2007 A4 2.0 (BWT) Cam Lobe Wear and Assessing Damage

[HereInOhio]

I have a 2007 Audi A4 2.0 (BWT) and it has a very loud tick. The dealer said its from the HPFP cam lobe being worn and they need to replace the cam. I removed the valve cover I found the rockers were all tight but when I put cylinder #4 at TDC the rockers are very loose but get tight when the crank is rotated and the cylinder is in a different part of the stroke, is this normal?

Video of Loose Rockers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxSfxqTPSVs

Video of Loud Tick (Fyi video is really loud-turn your volume down before playing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVuaeUS-QY8

Today I pulled the cam with the intentions of checking out the journals and replacing the intake cam. Unfortunately it looks like they are pretty gouged up on both the intake and exhaust cams and portions of the cage and head are also less than steller. This isn't my main car and I'm not going to drop $1,500-$2,000 into it for a head (just not worth it to me). If anyone with experience tearing these 2.0's down can provide their opinion of just how bad it looks compared to others that were rebuilt I would appreciate it. I guess my main question is if I buy a new cam (possibly also a cage) how long do you think it will last before toasting the new cam? I know its not the ideal repair but at this point I'm going to throw it back together so if I can get 5-10k for a $250 cam that's worth it to me but if I'll get closer to 25-50 miles not so much. Also any ideas of how/why they got this way are appreciated. I already have a new cam chain and tensioner and it looks like the oil pump is spitting a lot of oil out by the tensioner so it doesn't (in my amature opinion) appear the pump is starving the engine.

Here is a video of the head cam journals, cams and the cage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRoLJJhnB0g

The quality of the videos are better on my phone so here's a few pics:

Cam Cage Wear:http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1315.jpg
Head Cam Journal Wear: http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/medium/image1314.jpg
Exhaust Cam Gouges:http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1313.jpg
Cam HPFP Wear: http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1317.jpg
Cam revision:http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1316.jpg

Thanks in advance!

[drewgold]

I'm sure others more experienced with replacing the cams and rebuilding heads will chime in but here's my two cents:

The damage is almost certainly from a destroyed cam follower and possibly hpfp head. This is a very well know issue with this engine and has killed a lot of engines.

When the follower fails it sends metal debris throughout the engine. Damaging the cams, cylinders and possibly oil pump. Based on the extent of your damage, I'd say that the engine is likely toast.

Is your cam follower intact? What's the head of the hpfp like? If they look ok, my guess is that someone just slapped in a new hpfp and follower after a massive failure.

[drewgold]

I had a serious follower failure however it was caught relatively early and didn't do much damage to the lower parts of the engine, the entire cylinder head had to be replaced though. The scoring on my cams/bearings was not nearly as bad as yours is either which makes me think that a lot of debris was floating around in your engine for a very long time.

Before putting in a new cam, I'd drop the oil pan and check for debris. Also check the oil pickup tube to make sure it's not clogged.

I'd also get a scope and inspect the cylinder walls for scoring. It'll help give you a better idea of the extent of the damage.

I know some have had massive failures and just put a new cam in and the engine had held up ok but no idea how the damage compares to what you have.

[HereInOhio]

I did pull the pump and follower and it was not punctured. It did show wear but there was still the black coating around the outside. The tip of the fuel pump wasn't worn either. I'll post pics tomorrow. Both were not new either I can tell.

They guy I bought the car from recently put a new turbo on so I think we could agree he wouldn't have bought a new turbo if he had a massive failure and threw parts on to mask a problem. This being said it was only a few months from that receipt until the time I bought the car and the follower and pump were older than that (visually you can just tell when something is a few months old). So unless they installed a new turbo and a few months later they had a massive failure and swapped parts with used ones (very possible-the guy seemed desperate) but leaning towards it being caused by something else. Another reason I don't think the fuel pump punched through the follower is because although the lobe is worn and not as "pointed" it's not gouged like the tip of a pump was riding on it.

