Well I couldn't prove the cam position sensor was faulty, so I took the cam cover off:

Had my 8 year old tell me when the one cam lobe was pointing up as I turned the engine; she said it's not turning....oh-oh! BTW I thought that was a lot of yucky buildup for a car that's used Mobil 1 0W40 excluseively for the last 126K miles! More on this later.

Three of the intake runners were oily as you can see..

A look inside to ascertain the damage...

As you can see the upper chain was OK but the tensioners were wiped out. What's that lying on top of that sprocket?

Head doesn't look so good...

Three bent valves and one broken one. The broken valve found the top of a piston...

Two other pistons were damaged as well...

Crank journal didn't look the best. Don't know if this happened as a result of the engine deccelerating without the oil pump running, or were they like this anyway...

The faulty chain...

Obviously shrapnel was found in the pan...

I still can't believe all the gunk in the engine...

So, time to decide whether to rebuild this engine or find a good used one. I was amazed at how difficult it is to find stock size pistons for the 12v VR6. The one place that had them, had a whole kit including rings, con rod bearings, all the stuff I'd need, plus main bearings and some other stuff I didn't need.

Engine all out now...

Of course my wife didn't quite like the idea...
"You're giving $600 cash to a guy you don't know, for an engine you don't know will run?"
"Yup." Well what choice did I have?

Old and "new" engines side by side...

BTW you see these exhaust pipes? This is not a good place for a 16mm deep socket. I tried getting it out with a magnet, with no luck. When my 11 year old tried it, he lost the magnet! Of course the pipes had to come off to get all the tools out; this set me back maybe an hour...

Found a rust spot while I was down there...

Let's plug those pipes up now...

OK, the engine came out of an automatic Passat, so the torque converter and flex plate need to come off. Except I don't have a 10mm triple square driver...maybe a Torx will work? DO NOT TRY THIS!! I stripped out two flywheel bolts with the Torx. These are screwed in tightly. Had to drill a 1/4" hole in each bolt. Used an 8mm triple square driver as an easy out...worked like a charm! Unfortunately the real easy-out broke off inside the bolt. Lesson learned, don't save time by improvising tools. This one set me back three hours, at least.

All the accessories had to come off...

Installed new timing chain using this excellent post; more detailed than the Bentley.

Lining the cams up...

Several IPAs were consumed to make this happen...

The old clutch was quite dusty, but surprisingly close to the thickness of the new one...

New clutch on...

Ready to drop in...

I used a chain hoist attached to a 6' long piece of 3" square tubing up in the rafters. The snowmobile tie-downs are plenty strong to lift the engine.

In the car...

Still haven't found a place to put this...

The car's been up and running for three weeks now. Pertty much exactly the same as before--same power (maybe just slightly better), same mileage, same puff of smoke when I start it after being parked at work all day (I quit worrying about this years ago, I figure it's the way the PCV system is in these cars). No leaks, no problems. Well now the alternator doesn't kick in util it sees 2000 rpm, but I'll live with that now. Yes, it would have been nice to use this as an opportunity to put a turbo on, but this is a daily driver, and I was very sick of riding my motorcycle by the time I was done. Weather was getting chilly, it rained every couple days, and my commute is 45 miles each way. Time was absolutely of the essence!

That nasty buildup in the engine really bothered be though, so I did a little research. Turns out the oil geeks say that engines with timing chains are harder on oil than those with belts. A lot of people only run 5K oil change intervals, and that's what I'll switch to immediately, in both cars. One guy with an Audi S4 V8 has trouble finding oil that lasts longer than 1K OCI. I may try what he's using.

Questions and comments are welcome.

FS: 01 JETTA 1.8T AUTO

14.47 @ 94.71 and stalling.

Quote, originally posted by mr sarcastic »

...and they say vw timing chains are a lifetime part........ too bad the tensioners and guides are faulty

Quote, originally posted by Northren vr6 »

Most excellent post.

Thanks! Hope this can help someone.

This is mine at 125k miles.. Mobil 1 since 36K miles.. Well sometimes it gets some $0.99 cents Napa oil but for a few 100 miles.. I ran out of oil lol

d

Visit my Island = http://www.mauritius.com

ya, its hard to hear when the lower tensioners or guides have broken. the pieces immediately fall into the pan, and the noise is trap/absorbed by the block and tranny.

FS: 01 JETTA 1.8T AUTO

I have used Mobil-1 and after 160K miles, it was spotless, not one burnt piece of oil anywhere.

The cams showed no signs of wear, the lifters were in perfect condition.

I have 170K+ on the car now and it still runs like a dream, I am waiting for the chain guides to go south.

____________________________________________________________
http://www.mk1dubz.com
The "IDIOT's" EM-KAY1 Site

too long....
seafoam

Yeah, something doesn't jive there. At 143k on mine, with synthetic oil since at least 50k, the internals are basically dirt and residue free.

Nice pic post though; hurts to look at damage like that.

Now: '99.5 Jetta GLS VR6 (281,000 miles and counting! ) - Stupid CEL
Then: '90 Passat GL 16v - (RIP - i.e., Rest in Pain!!! in a junkyard somewhere you LEMON POS - still loved her though )

* The Official VgRt6 MKIV/VR6 DIY Thread Master List *

183WHP/180WTQ (before BVH) -DixonDubs-

LM-1|Eurosport 2.5"|GHL CAI|MSD coils|10lb Fly|UR pullies|Bilstein PSS9|H&R 28mm RSB|GIAC|Pelo LSD|VF mounts|Eurospec 02J w/ 3.94|DRC 268|TT 2.0" DP|Ported Ex. mani|Wacked BVH

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3813581

Quote, originally posted by BIGNICKSGTIS420 »

Nice write up!How often did you do oil changes?

