is long gone. He ended up buy a new mazada 3 or 6 and sold the car for 1900 bucks.
 
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