14
votes
Accepted
Will boring a cylinder affect its longevity thereafter?
Over boring the cylinder is a process to ensure the wall of the cylinder is pristine, providing a sealing surface for the rings to mate. Often when an engine gets old and tired, there will become ...
- 153k
13
votes
Why is a W-16 called, well, W?
I think I know
If you want citations, I have already failed you.
You Asked
Was there any reason someone (possibly the Volkswagen group) decided to call this configuration a W-16?
Answer
Maybe.
...
- 33k
12
votes
Accepted
Why is a W-16 called, well, W?
I'm by no means an expert, but found an interesting article on Wikipedia about the W engine that indicates the W being a relatively recent addition to the automotive world, but not the aircraft/...
- 289
10
votes
Cylinder leak down test to detect oil leakage
You can do a leak down test but look at your spark plugs first
If your burning oil you will see it on your spark plugs. They will be black and have buildup on them. If you find one or two that look ...
- 33k
7
votes
Accepted
Can i Use The Same Old Bolts On The Same Cylinder Head?
Your Passat uses torque to yield bolts, so they must be replaced. The torque to yield bolts are considered "one and done". This is because during the torquing process, they are stretched beyond ...
- 153k
7
votes
Cylinder leak down test to detect oil leakage
Not a desired answer, but with no leaks (to ground or into coolant) it's possible that your engine is just using/burning what some manufacturers would consider a normal amount of oil:
How much is ...
- 698
7
votes
Cylinder leak down test to detect oil leakage
I'm wondering if you are having an issue with oil bypass, as in going through the breather/PCV and ending up getting burned through the intake. A simple catch can would prove this out for you. This ...
- 153k
7
votes
Accepted
Small crack/gap between cylinders on block
It's completely normal, nothing to worry about
It's simply the gap between the sleeves. If you look from above, straight down, you will see a straight edge cut into the outside diameter of the metal ...
- 33k
6
votes
Cleaning pistons and cylinders with oven cleaner
Why chance it when some carb cleaner will do the trick for you. It should take carbon off of the piston without any worry of damage to the piston. Use an old, broken piston ring to clean out the ring ...
- 153k
5
votes
Accepted
Side effects of small amount dirt from spark plug well
tl dr; I'm sure minimal damage (if any) would occur from this, but there really is no telling.
A small amount of dirt would usually not cause an issue. It also depends on the size of the dirt. Most "...
- 153k
5
votes
Afraid to crank engine - how can I tell if my cylinders are flooded with water?
Given that there are no sensors inside the cylinders, I can't think of any way of doing so, other than Mauro's suggestion of removing the plugs and turning it over, which would spurt out any water in ...
- 28.7k
5
votes
Accepted
Is it really necessary to resurface cylinder and substitute piston?
You can absolutely reuse the piston if it isn't damaged.
There are piston compressor tools dedicated to slide the piston back into the cylinder.
- 39.1k
4
votes
Are wet cylinder liners' shims utterly neccessary?
Use a caliper gauge and measure the height of the new liners with the old ones and also the thickness of the shims from the old liner.
I would measure the new vs old liners. You may have needed to ...
- 2,879
4
votes
Accepted
Afraid to crank engine - how can I tell if my cylinders are flooded with water?
If it is just condensation you are worried about, then I wouldn't worry. Water is produced normally by the combustion process. I would be more worried about water in the inlet tracts waiting to be ...
- 24.9k
4
votes
How bad is 30% cylinder leak?
"put my hand on the exhaust pipe and there was maybe a very low flow."
You have found your problem, there should be 0 flow.
- 8,010
4
votes
Cylinder misfire after leak down test
You don't say why you needed a leakdown test in the first place. If you rotated the engine by hand in the opposite direction that it normally runs and it has a timing belt then it is possible that the ...
4
votes
Pros and cons of driving a vehicle with a misfiring cylinder
I can relate a story from my own experience with my daughter's car. Turns out it had two bad ignition coils that caused the engine to misfire when it was raining. Did she stop when the check engine ...
- 12.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Can clutch fluid be low for any reason other than a leak?
Clutch fluid doesn't go anywhere the only reason to get your fluid level go down is a leak.
However if you drained the system for some reason (parts replacement or whatever) there might be air trapped ...
- 1,197
3
votes
Accepted
Stuck valve, loss of pressure. Risky or only poor performance?
The longer you run it, the more damage you are going to cause. This will incur more cost when you do go to get it fixed due to the parts involved. Depending on which valve(s) is (are) sticking, you ...
- 153k
3
votes
Cleaning pistons and cylinders with oven cleaner
Dude spend the extra 3 bucks and buy a proper engine cleaner. Spraying sodium hydroxide on aluminum is a bad idea.
I would use a nylon brush drill bit to clean off carbon.
Although it's ...
- 1,935
3
votes
Can i Use The Same Old Bolts On The Same Cylinder Head?
Replace the bolts, this has been covered in detail on this site : here is one such post with lots of detail :
"Always Replace" (torque-to-yield) Bolts
- 34.6k
3
votes
Accepted
What happens when the air-fuel mixture ignites but the piston/crankshaft briefly can't move?
I coped this text from this website
This stroke is where the spark plug ignites the air/fuel mixture,
creating very high cylinder pressure which rise very quickly. Peak
cylinder pressures near TDC (...
- 24.9k
2
votes
Pistons ordeal: more pistons problems; two issues in one question
My suggestion is to go with set #1 without any modification to the pins or adding anything to the pins. While the pins are a bit shorter than what comes stock, they should work fine. The difference of ...
- 153k
2
votes
Check engine light mysteriously turned off
If the AutoZone person cleared the codes, the light won't come back on. Usually, when a CEL occurs, I'll clear the codes and see if they come back. If they don't come back, then I'm wary of the item, ...
- 153k
2
votes
Will boring a cylinder affect its longevity thereafter?
technically yes. You can only bore them out so many times before they will need to be replaced.
Each time you bore it you can usually expect it to last just as long as it did last time. Once it is ...
- 2,879
2
votes
What effect would a hole out of the bore at the bottom be?
It really depends on how far down the piston travels in the bore as well as if this is the thrust side of the piston or not. If the piston skirt travels lower than where the chip is at, the only ...
- 153k
2
votes
What does radiator water in the cylinder well indicate?
Does coolant fluid in the cylinder well indicate gasket failure again?
Indeed it does! Or it may also mean that the original problem was not actually a head gasket. The next likely causes are ...
- 12.1k
2
votes
What is typically involved to repair a internal combustion engine that has a cylinder misfiring?
There are many reasons for a cylinder misfire, many of them you can check for yourself. Easy to check are:
Spark plugs: a worn plug, badly gapped plug or a fouled plug
Spark plug not fully in: check ...
- 16.2k
2
votes
Testing piston ring
Basically, no. You're going to lose fluid past the rings no matter what, plus, how are you going to measure this anyways? This isn't how you test your piston rings.
The way to test your piston rings ...
- 153k
2
votes
Accepted
Which tends to be more costlier, Re-boring a cylinder block or changing the liners?
It's always going to be more expensive to put new liners into a block than just to bore it. The reason is, the number of machining operations is almost tripled with new liners.
Machining and processes ...
- 153k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible