Syncro back from the dead....

[sanchius]

One evening last winter, when we had -17F temps here, my kid couldn't get his hot-rod audi to start so he borrowed my trusty Syncro to go to work.
He was almost there when the oil cooler seal failed catastrophically, quickly dumping all the oil
This failure mode is documented in the Bentley and described here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4304466#4304466
With the wind chills at -20 to -25F, he did the right thing and pushed on to work and shelter (I view the cost of replacement engines as being cheap compared to the cost of replacement ears, noses or fingers), the engine knocking and clattering..

When we recovered the Syncro a few days later, fixed the gasket and refilled it with some old oil, it was still knocking, clattering and barely ran.
A compression check showed 0 psi in cylinder four. Game over... I was so bummed, that had been a really nice stock engine.
It had just enough power to get it into the parking spot next to the house.
I shut it down and walked away until we could find a replacement engine.

A few months later I found a builder engine from a local subie conversion, bought it and started in on it.
But, I also took a closer look at the engine in the Syncro, popped off the valve covers and saw to my amazement that the 2 push-rods on cylinder 4 had come off their rockers.
That explained all the clatter, no power and compression problems.

Once I replaced the bent pushrods and their rockers, the engine was running again, but still not sounding quite right under load.
The other evening I suddenly realized that the old oil that I had put in it was light 5-30 weight, not 20-50.
So yesterday, it got a fresh change of Mobil 1 20-50 and suddenly I had my Syncro back.

The first stop was for our traditional Sunday morning breakfast burritos with the kids at the Village Coffee shop in Boulder.
Since Boulder is called "24 square miles surrounded by reality", their motto is "890 square feet of reality surrounded by Boulder".
Then we went up Boulder Canyon to chill out next to the creek for a couple hours, with the Sunday papers, camp chairs and more coffee.

It's so great to have my Syncro back without having to rebuild & change out the engine...

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[IdahoDoug]

Nice! These are tough engines. I have long felt that we Sambanistas read of others troubles with the WBX and get kind of a vague sense of unease with our own - an unease we would not have if not for an enthusiasm for reading and being part of the community. Like any engine, they need specific knowledge, but that's easily attainable.

My Syncro engine had all kinds of troubles that may have caused someone without specific knowledge to give up on it. But I learned about these fascinating engines and kept replacing pushrods and suddenly one day it purred like a kitten. It was not a problem child at all - just had a valve or two stuck and started dropping pushrods.

You might consider putting some valve guide lube in the oil like a half quart of Marvel Mystery Oil. Name aside, it's great insurance in a WBX that's had its valve train stressed in a way there may be deposits. That's why your pushrods dropped out of position, in addition to the lifters running low on oil. A shot of Sea Foam fuel conditioner would similarly help until the engine's been on a long (1 hour plus) freeway run to get any valve grundge burnt or pushed through.

Bravo!
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[Syncro Jael]

X2 on the Sea Foam treatment.

It will clean things up really nice. Don't freak out when you see the black oil on your change right after you use it. It doesn't take long to get the gunk out and into your fresh oil change.
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Hightop - NAHT
Subaru EJ25 Forged Frankenmotor, Triple Knob.
Jael = (Mountain Goat)