Mi16 Service Advice

[gaz832 7 1 Cars]

just got my engine to convert my 205 . since the engine is out what are the main things to change before i put it in the car, i have already ordered a new water pump and the timing belt was (supposidly ) changed before i got it. the engine has also meant to have done 90k miles. engine is really clean aswell.

 

these are what i was thinking of changing anyway

 

oil /filter change

renew timing belt anyway

head gasket

water pump.

clutch looks ok.

 

the car

engine

[welshpug 1,657]

bottom end bearings, liner seals.

[Ryan 99]

How sure are you of the 90k miles? Because every mi16 engine sold separate from the car is always claimed to have 80-90k miles...

 

I'd certainly rebuilt the bottom end. Even if it doesn't really need doing right away it'll save the trouble of having to remove the engine and do it later.

[CaptainK 11]

As you said yourself - change the timing belt anyways. I always figure if in any doubt, just replace it anyways.

 

I'd also change the oil pump too - mainly because I'm paranoid about them dying after I'd have two die on me now (first in a 1.9 GTi engine, second in my GTi6 engine which then needed rebuilding).

 

Good luck with the new engine build

[Anthony 1,003]

Personally, I'd do all the routine service/consumable parts as a matter of course, new cambelt/tensioners/waterpump, and I'd replace the big-end bearing shells. Whilst the sump is off, at the very least I'd fit a baffled sump to limit oil surge somewhat - it's not a total solution by any means, but it certainly helps.

 

Unless there's evidence of head gasket problems or the head needs to come off for rebuild anyway, I wouldn't remove the head and replace the headgasket - generally the headgaskets are pretty reliable, and you're potentially opening up a big can of worms removing the head on a 20 year old engine with a very real risk of snapped headbolts and similar.

 

bottom end bearings, liner seals.

Not sure about replacing liner seals as a matter of course personally - if you've stripped the engine down for a full rebuild then of course, but if they're not leaking and you've not disturbed the liners I wouldn't touch them. Again, a potential can of worms you're opening if you find that the block and liner seats are corroded when you remove the liners.

 

I'd also change the oil pump too - mainly because I'm paranoid about them dying after I'd have two die on me now (first in a 1.9 GTi engine, second in my GTi6 engine which then needed rebuilding).

Are you sure that the oil pump has failed in both occurances? OE XU oil pumps are normally extremely hardy and failure is very rare indeed - the only thing that usually kills them is a bottom end failure and bits of bearing shell or swarf getting sucked through the pump.

 

Most oil pump "failures" normally are related to the crank bolt coming loose, which stops the oil pump from being driven by the crank.

 

I can't comment on the reliability of pattern oil pumps, but certainly from what I've seen, they don't appear to be a patch on the quality of the OE pumps and I certainly wouldn't replace a working OE oil pump with a new pattern oil pump, put it that way.

[brumster 135 1 Cars]

Not sure about replacing liner seals as a matter of course personally - if you've stripped the engine down for a full rebuild then of course, but if they're not leaking and you've not disturbed the liners I wouldn't touch them. Again, a potential can of worms you're opening if you find that the block and liner seats are corroded when you remove the liners.

 

+1 to that comment

[gaz832 7 1 Cars]

thanks for the replys folks. how much is a baffled sump going to cost me, or can i modify my own .

[CaptainK 11]

Are you sure that the oil pump has failed in both occurances?

First one in the 1.9, yes. It was reading a miserably low 0-5ish PSI between idle and revving. Minimum I believe at idle is about 20. Engine eventually died and I replaced it with a GTi6 which probably died due to it being a shoddy engine I was sold - or was it oil pump failure that caused the engine to die? Who knows - I didn't have it long enough to establish that. Either way it was rebuilt and I replaced the oil pump with a proper brand new uprated one that Dan Taylor sourced for me - I certainly wasn't going to scrimp on a cheapy thing.

 

I can't comment on the reliability of pattern oil pumps, but certainly from what I've seen, they don't appear to be a patch on the quality of the OE pumps and I certainly wouldn't replace a working OE oil pump with a new pattern oil pump, put it that way.

+1 agreed as per my comment above.

[craig_007 1]

I made baffles for my own sump (tin sump) although it did already have a trap door arrangement inside.

 

Personally I would change big end shells as a minimum along with timing belt,water pump and tensioners, I would also fit the 6 bar spring ( I have a spare sitting here)