I have read a lot about the follower issues. I have also read about the tensioner screen clogging (it wasn't clogged when I switched tensioner) as well as the oil pump shaft shearing off (pumping oil when cranked so I doubt this happened). I think there was a problem with the pickup getting clogged but that may have been with the 1.8t's.

From what I read you can not machine the head or cage. If you don't mind me asking what did the head (not labor) set you back?

The bad part is I could've bought a crashed car with 67k and motor warranty for under $2k. I could've got most of that back from the body and other parts. I was getting married at the time and didn't have time to deal with it (my wife is going to hear about already costing me money![:D]) Oh well.

[drewgold]

Any pics of the HPFP lobe on the intake cam? It does wear subtly from a bad/broken cam follower. You don't generally get gouges rather it just wears down.

I really don't know what else could have caused that much physical damage to the top of the engine besides a cam follower failure.

As I said, I did have very similar gouges to what you have and large amounts of debris in the journals of the head.

Very luckily for me, my repair was covered under the cam follower extended warranty however the initial quote from Audi was $6900.00 That included labour iirc though. Didn't get an itemized breakdown so couldn't tell you what the head cost.

How many miles are on the car?

[HereInOhio]

I will post some pictures of the pump tip and cam lobe tomorrow. I assumed it would dig into it if it punched through but I guess not. I'll look forward to your input once I get the pics up. The lobe was definately worn but not any sharp gouges. The tip looked fine to me. Stay tuned.


If it was done at the dealer I wouldn't even want to know what the head cost was!


123k...I'm not lucky enough to have it under warranty[headbang]

[Theiceman]

I had one f the worst followers ever seen. Destroyed the pump. Intake worn cam was worn down not gouged. I dressed it with emery cloth. Someone could easily have done this with yours and thrown in a used pump to move the car. In fact you wouldn't put in a new one just to sell it. My guess is this is what po did.

Your head and cams are toast. You are now stuck with a choice. Spend dollars on an engine, spend dollars fixing this with more damage unseen, or do what po did to you and just move the car on quickly.

Some tough choices there.

I decided to just put in a new pump and follower and drive the car till it explodes.

[HereInOhio]

The unseen damage is really what makes it not worth it to me to dump the money in. That combined with the cost of a "new" head compared to just getting a complete engine isn't worth the risk.

Like I said I wouldn't put it past him. I bought the car not running and the guy said he inherited the car and recently it just stopped. He's been riding his motorcycle to work and needs a car like now. When I brought it home the fuse panel cover was really attached to the point of breaking it to remove it. Once removed there was a blown 5 amp fuse in the fuel pump. Now if it was a blown 20 amp or just missing that's one thing. A 5 amp combined with how the cover was attached does make me feel like he pulled a fast one. On top of this when I called asking him if it had a tick (wondering if it was just from sitting and will go away once fluids circulate) he tried to say it's never been a quiet engine but it did not have a loud tick. Now you know this tick was there before it stopped running and even if you're def, dumb and blind you heard it. All things considered I don't doubt he was covering stuff I just don't think he pulled the cam cover or cam. Maybe the pump and follower but that's it. When taking the stuff apart it didn't seem like it was torn down a few months ago. You can just tell by the way bolts come out and gaskets stick. Unless they did that through the follower hole I don't think they removed the cam cover.

Yeah my options are to:
1. Sell it as is ripped apart

2. Throw it back together and sell it ticking but running

3. Throw it back together with a new cam to hopefully eliminate the tick and get some use out of it. At this point I would be happy with a few thousand miles and who knows it could last longer. Once it goes sell it needing an engine. ($250)

4. Source an engine and swap it ($1500-$3000)

5. Source a head and pray there's no other damage ($500-$1500)

My name is worth more than a few dollars to toss a cam in and rip someone off so that's not an option to me. What goes around comes around. I bought it at a price that I'll break even either way.

Options 3-4 seem best to me and I don't feel like swapping the engine or spending a few grand on an engine. Hence the reason for my original question asking some pros with experience how long it would last in their opinion. How long did yours go before it exploded (months or miles)?

[vce1232000]

[wrench] a new intake cam and follower. Emery cloth the cradle and that particular cam journal that is scored to get most of the scoring out. Reverse oil flush the engine. [wrench] oil filter very 1500 miles until 4500 miles. Suggest running oil additive like Lucas synthetic. [up] luck...........

Ive seen [down] damage. And after [wrench] with above parts [drive] a longtime

[HereInOhio]

That sounds like my type of plan. I will smooth out the head and cage journal(S)...not just one [facepalm]...for the new intake cam and toss it together.

For the exhaust cam (cam gouged in the pictures) do you think I should just leave it since it all matches gouges together (embarassing to even type) or smooth out the cage? Of course preferrably I would smooth out everything but keep in mind I'm doing this with the front of the car intact and the timing belt on. I really don't feel like throwing it in service mode and buying an exhaust cam.

I can grab an '06 Passat with a 2.0 (probably a BPY engine from what I read) for really cheap -about the price of the intake cam since it doesn't have compression most likely from a snapped timing belt. I'm not sure if the cams and cage are interchangable to the BWT. I would also want to make sure the cam is not revision A or broken/damaged. [poop]+[wrench]+[poop]+[wrench]=[drive]

Lastly how exactly do you perform a reverse oil flush? I just flushed the oil and it was dirty but no metal chunks.

[vce1232000]

If your not going to [wrench]the exhaust cam. I would leave the cam girdle and effected journals alone. By emery clothing the scored out cam journals and cradle and installing the same scored up exhaust cam mite cause a oil psi drop from excess clearence

Reverse oil flush has to be [wrench]@ a shop that has a reverse oil flush machine. They [wrench] up thru oil fittings into the oil gallery and flush cleaning fluids under psi reverse of the normal oil circulation to remove metal debris and contaminates

You can not theoretically swap the cam girdle from one cylinder head to another due to its machined tolerances to that specific cylinder head. But Ive heard it done without any issue's. I can not confirm that since I have never [wrench] done that before.

You can always purchase that used engine and just [wrench] the valves from yours over. Youll have to lap the valves and youll have it fixed knowing its [up] and not Jerry rigged.

[HereInOhio]

Ok. Appreciate the info. I just cross referenced the heads and cams from an '06 BPY 2.0 to an '07 BWT and both cams and the complete head are the same part numbers. Who knows, they want $500 obo for the car and I can scrap it for $350-$450 so I may just pull the cams and cage or the whole head and call the junk yard.

All theory goes out the window in this project. Its flat to the eye so good enough! Why get hung up on details. What I do it and my engine ticks??

We'll see. A lot of bs that I was trying to avoid.

[HereInOhio]

The pump looks a lot newer than I thought and I doubt the blue gasket is OEM, maybe it was replaced. Talking to my Indy he seems to think the most likely cause of this is due to oil starvation but I was just explaining it over the phone and he didnt see pics.


A local junk yard has a complete engine for $750. Had an engine fire on top that messed up the valve cover but the timing belt and that is fine. I may have to go take a look and see exactly how big the fire was.


Pics of HPFP cam lobe wear and pump tip wear:
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1321.jpg
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1320.jpg
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1319.jpg
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/image1318.jpg

[Charles.waite]

Any pics of the HPFP lobe on the intake cam? It does wear subtly from a bad/broken cam follower. You don't generally get gouges rather it just wears down.

I really don't know what else could have caused that much physical damage to the top of the engine besides a cam follower failure.

As I said, I did have very similar gouges to what you have and large amounts of debris in the journals of the head.

Very luckily for me, my repair was covered under the cam follower extended warranty however the initial quote from Audi was $6900.00 That included labour iirc though. Didn't get an itemized breakdown so couldn't tell you what the head cost.

How many miles are on the car?

Oil starvation can cause that sort of journal damage. And given the damage to the head, I would be shocked if the bearings or, more importantly, the oil pump and dampeners aren't damaged too.

And that pump was definitely replaced. The Blue o-ring wasn't on the pump from the factory, the factory ones were black.

As far as the tick, its incredibly hard to diagnose anything based on noises. These engines really are noisy as shit. My pump blew clean through my follower and I was hard pressed to hear the difference between the toasted pump and cam and a factory fresh cam and pump and follower. They're just noisy and ticky.

[HereInOhio]

I completely agree...just need to decide what I want to do.

As far as the gasket I did just take everything apart a few months ago. There's a chance that I tossed it on there but I think I would've remembered a blue one not to mention the pump looks pretty new. I guess it's somewhat irrelevant since there is obviously severe damage to the top end and assuming the bottom end is untouched is a hugh risk, especially if I replace the whole head vs just the cam.

I may grab the Passat and yank the engine. Steal the cams for this experiment. If it crashes I can pull the head off the BPY engine and fix the valves and replace the cams with new ones and toss it in there. Not really what I set out for. It would probably be smarter to just toss a good engine in there but I don't have the extra time now.

[aluthman]

I'm inclined to agree with vce1232000, however, I would be hesitant to use any abrasives on the cam cradle or head bearing surfaces. Grooves won't really hurt anything and will actually just hold more oil unless the clearances are excessive. Every 2.0 head I have disassembled has had some level of scoring in the cam bearing faces. As long as there is no indication of wiping, you should be fine. You could take some emery cloth to the exhaust cam journals if you wanted to try to polish them up since the steel cam is much harder than the aluminum bearings. Replace the intake cam if you think it is excessively worn (it doesn't really look like it but it's hard to tell from just a picture). You should also not replace the cam tray on the head (it's not even available separately) since the two parts are machined together to provide the appropriate bearing clearances.

TL;DR version:
clean up exhaust cam bearing surfaces
leave head cam tray bearings alone
replace intake cam

I don't remember the rockers ever being that loose in any of the heads I've worked on, but I never checked with it at cyl. 4 TDC. I have a bunch of used rockers and lifters you can have for the cost of shipping if you want to replace those also.

[HereInOhio]

Thanks for the input.

As far as replacing the rockers and lifters it looks like you just need to physically pull them up and drop in the new ones right? I don't need the head off to replace them correct?

The exhaust I'm probably not going to mess with since I didn't remove the timing belt so I don't want to lift it and would only be able to smooth the top half of the cam up and/or the cam tray.

[aluthman]

The lifters and rocker just pull straight out once the cam is out of the head. The head doesn't need to be off the engine to do this.

[vce1232000]

would only be able to smooth the top half of the cam up and/or the cam tray.
Its a waste of time just to do that. imo leave alone and [wrench]around it

[drewgold]

Definitely listen to the above advice, these guys know what they're talking about! [az]

Saw the pic of your cam lobe, tough to tell for sure but it looks very similar to what mine looked like. (Unfortunately I have no good pics, Audi stated that under the terms of their service they were not permitted to send photos to me of the damage, rather just show me the photos at the dealership...in other words, they're trying to limit pics of their design flaw getting out, although it's too late for that.)

The only pics I have are the ones I took before I took my car in.
The only one of the cam is through the HPFP port:

http://i68.tinypic.com/2n1cheh.jpg

And here's one of my HPFP, the head was totally gone and even then the cam wasn't gouged. The cam lobe really didn't appear to be all that worn surprisingly:

http://i61.tinypic.com/30iaz2v.jpg

So this brings me back to your loud tick/knock. Even with a completely destroyed Cam Follower and HPFP head, my car surprisingly ran fine and was not making any unusual noises so I'm thinking this wouldn't explain your noise. I'd more be leaning to one of the rockers/lifters making the noise you hear in your video.

With this sort of thing it always seems like a question of what came first, the chicken or the egg?

My guess is that the cam follower failed and was driven like that for some time causing major engine problems/damage, the failure and resulting debris likely hindered oil flow by clogging the oil pump pickup screen and oil journals and caused some starvation of oil. This would explain the turbo needing to be replaced. 120,000 miles is unusually early for a turbo to go unless it has been starved of oil. I'm thinking that the previous owner replaced the turbo, sourced a used HPFP, changed the oil and called it a day.

