Thread: Found this on my sump plug ID anyone?

If you use the camera flash and a coin for reference (to accurately gauge the inside diameter) it might help. I'm thinking someone may have broken an injector sometime in the past.

OK there you go!

Attachment 122787

Regards Philip A

G`day ,

do you think the thickness has any relationship to a liner thickness ?

Any pics for me a usually awkward for me to decipher when so intricate .

In the second batch i think pic #1 holds the key .

Hmm, it's interesting isn't it.
The diameter appears to be less than about 40MM, which I estimated by holding it against a hose clamp.

I guess it could be a bit of liner that fractured during insertion and only now decided to part company.

Looking at the exploded view and images on Google I cannot think of anything else within the oiled part of the engine that it could be. Maybe a bit of hydraulic lifter but they look much smaller in diameter.

I guess time will tell, but the engine is going so well I am certainly not going to pull it apart looking! LOL.
Regards Philip A

Harmonic balancer nose?

G`day ,

yes it is interesting , if it was a dirty old V8 it would be easier .


The other thing i saw while looking is that the little end , gudgeon has a replaceable bearing/bush .

The thickness could be similar but it`s not conclusive on the screen and i don`t know if they are coated or what material is used .

The part # ERR6978 , don`t know what factory uses , google will show that aftermarket are different colours and some look to be coated steel/iron don`t know .

edit .

Had a look in an online manual and the bush is steel and the pin is 30mm dia and the bush will have an OD of its thickness + the pin dia , not the 40

you have but getting close , even if it were , unless the sump was off one day and you had a borescope and some time to spend it would still be very

difficult and still no guarantee if the piece is from there that it would be seen .


I really enjoy the way the spacings for the Ads in threads make the thread read , maybe next time i look there will be an AD .

The part # ERR6978 , don`t know what factory uses , google will show that aftermarket are different colours and some look to be coated steel/iron don`t know .

Hmm, that could be it as the bearing looks to be at least bimetallic.!

AFAIK the engine has never been apart.

It looks like the con rod bearing has been fractured for a long time maybe on initial assembly.
The extra stresses of the remap may have finally caused it to give up the tiny bit holding it.

I just had a look at it under magnification and it does have an external lead in and a small internal lead in which would lead towards small end bearing shell as per the images on Google.

None of the bearing material has come with it AFAIK although it would not be captured by the magnetic plug.

I guess it could last forever or until tomorrow!
Jeez, and they are worth less than GBP 2 and could cost a motor..
Anybody seen an engine die from a little end bearing failing ie is it a known problem?
I will be very interested in the sump plug on future oil changes.

Regards Philip A
I am comforted by there being no references at all on Google on little end failure. Even the Mahle bearing failure pages only talk about a bent rod. I am pretty sure I don't have a bent rod as I have done 50KK in the car since purchase and never overheated, and the OE radiator is still good and all the hoses appeared to be those fitted from new when I changed them after buying it..

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Anybody seen an engine die from a little end bearing failing ie is it a known problem?

I had the Tdi rods rebushed two years ago during a rebuild.
They are usually bronze.

The gudgeon needs to be almost a press fit, a tight push and these had started to develop play but you couldn't hear a knock.
Big ends shells were showing wear too and were only about 100,000km old.

At the time I put it down to too high combustion pressures from a combo of fuel and too much advance.