In process: Alibaba GTI build

[golfRdaddy]

Had to go through multiple issues on the items that attach to the block.

Oil cooler was one - bad gaskets and probably oil cooler as well, which was replaced. Drove fine for a minute.

Then the original OEM water pump made itself a nice little crack which grew to a hole with coolant squirting out of it, so I sourced an aftermarket one (only after JB water welding it, which worked but didn’t fix the issue because it was also leaking thru a blown waterpump gasket as well ).

So, if y’all buy one of these engines go ahead and replace all of that sh** that attaches to block and their gaskets and call it a day.

Yeah I changed every gasket and seal, and ordered a new water pump from fcp before slapping her back in. I am a little worried about the non OEM oil pump. I haven't confirmed if it's aftermarket but since you opened yours up.. I'm assuming I have the same one as you.

Painting my bumper and just need to refill the AC and it should be good.

 

[Mksleven]

Yeah I changed every gasket and seal, and ordered a new water pump from fcp before slapping her back in. I am a little worried about the non OEM oil pump. I haven't confirmed if it's aftermarket but since you opened yours up.. I'm assuming I have the same one as you.

Painting my bumper and just need to refill the AC and it should be good.

View attachment 308018

BTW no clue on which oil pump I have. But I haven’t been babying the engine and it’s been holding well so far..time will tell

 

[mystix]

re: Secondary Air Injection (SAI)

I have looked through Aliexpress/eBay and all new heads do not have holes drilled for SAI in the head. I don't know what other internal differences are in these heads but their castings are not 1:1.



Heres a photo of my head. I shone a light into the exhaust ports and saw bright light for the middle two red holes and a very faint light for the outer yellow holes.
Blue circle: SAI hole from the pump motor.
Yellow circles: connected to the top exhaust port
Red circles: connected to bottom exhaust port.

Here's one of the Aliexpress heads.. no holes for SAI in this one.

 

[golfRdaddy]

A lot of the photos are stock. Once you start pinging them. Theyll send you real pics from the warehouse. Just make sure you give them the vin so you get the correct part.

 

[mystix]

A lot of the photos are stock. Once you start pinging them. Theyll send you real pics from the warehouse. Just make sure you give them the vin so you get the correct part.

I did message SHANHE & they have my VIN. They have only sent photos of one engine which isn't bored out for the Kombi valve. I doubt any of these heads coming from China have SAI.

 

[Diggs24]

They don't have SAI over there so no reason to.

 

[Bcastine]

As it pertains to SAI on a us GTI, has anyone confirmed it even matters? I half wonder, that as long as the SAI pump functions, meaning it pumps air when requested, does the CEL not get triggered? Even if its not injecting air into the exhaust?

 

[mystix]

As it pertains to SAI on a us GTI, has anyone confirmed it even matters? I half wonder, that as long as the SAI pump functions, meaning it pumps air when requested, does the CEL not get triggered? Even if its not injecting air into the exhaust?

There's a level of complexity to the SAI system. I don't believe a functioning pump is sufficient to keep the CEL away. The system monitors various sensors for correct operation.

I am not sure if I can link the actual document but you can google "ssp 922903", the vwcampersite wordpress result has the document which details the Secondary Air System.

 

[riceburner]

oh wow so tldr it sounds like so far more red flags than green on this huh? at least - short block is good (so far) but you may as well rebuild the long block with oem or oem+ accessories, at which point its such a meh deal right?

 

[scrllock]

yeah i'm definitely glad i didn't order one of these

 

[SmoothCat565]

This thread has me thinking. I see some potential here, not sure it’s exactly feasible. try to continue building these from these sellers with any improvements mentioned in the previous posts, and then swap them into the future mk9’s with the appropriate electrical wiring? As long as there’s room in the “frunk”

Or even swap them into thr older gen golf’s in general. To keep them alive.

In other words, keep this type of work up. reverse engineer the engine, and the manual transmission too. Aftermarket engines and transmissions.

Assuming gasoline isn’t banned and the car passes emissions, which I imagine is still many years away, can the car enthusiast community do this across the board, not just VW people. And if gasoline is never banned, this would be possible

If car companies won’t provide the engines anymore, what’s stopping the enthusiast from having them built by Alibaba ppl

 

[scrllock]

This thread has me thinking. I see some potential here, not sure it’s exactly feasible. try to continue building these from these sellers with any improvements mentioned in the previous posts, and then swap them into the future mk9’s with the appropriate electrical wiring? As long as there’s room in the “frunk”

Or even swap them into thr older gen golf’s in general. To keep them alive.

In other words, keep this type of work up. reverse engineer the engine, and the manual transmission too. Aftermarket engines and transmissions.

Assuming gasoline isn’t banned and the car passes emissions, which I imagine is still many years away, can the car enthusiast community do this across the board, not just VW people. And if gasoline is never banned, this would be possible

If car companies won’t provide the engines anymore, what’s stopping the enthusiast from having them built by Alibaba ppl

the issue with sustainability isn't motors, it's all the other parts that VW stops selling. lots of the mk4/5 interior/exterior parts are getting impossible to find.

 

[danelefren]

Giving an update on my situation. Ended up getting half my money refunded, decided to repair the engine with the upper and lower oil pans off my old engine and got it all installed. Engine absolutely purs and is very smooth. Surprisingly the GTI’s tune did not mind the R head, but I did get my custom tuning modified for the R head to be safe. Only issue I am fighting right now is that now the car pulls hard to the right when I give it any amount of throttle and pulls hard to the left when I let off. Didn’t do it before the swap and I didn’t mess with steering or suspension during the swap so not sure why, it almost feels like the VAQ diff is completely freaking out and engaging all power to alternating sides, very weird almost not safe to drive, other than that everything is happy, no oil or coolant leaks. First oil change in a couple hundred miles.


I opened mine up to check for internal damage because of the damage I had in shipping and everything looked good and in spec, the only thing that scared me was the oil pump was NOT genuine so I put a genuine one in to be safe.

Thanks for the heads up on the oil pump. What about the head gasket? Did it look acceptable in terms of craftsmanship, material, etc.? Or would it be better to replace it with an OEM one, along with some ARP head studs? Further issues regarding the SAI?

 

[tehfalcon]

Thanks for the heads up on the oil pump. What about the head gasket? Did it look acceptable in terms of craftsmanship, material, etc.? Or would it be better to replace it with an OEM one, along with some ARP head studs? Further issues regarding the SAI?

Headgasket seemed identical to OEM. But if you are opening it up, obviously replace it and never a bad idea for some ARP head studs since you are there. As for SAI, I just deleted and tuned out the entire system, I dont have emissions testing where I live. Less weight and less stuff to fail now lol

 

[tehfalcon]

oh wow so tldr it sounds like so far more red flags than green on this huh? at least - short block is good (so far) but you may as well rebuild the long block with oem or oem+ accessories, at which point its such a meh deal right?

Other than Oil pump, which isn't expensive, I dont see what else there is to "rebuild" with OEM accessories. Everything external of the engine you are transferring from your original engine so it should all be OEM, just use new gaskets/seals on everything. Dont see how it makes it a meh deal?