To address your tick, I'd say definitely replace the rockers/lifters as to me this seems like the most likely source of the noise. Replace the intake cam, button her up and hope for the best. If you're doing all the work yourself, you're right, the cost of a few parts is worth it if you can buy a few thousand miles. You could use that time to keep an eye out for a good used engine and do a swap when/if the time comes...

Just my two cents...

[Okedokey]

That looks like a shear, not a wear, thus I think yours completely 'snapped' rather than wore down.

[drewgold]

That looks like a shear, not a wear, thus I think yours completely 'snapped' rather than wore down.

Doesn't seem like it was a shear. Follower was worn completely through, no end on it at all. There was literally sand-like metal debris everywhere in the cylinder head. The end of the pump looked like it had been ground down.

Here's the follower: Completely worn through:

http://i63.tinypic.com/155gnbd.jpg

[HereInOhio]

Its a waste of time just to do that. imo leave alone and [wrench]around it

Yes I agree. I was just saying thats my only option.


I have a bunch of used rockers and lifters you can have for the cost of shipping if you want to replace those also.

I may have to take you up on that if it wouldnt be too much of a pain for you. I can paypal you the $ if you PM me your paypal info and the damage. Not knowing too much about rockers and lifters Im wondering what could cause those to tick? I thought they were hydraulic and basically like a cup that floats on the oil in that tube. I dont see how they go bad but I dont know what they look like. Ill go yank some shortly. Rockers I can see ticking if they were bent

I really would like to fabricate something to spit oil up through those cam journal holes now that the cam is out. I think oil goes into the middle of the oil filter, through the filter and out the surrounding holes. I could have this opposite. If im right if I get a fitting to screw/insert in the center of the oil filter screw and a pump I may be able to get some of it flushed.

I do wrench on my own stuff. I also know whats the "right" way to fix something and not. In my opinion anything less than getting a new engine or completely tearing this one down to inspect everything isn't the "right" way so I have to improvise so I can do what I see best for ME. I'm sure people are reading this shaking thir head but they need to keep in mind I have 8 cars and bought this to tinker on and as a puzzle/project. I can pretty much get back what I paid in this condition, put back together, or with a blown engine. It's not my main car to care to dump $4k into it. On the other hand, I can easily afford to dump $250 into a cam for shits and giggles...if nothing else its worth a story.

That does make sense about the turbo. Also the PO said they changed the oil about a month ago and it looked gray'ish like ground metal color but suprisingly there wasnt any debris that I found. Talking to people it was Mobil 1 and I heard that gets an odd color and dark fast. I saved a cup, my original intentions were to send it in blackstone labs to have them analyze. I still may.

I think I'm going to grab the passat today for around $300-$400 and get it towed. I need a few things for an '06 passat I have as well as this A4. Ill pull the cam to inspect and toss in this one. Ill also yank a few easy things off and at the very least a head if not the whole engine. i'll have the junk yard come grab it for what I paid depending on what I took off worst is Ill pay about $300 (price of one new cam).

If anyone in the Cleveland area needs passat stuff let me know soon. It will only be at my house a few days but most of it will be up for grabs.

[Charles.waite]

Drewgold, those pictures look nearly identical to my HPFP failure. Though my theory is a tad different. My car burns oil and the cam failure occurred before I bought it. I only noticed it after a little over a month and a few hundred miles so I unfortunately have no way to verify my chicken vs egg problem. But here's my theory: the PO ran low on oil but was too lazy to top off. Ran the sump close to dry which starved the top end just a tad. The HPFP bore lost oil pressure and the friction from the cam follower caused it to seize in the bore and the cam punched out the center of the follower. Then the follower she'll was just along for the ride while the pump wore down past the piston tip and dropped parts into the timing housing. Then as the piston rode on the cam it wild bounce and gouge the cam lobe causing some pretty severe damage to both.

Anyway that's my theory. But I've got no way to prove it sadly, so speculation is pretty much academic. The top end seemed in pretty good shape and the bearing surfaces didn't show any signs of abnormal wear so I could be wrong. My engine is due for a rebuild to address the oil consumption at some point in the near future (new piston rings).

