Oils for the 505

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Pug505exec

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Fellow Frogger
Joined
Jan 22, 2002
Messages
262
Location
S.E Melbourne, Australia
G'day all...
It's nearly time for an oil change in the 505 GTi, and i was wondering what grade of oil people would reccomend for the 2.2l.
It has always been run with 10 - 20W oils (Castrol GTX usually) but the problem is my engine has an obvious big-end knock. mallet What grades would help reduce the knock? Would a thicker oil be any better?
Thanks, :confused:
 
Why are you driving it if it has noisy big ends. Are you the "TERMINATOR"? mallet
 
Jason,
The noise is probably piston slap, quite common in these motors. Is it noisier when cold? If so it is almost definitely pistons and won't be a real problem.
If it is big end noise, what's the point of driving it, it won't last long.

Graham Wallis
 
Dont think it's piston slap... It is a constant tapping when the engine is turning over at a constant speed. It is less noticible when it's cold.

Maybe it is, maybe it isnt... I will take the engine out in the not to distant future. Can someone give me a rough idea of the difficulty involved in changing the bearings? and are the parts still easy to get? etc...

Doing it now is not going to happen, and the car does not get driven much at all at the moment
 
Jason,
Penrite make some pretty thick oils in their HPR range, I think HPR 70 is available!

Graham Wallis
 
I had an engine with big end noise once. It lasted two weeks and then BANG!!!!!!!!!!. Opened the bonnet, and there's a hole in the side of the cast iron engine block with smoke pouring out. I'll have to scan in a photo of the banana shaped conrod. I won't make the mistake of driving a car with noisy big ends ever again.
 
Jason,
Yours is the first STI/GTI car that I have heard of that has developed "big-end" noise. Has the car had a hard life, or done a huge mileage?

I know of several that have covered more than 600,000 km, with the original engine. Our STI has nearly 400,000, and runs as well as ever, with nil oil consumption. Our GTI is still like new at 140,000 km.

We use Penrite HPR 30 every 10,000 km, including a filter. In the heat of summer I may go to HPR 40, although I do not think it is necessary.

I do know of a GTI that developed a bearing type of sound, which turned out to be loose bolts on the torque converter drive plate!

Cheers,
Kim.
 
even our 604 only has 240km's on it and it isn't even showing signs of bearing noise
then again the 80's pugs wither 4 or 6 cyl had pretty good lifespans
pretty rare to find with low 200's on them these days without something having been done to them
i find it is better to get one that hasn't been touched but has been looked after
i had one 604 that only had 205km's on it when i got it and it had an engine rebuild
when asked why it was so the answer was that the previous owner had never really had the car serviced properly
my fathers TI that he had only had 280lm's on it when it developed bearing noise
 
Well, i can only hope it is not a Big End Bearing. It really does sound like a worn bearing, and makes the noises at the appropriate times that a Big End bearing should. I'll have to investigate further. Is it common for the bearings to go? the engine was never pushed...

The main reason i dont think it is a bearing is because it had been serviced it's whole life at Bob Watsons, and the noise has existed for at least the last 15,000KM, and Bob has never said anything about it (apparently).
 
Bob Watson hasn't been involved in his old business for at least 10 years. His old business partner Bruce Shepheard now runs it and is very knowledgable.

I have now stripped all the injection gear off my STI, should have it running with weber shortly. I found what was causing the vibration at 3000rpm: one fan blade missing!

If it doesn't go properly I will have no hesitation in replacing it with an XN1 engine.

Graham Wallis
 
GRAHAM WALLIS:
Bob Watson hasn't been involved in his old business for at least 10 years. His old business partner Bruce Shepheard now runs it and is very knowledgable.

I have now stripped all the injection gear off my STI, should have it running with weber shortly. I found what was causing the vibration at 3000rpm: one fan blade missing!

If it doesn't go properly I will have no hesitation in replacing it with an XN1 engine.

Graham Wallis
Click to expand...
Sorry, yes your right, It is Bruce, not Bob. I dont think i'm ready to swap the engine anytime soon though.
 
Pug505exec:
... It is a constant tapping when the engine is turning over at a constant speed. It is less noticible when it's cold.
Click to expand...
You've said enough to convince me it isn't a big end. They come and go with load variation, being noisiest on backoff, often quiet under load. To a point, that is...

Ever seen what happens when the shells wear away and decide it's time they overlap each other?

Not pretty...
 
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