Engine Replacement Rant/Advice Seeking Thread

Lets get this started with some background information. The car is a 2012 VW GTI, 4 door, 6 speed, essentially FBO K04 set up. 2 years ago I had the dreaded timing tensioner issue arise that resulted in bent valves and a costly engine head rebuild. Bummer to say the least when you are all out of warranty. At the same time I had the car in for clutch work and decided to plunge into the LSD clan and got a MFactory diff installed. All while being stage 2 uni, 2 months following the repairs I got a K04 installed. Fast forward to now and I am faced with complete engine failure. Some changes were done since the K04 such as WMI last year and currently was finishing up protuning with Alex @ Stratified. Car was just about to make its way over 98K miles when after WOT pulls for data logging and tune refinement purposes I encountered loud engine ticking on deceleration. Then on acceleration. KNOCKING in the block is likely where the sound is coming from. Took some time to get the car in the shop and completely diagnosed. Was hoping for something not engine related, but hey I get what I get here.

https://t.co/65j1xnZpic

^ This video is the shop going over the findings on video. If you took the time to watch, or not that is fine too, my engine head has damage and well of course shavings in the oil pan. No misfires. Andy said in the video that my car dyno'd at 330whp, but really it was like 310whp with meth on a SuperFlow dyno. Was hoping after the protune to be in the 330-340whp with meth.

The car currently is sitting at my shop where it is likely going to be for close to a month considering the time that may go into repairing it. I need a new (used) engine to replace the bad one. My shop is recommending I build the next engine. Well anyone who knows the parts and labor that is involved, considering a replacement engine is needed, this is not a cheap fix. I still owe on the car which is why I am going to obviously fix it, but I am left with a few options.

1. Replace engine and hope I never have another engine issue AGAIN!
2. Part-out, replace engine, have a stock running car (or downgraded) that I can sell or keep.
-This route wouldn't be settled on till I had buyers for big ticket items like K04 and transmission.
3. Get a replacement motor and build fully or even slightly so that I hopefully never experience another engine failure on this car again.

I am no way blaming the new tune for this issue. Even my shop said the logs had looked good. Coming to the forums now nearly 2 weeks after the incident to report and ask for some additional advice. I know which ever engine we find to work with will get the tensioner inspected and likely replaced. Chain work maybe dependent on mileage. As of right now my shop has only been able to locate a 66K and 88K motors that both come in at $2,400 with core charge. Not at all what I am hoping to end up with. Hoping to find a 30-50K motor for hopefully less still, one can hope. Engine is still being sought after so if you have any leads in SoCal hmu please.

The issue I have with building the engine is that its a K04 build. I hadn't planned on going BT anytime soon. Should I stress not building the motor and trying it out again? If I had to build one part of the motor should it be the head or the short block. Both are costly. I had hoped to track the car more but was waiting to finish the tune and get tires, but now I got to focus on fixing it. Even had hoped to take it to the drag strip once or twice to try it out. Looking for any insight, guidance, advice, hey even an engine if you got one.

It's not what I would call an upgrades "issue", although upgrading with performance parts can exacerbate scenarios like this.


My stage 2 car had a main rod bearing go on it, due to what the tech suggested was oil starvation. Unfortunately, if the oil gets low, and not even below the "low" line on the dip stick, you can hit a corner too fast and starve the pump for an instant to where you'll get a "OIL LEVEL LOW, TURN CAR OFF" warning light on the MFD. It happened a lot on my MKV, and happened here as well. My engine was replaced at the time under powertrain warranty because I showed them the receipt for the oil change I had done at a VW dealership within the last 4 months. The car should do fine on stock internals at those power levels to be honest. You may want to keep a watchful eye on the oil levels from here on out though, change the PCV, etc.


As far as how you should progress, do you really want to build the car when you likely don't have to? There's plenty of dudes pushing BT builds with 400+ whp. I'm sure they have headaches on occasion, but I don't think a K04 is the root cause for this. Ultimately, it's your choice here. The value of the car plummets as you pull apart the block and start adding upgraded parts and bolstering, because who knows if the next guy is going to want all that work done... something you might have to disclose to them at point of sale. I would honestly tone down the amount of flogging, check oil levels regularly, change PCV, and just toss on a new/used long block and worry about part outs later on when you're ready to sell. That's just my $0.02.

Check the dealer. I just replaced an engine. They have remunfactured engine for 3500 with core swap. 0 miles.
Having to replace the engine sucks. And then you want to build but thats like buying multiple engines.
Imo I would get a stock engine and lower your torque spike and live with that. Engine should be fine 300-350hp range

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sucks bad man sorry that happened to you.

Just went through somethng similar. I havent done engine work in 20 years. I lost all oil pressure @ 130k miles still drove it for 5 days didnt care as i figured it was gpong to lock up or keep trucking. I decided to pull the motor myself..i had just dumped money into stage 2 clutch and timing chain. 3k$
Couldn't afford the shop anymore..bought a cash honda crv ($1500)and am currently driving it. I repaired my motor have reinstalled it hooked harness and its running great. I had an oil screen take a shit on balancer shaft. My plan now is build another block so when this one takes a shit again i will be ready. In the mean time i have a cheap daily i can roll. Its very frustrating and makes you question everything. As the old saying goes speed cost money how fast you wanna go. I decided to get to know my car vs my other option of taking a big L and selling as is. Good luck man, shit sucks

If you do decide to part, dibs on the ko4!