Oil turns dark very quickly in our cars as they tend to run hotter than most (mainly becuz turbo) so don't take the color of the oil as any sort of indicator of the condition of the engine.

[vce1232000]

Here's a complete rebuilt cylinder head off CL with reasonable offer [drool] http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/pts/5623302408.html NOT MINE just fwd a find for yaa

[HereInOhio]

Replace the intake cam if you think it is excessively worn (it doesn't really look like it but it's hard to tell from just a picture)....
I don't remember the rockers ever being that loose in any of the heads I've worked on, but I never checked with it at cyl. 4 TDC. I have a bunch of used rockers and lifters you can have for the cost of shipping if you want to replace those also.

Interesting point. As I mentioned I took this apart to look at the lobe and switch the chain right before taking this to the dealer. My original inspection had me believing it looks worn but not that bad. I thought a collapsed lifter after seeing them loose. Plus listening to the tick, it is hard to tell but seemed more from the middle of the engine. The dealer saying that its the HPFP lobe had me convinced thats what it must be and quoted replacing the intake cam, so I started down that road.

What are your guys opinion of that cam I pulled? It looks like the "points" on it are worn down but not flat. Its also a revision "B" two piece so it shouldnt be soft like the "A" cam. I thought this was going to have an "A" cam but not sure when they switched.

Since I have the cam out I'm thinking throw new lifters in it and a new/good used cam and see what happens.

I'm hesitant to throw a head on that block and if I'm going that far (which I'm not) I would just find a running engine.

[Charles.waite]

In that case I would keep the cam it doesn't look that bad. The B cams can take a bit of abuse because they're so hard.

[Caconway2322]

If your interested I have a good head cams and a block willing to sell not looking for a fortune I'm in Ohio 3302426368 call or text


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HereInOhio]

So I'm back from vacation and the saga continues. I received in my new parts (cam, sealant, and cradle bolts). I compared the old HPFP cam lobe to the new lobe and I have to say it didn't really look worn at all. I held them up face to face to see the amount that detoriated and in my opinion they were damn near the same and not enough to cause the knocking I posted in my video.

I pulled a few lifters but not sure how to diagnosis a good one from a bad one; about to do so research unless anyone chimes in first.

It did sound closer to between the 3rd or 4th cylinder than the lobe when trying to locate it but thats a pretty loud knock. Also there isnt any sign of wear that I can see. A tap/knock like that you woukd think would show some raw metal or sign of the beating it's taking.

I want to make sure I look at anything suggested before wrapping it back up.My question is do you guys think it's from the cam lobe or somewhere else? If elsewhere where? (Obviously I was provided with one opinion: answer - No, rockers/lifters). Any others are appreciated.


I'll post a pic of the two cams in a bit.

[HereInOhio]

Picture of the new cam's face to the old ones. They are practically identical to the eye and touch.

http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/medium/image1327.jpg

[HereInOhio]

I know everyone else is probably sick of this tread but for anyone that runs across it later I like to keep it going until completion.

So I replaced the cam and checked/cleaned all of the lifters. I found one lifter was shot so as an impatient bastard that didn't want to wait for my replacements to arrive I removed a lifter from my other car to use [wrench]. At this point I was pretty damn excited that I found something that looked defective since the cam did not to me. As I said I'm impatient so I had to throw it all back together to see if it was fixed. If anyone has a new pair of knee caps for me they would help (remember I'm doing this with the front on which is possible but in my case not very smart).

Sooooo.....I turned the key at 1 am and turned the car over waiting like a kid at Christmas. Tick tick tick tick more like whap whap whap whap. [=(][headbang]

I didn't want to run it too long at that hour even though it was in my garage so I just left...defeated. On the ride home I was contiplating if maybe the balance shaft wing(s) broke off and bouncing around but I'm unfamiliar with that setup. Once home I cam across this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK38PMVIGuw&app=desktop not exactly what I wanted to see. It boggles me since the noise seems to be coming from the top and is more of a ticking than a knocking like a usually rod makes. It is right between a tick and a knock and I'm convinced mine is a rod as well after hearing the video sounding identical to mine.