Every 10,000 miles.

Quote, originally posted by ricardo »

too long....

As noted above, I'd had good luck in the past running M1 10K mi. 5K should be easy for any synthetic, but it looks like the VR6 is harder on oil than engines I'd had in the past. The oil geeks insist that Mobil haven't cheapened their oil, at least not the 0W40 I was using.

Quote, originally posted by ricardo »

seafoam

You know, I couldn't wash the varnish off with a rag using straight Seafoam. How is putting a pint into 5 quarts of oil going to work? I have Seafoamed this engine before. I'd run about 100 miles with a pint in the oil then change it. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

Quote, originally posted by VRdublove »

What kind of air and oil filters do you generally use?

That's a really good question. I use Mahle oil filters from The Parts Bin or Potterman's. I have a K&N for the air. Before I took the SAI off one of the corrugated plastic air hoses was broken. The engine was sucking unfiltered air and sometimes water (I could see water tracks inside the air filter housing, past the filter element) through the broken hose. I didn't think of this 'til just now. It's really unlikely this did the engine any good. Needless to say SAI was removed and the holes plugged.

Having said that, I still believe 10K miles on synthetic is too long for a VR6.

Modified by itb76 at 11:20 PM 10-15-2007

Modified by itb76 at 12:40 PM 10-17-2007

There is no way that could be considered normal oil deposit. My engine is spotless at 173k using the same oil. It looks as if someone overfilled it and then it overheated and the oil got baked onto everything. No wonder the chains failed

Quote, originally posted by a_riot »

There is no way that could be considered normal oil deposit. My engine is spotless at 173k using the same oil. It looks as if someone overfilled it and then it overheated and the oil got baked onto everything. No wonder the chains failed

x2. That sh*t looks charred to be crisp! My car has 131,000 miles and I've used 10w40 Castrol conventional oil since I got the car with 80,000 miles on it. Cams look great and I just dropped the oil pan and the bottom end of the motor looked awesome. Not sure what happened. That chain I think just had to much gunk and finally gave up

My Ride:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albu...4.jpg

Lucky finding that engine for so cheap! Just make sure your new guides are in tip top shape, haha.

O0BÜR DÜB

Now: '99.5 Jetta GLS VR6 (281,000 miles and counting! ) - Stupid CEL
Then: '90 Passat GL 16v - (RIP - i.e., Rest in Pain!!! in a junkyard somewhere you LEMON POS - still loved her though )

* The Official VgRt6 MKIV/VR6 DIY Thread Master List *

Quote, originally posted by VgRt6 »

Damn. Why have I been using 10k mile oil change intervals. All I have now is an engine that runs perfectly at 235k miles.

Same here, any less that 10K on a properly tuned VR driving highway, is nothing more than a waste. To each their own though, change it every 1K for all I care.

____________________________________________________________
http://www.mk1dubz.com
The "IDIOT's" EM-KAY1 Site

Now that was Synthetic Oil.

This is also what mine looked like at 160K miles.

The first engine has had some serious problems. I can't see that the motor was run with synthetic.

____________________________________________________________
http://www.mk1dubz.com
The "IDIOT's" EM-KAY1 Site

http://www.auto-rx.com/

back on topic:

Quote, originally posted by VgRt6 »

Looks like dino oil was used in the engine initially and that it may have been running hot at some point.

exactly what I was going to say. I'm pretty sure synthetic oil doesn't "burn up" at high temps like dino, and that looks like dino deposits.

Modified by mhjett at 12:53 PM 10-16-2007

Quote, originally posted by itb76 »

Thank you for not drinking girly-girl LITE American swill Please show the mkIV forum how it's properly done

Quote, originally posted by itb76 »

As you can see the upper chain was OK but the tensioners were wiped out. What's that lying on top of that sprocket?

That's a pin from the chain, looks like it's still attached to the side-plate and the rest of the chain. Not a happy sight I imagine.

"we're only gonna die for our own arrogance that's why we might as well take our time"

Quote, originally posted by a_riot »

It looks as if someone overfilled it and then it overheated and the oil got baked onto everything. No wonder the chains failed

Quote, originally posted by o0bur »

Lucky finding that engine for so cheap! Just make sure your new guides are in tip top shape, haha.

I replaced the chains, guides and clutch. No way I want to take the trans off again as long as it's my daily ride.

Quote, originally posted by ricardo »

how about using some of this http://www.auto-rx.com/

I think I will try that. The Seafoam didn't do much for me.

Quote, originally posted by mhjett »

A little off-topic, but I just realized you're from Whitehall -- can't say I've ever come across anyone else from that area on Vortex. My family has a cottage just north of Montague on the Lake.

There was a guy from Fennville, but no one from the White Lake area. Not this White Lake anyway, there's one by Detroit too. Someone in Montague has a lowered A3 Jetta, but not too many other VW fanatics here.

Quote, originally posted by VR6ix »

That's a pin from the chain, looks like it's still attached to the side-plate and the rest of the chain. Not a happy sight I imagine.

It was attached, and worn thin too! Kind of alarming.

Quote, originally posted by VR6ix »

Thank you for not drinking girly-girl LITE American swill Please show the mkIV forum how it's properly done

The glass is from Cincinnatti but the beer is local, an IPA from Old Boys Brewhouse in Spring Lake, MI. I grew up in Milwaukee but can't stomach the LITE tasting beers!

Modified by itb76 at 11:04 PM 10-16-2007

What's your oil change interval?