I feel your pain, I bought mine last summer, engine and turbo took a shit in December. I went the rebuild route and Ko4 along with other upgrades. I have spent more in upgrades and fixes than I spent on the car. This is my daily and things seem to have snowballed quick lol. Sorry man, shit sucks. Fix it the cheapest way you can to keep it your DD. Buy a beater to turn into a racecar and have fun with. What I plan on doing. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for stopping by. The situation is definitely a bummer. Its kind of funny in a way though. I had stopped using my GTI as a daily in hopes of avoiding running the clock past a 100K. When I picked up the car in Oct 2014 it had 32k. By March 2017 it was right around 95k. At the time I did opt for investing in a beater. I have a 01 Jetta TDI that I got for a great price and daily that for work mainly. In an attempt to save my GTI from growing old and breaking I still couldn't avoid it even with a new daily.. lol.

I know BT builds are out there running fine on stock internals. More of a reason why I wish to keep a engine stock. Been thinking more lately about the drop in rods route. Saw somewhere that this could be done with the engine still in the car, although in my case it wouldn't be. Would installing drop in rods help aid in the longevity and power reliability of a K04 build? I have loved the tuning process throughout the months because I always go for 110+ mph pulls and its fun. I would say the car should expect this type of spirited driving for years to come.

Crappy situation for for. If i were you i would try to determine what caused the engine failure. But i would not build an engine, thats ridiculous. Buying a used engine is the right way to go.

Gino said:

Thanks everyone for stopping by. The situation is definitely a bummer. Its kind of funny in a way though. I had stopped using my GTI as a daily in hopes of avoiding running the clock past a 100K. When I picked up the car in Oct 2014 it had 32k. By March 2017 it was right around 95k. At the time I did opt for investing in a beater. I have a 01 Jetta TDI that I got for a great price and daily that for work mainly. In an attempt to save my GTI from growing old and breaking I still couldn't avoid it even with a new daily.. lol.

I know BT builds are out there running fine on stock internals. More of a reason why I wish to keep a engine stock. Been thinking more lately about the drop in rods route. Saw somewhere that this could be done with the engine still in the car, although in my case it wouldn't be. Would installing drop in rods help aid in the longevity and power reliability of a K04 build? I have loved the tuning process throughout the months because I always go for 110+ mph pulls and its fun. I would say the car should expect this type of spirited driving for years to come.

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I beleive you can drop the small end of rods from underneath the car. You would still have to pull the head and cylinders to put wrist pins and big end of rod in.
If you go that far mind as well re-ring it. Maybe some neq pistons and better valves and springs. For peace of mind

Figured its about time I come give an update. Originally I was not happy with the engines options being offered to me so I decided to find an engine on my own. I had a few lined up but ending up going with a 10k mile engine from a 2014 VW EOS. I had seen a list of interchangeable engines somewhere in these forums and I figured it couldn't be wrong. Only 2 engine types, CBFA and CCTA. The place I grabbed it from said my vin indicates its not a replacement option, but based on their system likely nothing outside of a GTI fits. So was obviously a bit of a scare but I am rolling with it. Fingers crossed I didn't screw up here.

Car has still been sitting at the shop. I had been under the impression that they would scope out the block further, but they kind of just halted until I tell them if I am going full build or not. I had mentioned partial build and got no support sooo.... probably just going to roll with the replacement engine only. No building of any sorts. I had played with the idea of drop in rods and valve springs + retainers, but again shop didn't seem to show support at this time. Also with rods it seems as though the options are limited. 2012+ engine blocks have 23mm wrist pins and only APR had those. Otherwise I wasn't finding much more on that. My tech suggest I am going to be back in the same situation soon with the power levels I am at. Sucks to hear, but based on what I have seen and read on the forums these engines have somewhat decent reliability for builds under 400hp. Going to chalk it up as an oil issue.

I was going to order some replacement clutch parts since the trans needs to be separated. Like a DMFW since it is nearing 100k miles, maybe TOB since I think those often should be replaced when trans work is done, clutch disk had it been heavily worn, and was hoping no issues with pressure plate. Shop said do it all or don't do any so shit, guess won't change anything there. I wasn't slipping before, but was just thinking of the life span. The clutch was a DIY RSR so getting the replacement parts could have been done individually.

Hopefully I can get the shop to start working early next week so I can maybe get my car back soon. Just need to confirm their labor price for the work. Also, fluids.. any recommendation on transmission fluid and brake fluid? My car will rise from its ashes soon enough.

What was your hp/tq level?

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brobst said:

What was your hp/tq level?

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Last I dyno'd I was on Uni Stage 2+ (91) running meth progressive set up to start at 5 and spray max at 20 I think.. on a SuperFlow I got 305hp/299ftlbs. Pretty much had the same numbers on a dyno jet prior to meth. Where I am at now?? No clue. Butt dyno prior to engine breaking would say we were doing more power lol. I plan to dyno because the port and polish with meth could produce happy numbers with the costume tune.