engine and drivetrain Some bad news with Ludwig...

[Mike Self]

Driving home to Ohio from Ofest Monday morning after visiting friends in NW Wisconsin, we were tooling along I 94 when I started losing power and the temp needle started climbing.

Made it to the Wisconsin Dells exit; thought originally it was a bad spark plug. No such luck. Managed to limp it several miles to an old time (in business since 1919!) shop. Barely ran by then, no power, would run very hot in just a few minutes. No lost coolant, so sweet-smelling exhaust so knew it wasn't a head gasket.

Mechanic there said it sounded like a bad valve. We pulled the valve cover; no obvious damage (broken rocker, very loose adjuster, valve stuck open etc.). Started on a compression test with #1 cylinder--would pump to 30 psi then drop to zero.

So...found a U-haul truck and tow dolly in Portage, hooked it up; got home tonight and dropped the car off for diagnosis at my favorite shop. Engine only had 23k on a complete rebuild including everything new in the head but the casting. I'll keep y'all posted on the diagnosis.

Sigh, and just after I fixed the year-long carburetor mystery! This is the first time in my 41 years and over 450k miles of 2002 ownership that I've had to bring one home from a trip not under its own power. Guess there had to be a first time.

At least I'll get a column out of it!

cheers (but kinda dejected ones!)

mike

[vinceinIL]

Mike, so sorry to hear about Ludwig!

It sounds like you made it home with the least amount of extra hassle despite the problems. Will be interesting to hear what the exact diagnosis is of a motor so young.

It was great to see you and Carol at O'Fest!

vince

[inkatouring]

sorry to hear it, but I'm glad to hear you fix the carb. That mystery made a great column last month.

[visionaut]

Mike - my condolences and empathy for you & Ludwig. Wow that's a TON (4.5 tons?) of most excellent experiences in your 02s!

Hope the fix is quick and relatively painle$$ and Ludwig's back on the road again soon.

Tom

[Armond]

well I'm glad you made it home safe and sound. I'm sure the car will be on the road again in no time..Take care Mike.

[c.d.iesel]

and I hope all the kids are reading and listening :

COMPRESSION

COMPRESSION

COMPRESSION test first !

s p e e d y recovery

[Jim_75Sahara]

We can all be sure that Ludwig will be back on the road soon and that Mike will never part with Ludwig. (or Wolfgang)

[Harv]

Sory to hear that Mike.

Maybe time for an S14 crank and new pistons.

John

[schwarz75]

Sorry to hear about Ludwig. Keep us posted.

[jmon0261]

Mike sorry to hear. Hopefully all will be fixed with little cost and time.

Knock Knock- Who's there ? Sam's engine.

[PeterVarga]

Mike .... quel bummer or ist it bimmer? Hope you get it fixed. Best of Luck.

[02fanatic]

Hi Mike: Sorry for the "mis-adventure", but you know we've all been there at one time or other. These cars are just so solid you assume they will "never" let you down...until they do. You still love Ludwig anyway though, and he's lucky to have you too! :-)

John

[BillWilliams]

First of all, sorry about the mishap.

You would have never known but I was hauling a car back from Wisconsin on Monday (that had been at O'fest) and was passing through Portage and had a spot on the trailer! Dang.

I could have given you a free tow.

[Mike Self]

A bit of investigation revealed no compression in cyls 3 & 4...sounded like a head gasket, but no coolant loss, white vapor out the exhaust.

Pulled the head, and found not only a blown gasket, but a nice little passage melted between the two combustion chambers! No wonder I had no power and had backfires through the carburetor!

Fortunately we have a very good machine shop here in Beavercreek; I called Dave and described the situation; he said, "no problem, bring it over." He's welding it up and will resurface the head. Should be back in business by middle of next week. I hope!

Probable cause--excessive detonation (pinging). Which brings up a question for those who have 9.5:1 pistons. Mine was pinging on every upgrade, and I was burning 93 octane premium. Timing was stock or even slightly retarded. How much should I retard to prevent this detonation and make the new head gasket and repaired head last longer than 23k? And would a tii head gasket with cutting rings help the situation?

TIA

mike