What's Wrong With The 2.0T FSI Engine

 The 2.0T FSI engine is a heck of a power plant when the engine is new. However, after some age, you question whether the direct fuel injected engine is a good idea.

Because the gas from the injectors does not flow over the intake valves, the valves and chambers are subject to fouling. If I were to design a direct injected engine, I would have a method to clean the intake valves on a regular basis. I envision a schrader valves on the manifold in front of each intake. This way, you can dump a can of carburetor cleaner in each cylinder at 15k to 20k miles intervals to clean the valves.


I  think we have a good understanding why the car was having trouble starting in the morning and why the check engine light was always on. The oxygen sensors must have been going crazy.

This is what the valves look like after 134k miles.

 Intake Valves Before

 After I managed to peel the manifold off, I wasted a can of brake cleaner in the inlet chambers. Brake cleaner was all  I had on hand. Then I wiped around using my finger and a rag. I had rubber gloves on and the brake cleaner melted the gloves. So the picture above is improved from what it was prior to my first cleaning effort. Each valve was at least 50% blocked.

Cleansers And Cleaners

This is how I left them. Day light was burning and I had to get the cam shaft reinstalled.

Intake Valves After

I hope to have the car all put back together by tomorrow evening before the global warming arrives.

Be Sure To Change Your Cam Follower at 100K Miles

High Pressure Fuel Pump Lobes Are Scored

No 1 Cylinder At TDC

So your 2.0T engine gets 30+ miles per gallon. It is because of all that fancy crap that goes wrong as the engine gets up there in miles.

The high pressure fuel pump is driven from the front intake cam. The cam follower is a thimble like cup that spreads the load of the pump plunger rod across the entire surface of the cam lobe. When the cam follower  fails, the reciprocating pump shaft which is about the diameter of a pencil rides directly on the cam. Synthetic oil is good but the film of oil can't stand up to the forces as the metal plunger rod is honed down to cutting tool-like edge.

High Pressure Pump

After I install the new cam and pump, I need to drop the oil pan and try to find all of the parts that I expected to find in the housing that bolts on to that the right side of the engine.

The next time I am going for the 5 cylinder engine without the turbo and fsi. I am willing to sacrifice 5 mpg in order to skip this kind of trouble. This issue is costing me the equivalent of 17,000 miles, which is the same amount of money for one of those nice smart 50 in flat screens.

I can't image dealing with hybrid batteries.

I Rinsed, I Tasted, I'm Shocked.

Free Beer

After the beer is siphoned to the secondary it always seems as though a gallon has disappeared. But it is really hidden in the trub. So I recover that gallon by adding another gallon of tap water.

My theory is that all the beer that is mixed in among the hops isn't going to come out due to some sort of surface tension. By adding oxygenated water the yeast is revitalized and the thinner solution slips away form the hops with ease.

This pic is after ~12 hr of adding water. The mess at the bottom is more compact and the beer on top is getting darker by the hour.

Will mix it up another time and then siphon off the good stuff tomorrow.

When I transferred to the secondary I sampled the five day old beer. My first reaction was "Holy Crap!" Wifey said "Whats wrong?" I replied "I just discovered SN's Ruthless Rye formula" because at 5 days, it tastes exactly like it. I was tempted to take another larger sample, but reason prevailed. Double blind taste tests will happen.

You Can't Buy Beer That Taste This Good

Porter #20

 I finished gluing the linoleum down and so I'm ready for a break, so lets see how #20 is doing. Even though I am getting over the flu I can taste beer. First sip and I am thinking, I have never bought beer that tastes this good. And I'm not saying it because I brewed it. Five identifiable flavors are coming thru in a perfect balance. The Dark roasted chocolaty flavors, the overall dark crystal malt, the alcohol from the spray malt and some residual malty sweetness, light hop flavors in varying complexities, and a hint of yeast that is still working on the spray malt. All around total smash hit.

My Little Project

Second floor bath needed a new floor so this time linoleum it is. If you ever decide to do your own floor, remember this, less glue is better than too much. I will, the next time I do another floor.

Bottling Day #20

Novelty Glass

Once again, I am waiting on the yeast to do its thing. In the meantime I am trying this Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. The glass is a gift that I received from my SIL for Christmas. Thanks, it keeps beer colder than a normal glass. A couple of weeks back I saw the ale on a top 12 of the year list so when I was at the store with wifey I picked up a pack. The head is creamy and frothy and the taste has the perfect balance of hops and malt. Too bad it is a seasonal thing. 

Clear Glass Bottles

I am testing out using some clear bottles because I am interested to see how long it takes for the yeast to settle down. Will take some pics as some time passes. Because I used some spay malt in this batch to boost the ABV, fermentation is taking longer longer than my strict 3 week schedule demands.

Beer Flights

Wednesday evening, two weeks ago, a friend Kris and I had a tasting flight, with  our wings.

Beer Flight

When you make your own 6 pack, the beer is on the self, unchilled. So in order to attain the proper operating temperature is a short time, I converted a waste basket into a cooler. Not to worry, It was lined with a bag and I scrubbed it for several minutes in the tub. I grabbed a handful of salt packages and emptied them in the mix too. All was chilled in half an hour.

Instant Cooler

No pics of wings or cigars. When you are in Miramar FL, you have to go here for wings : http://www.jerseyswings.com.

And when you want a smoke, you have to go here:
http://www.aficionadoscigars.com/index.php/photos

I had an Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur and Kris had an Armondo's blend. Kris normally makes it about 1/3 of the way but this one made it to the end. Next time I am at Aficionados, I will focus my attention on the house blended cigars because they are excellent.

Hoppy Clouds

I go down to check on my project and all I can thing of is Bob Ross painting Happy Clouds.

I have Happy Yeast and a nice cap.

Had I watered back up to five gallons, all my hops would be on the floor because I don't use a blow off tube. In a week, I will siphon to the secondary and then add a gallon of water to the trub to separate the beer from the soupy mixture of yeast, hops and wort, that will by then have settled on the bottom.