Good part is I didn't toss a head on there and I used a good used cam not my knew one. Hindsight I should've left the old cam in there but you live and you learn. I really have to give props to Audi for their diagnosis of a bad cam lobe that led me to this point [facepalm], I almost don't know what I paid for. Should've just continued diagnosising it myself instead of throwing in the towel.

I guess I get to try the same method I was going to use on the cams on a rod [:D]. If I knew it would've been this much [wrench] I would've just swapped the damn engine.

To get to the bearings I don't need to put it in service mode but I do need to drop the subframe correct?

[vce1232000]

Yes, You need to [wrench] the sub frame down to remove all pan[:(]

[aluthman]

Your rocker/lifters should arrive tomorrow. I have lots of rods also if you want one (or twelve) of those. Stock rod bolts are one time use BTW.

[HereInOhio]

Thanks for the comments. I can only imagine what the crank looks like. Hopefully I just need to replace the bearing and not the rod but at this point it may just be a lost cause or time to outsource it. I feel like anything short of throwing a new engine in it is wiping your ass with dirty toilet paper (even more so than before - bad top/ bad bottom).

Once the subframe is dropped and oil pan is removed it looks like you need to remove the pump and chain that drives it. Going to check alldata shortly but it seems like its about as involved as swapping the engine. Any comments of how much of a PITA the bearings are to get to?


Your rocker/lifters should arrive tomorrow. I have lots of rods also if you want one (or twelve) of those. Stock rod bolts are one time use BTW.

Thanks a bunch. You da man! You need to let me know what I can do to pay you back.

[vce1232000]

Once the oil pump assembly is [wrench] out the way. The rod bearings can be easily [wrench] one at a time. You rotate the crank until its at the bottom end of the stroke. Then remove the cap and turn the crank slightly to dislodge the other half bearing. Reverse to [wrench]assemble using assembly lube and torque down accordingly with new fasteners.

Aluthman mite have an engine for sale with low miles that he will be [wrench] soon from his newly purchased ride. He will being [wrench]ing his built engine from his old car. I think he also has a built short block for sale[confused]

[HereInOhio]

I need another opinion here. If the oil pump gear broke off the shaft is there any way the car would run without triggering the oil pressure light to illuminate? Also if the gear shared off, when replacing the timing chain tensioner and rotating the engine plenty of oil squirted out, again could this happen if the pumps gear sheared off?

I just am having a hard time understanding how the light wasn't illuminated if the pump wasn't turning.

[aluthman]

If the gear broke off the shaft, there should be an oil pressure light.

[HereInOhio]

That's where I'm having a hard time understanding how it wasn't on. Now on the oil pump assembly there is two gears, one for the oil pump and one for the balance shaft. Looking at it from the front of the car the gear on the left is off which I think is for the balance shaft but I don't see how the chain was spinning on the crank, guide, and one of the gears and the other sheared off without looking like a grenade went off. There wasn't a lot of shavings on the oil plug when I originally drained the oil but the oil pan they showed me was full of metal.

[HereInOhio]

Gear broke off:
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/medium/image1334.jpg

Oil pan shavings:
http://www.audizine.com/gallery/data/500/medium/image1333.jpg

[FatMongo]

I'm going to revive a years old thread here for the sake of anyone that stumbles on this in the future. The reason OP's cam, cam brace, and cylinder head are all galled up like that is not because of the HPFP follower, but because the oil pump failed and whether it was due to low oil pressure or taking out a main bearing or some other sort of calamity, there was metal introduced in the oil. The metal particles are whats caused the worst of the galling on the cam and journals.

In my case, the oil pump suffered a partial failure, where one of the shafts broke causing the teeth of the oil pump gears to wear against each other, introducing tons of metal into the engine, destroying my main and rod bearings and scoring my cams and journals. As I write this post, I am in the middle of rebuilding my engine:

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/873419-Experienced-2-0-folks-what-does-this-engine-noise-tell-you?p=14117331#post14117331