I started out on eBay, way back in the naughties, but abandoned it more than a decade ago when Aliexpress began to get its act together. That, and the fact that Amazon seemed to be breaking to the upside as well. With that duo catching their stride, eBay's days seemed numbered.
But there are still instances where eBay can surprise, and spare parts from the Motor trade is one of them. Following a motoring calamity (slipped timing-chain) and after exhausting most other avenues, I'm back cap-in-hand, to eBay, in an attempt to get my wheels back on the road. Initially, I went the usual route, attempting to track down a competent mechanic to do the work for me. It proved easier said than done. The garages I contacted, told me that they were either too busy, or it was too big a job, and it would be easier to fit a 'new' second-hand engine, rather than to repair the old one. The other thing they were reluctant to give me was an estimate, other than a vague, "it would be expensive - a couple of thousands anyway." Annoying.
I was left with two choices, buy a new (used) car, or try doing the work myself - I've chosen the latter - worst case scenario, it won't work out and I'll lose a couple of hundred for my efforts.
First thing I needed to find out was what actual damage had been done, and it quickly became apparent that with my current range of tools and skill-set, that wasn't gonna happen! VW delights in using as many different bolt types as they can, so I've had to order spline sockets/bits, torx bits, allen bits, a valve-spring compressor, a Haynes manual, etc, etc. So I've been working piece-meal on the project, ordering tools as necessary. As of right now, I've managed to strip it down to the block, and as far as I can discern, no real damage has occurred. The head, block, pistons, and liners, are all fine. All of the exhaust valves are also fine. The inlet valves didn't fare as well, with all 6 being slightly bent and needing to be replaced. Those, and the cause of all my woes, the timing belt assembly. I have no way of knowing if it is the original chain, which is a possibility as the car is only 10 years old. I got it four years ago, and have 'only' clocked up 40,000km in the interim. The only thing that was readily amiss on removing the cam-chain cover, was that the end of the plastic tensioner had snapped off, hence the reason for the slippage. The timing chain and its associated sprockets, seem, to my untrained eye, to be in remarkably good condition - particularly the sprockets.
I haven't ordered a timing chain kit yet, but I'm really curious, when I do, to compare & contrast the new versus old chain, to see how much (if any) the chain has stretched.
What I did order this evening, via eBay, from a UK Seller, was the inlet valves, head gasket & the head bolts. The guy I ordered from is a cynical sod. I messaged him yesterday for confirmation that the stuff I was ordering was indeed right for the car in question. eBay's 'Enter your car details' is flaky as fuck - do a general search and it correctly lists parts for your car. Click on one of these listed parts however, and the part is no longer listed as compatible! Anyway, yer man messages me back the following message;
A 'Special Offer' - how nice of him - NOT. See, his actual ad, the stuff I wanted to order, was the following;
Apparently, the crafty sod thought I wouldn't notice that he had swapped his original £40.71 price, for £48.85 - the numerical value 48.85 being almost the same as the current Euro/Pound exchange rate (£40.71 = €48.29). To add insult to injury, the promised 5% Discount, down to £46.41, was never applied - the price remained at £48.85. Even worse, he also increases the Postage I need to pay in his Special Offer. I ended up rejecting his 'Special Offer', instead opting for the original price, and saving myself €10 or thereabouts.
That said, he was the only one I could find selling inlet valves at a reasonable price. So that's where it currently stands. Hopefully, I'll soon be able to start reassembling stuff. I'll post an update here on my progress, or lack thereof, come what may.
Update 1.
Well, I got the stuff. I also got the valves 'lapped' and fitted (see pic). My one concern was that Cylinder 1's valve-seats might have gotten malformed when the chain slipped - a compression test had shown ZERO PSI after the event, with Cylinder 2 about 50 PSI, and Cylinder 3 being normal, at around 180 PSI. It turned out, on removing the head, that although all three cylinder's inlet valves had been bent, only Cylinder 1's valves were stuck open!
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Valve-grinding |
With the valve-grinding and their fitting complete, I subjected each valve-set to a quasi 'seal worthiness' test using a vacuum, which I had first seen done on this YouTube video. Only, I didn't spend big money on a big compressor like he had done - I have a small 12v vacuum pump that is more than capable! The vacuum gauge I've had lying around for years, begging for a purpose. I ended up drilling a 5mm hole in its brass input, threading it, then threading a similar-sized piece of copper pipe that I'd sourced on Aliexpress. This screws neatly into the tapped-hole in the gauge. Add to this little ensemble, some yellow transparent tubing, and we're good to go (see pics).
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Cylinder 3 |
Moving on, today, I ordered the cheapest timing chain kit I could find online! I've read many warnings about, 'you get what you pay for', etc. but if a 'genuine' timing chain (read, expensive), is rated for 200,000kms, which coincidentally is a little less than the mileage on my odometer, and I will get only a quarter of that distance for being cheap, that will still be more mileage than I have done in the last 5 years - and I plan to have changed cars long before then!
One more thing. I've watched & read a lot on Youtube about the problems encountered while valve-grinding manually. People mostly complain about the suction cup on the grinding tool failing to stick to the valve face while grinding. Even though it was my first time doing this, I encountered no such issue, the suction cup pretty much remaining glued to the valve throughout. Sure, if you get paste on the valve, the sucker will often slide off while grinding - so the trick is to keep the valve face clean, right! I have also seen a YT video where the user complains about the non-sticking issue, while also highlighting the poor surface finish of the valve-face in question. He had a point - the valve shown seems 'mottled' with tiny imperfections! With this 'a priori' knowledge, I was genuinely surprised with the almost mirror finish of the valves that I had ordered (see above photo)!!!
Onward and upward.
Update 2.
Upward it was!!! After about 4 months sitting in the driveway, gathering cobwebs for the most part, the car is finally back on the road!
First, given that this was almost certainly the first timing-chain replacement the car has had, a look at the chain itself is probably in order.
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Chains closeup |
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Chain lengths |
That's unimpressive stretching for a chain with 220,000Km on it! This, and the fact that all but one of the 3 sprockets (2 camshaft sprockets, and one crankshaft sprocket) that needed changing, itself decided by what came in the timing-chain kit, looked to be in excellent condition. The crankshaft sprocket got a bit roughed-up when the chain slipped, but not excessively so. What the kit did not contain was the 2 'torque to yield' bolts that secure the sprockets to the camshafts, and needed to be ordered from a different Seller.
Initially, I thought it was the hydraulic tensioner rail that had failed, not so, it was the guide rail on the other side. It ended up getting a real mauling, with perhaps a quarter of it ending up in bits in the sump - which needed to be removed, and the bits fished out.
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Chain Guide-rail |
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Auxiliary Belt Tensioner |
Luckily, the engine block was undamaged. I ended up having to order a used tensioner from Lithuania. After receiving it, I then went through a different kind of nightmare trying to fit it! It turns out that you MUST lock it in tension first, as it is impossible to bolt up the alternator with it un-tensioned. But locking it in tension, is itself, incredibly difficult, especially if you're working alone. Then there's the added complication that every time you try tensioning it, you damage to varying degrees, the shitty T50 torx bolt that VW has decided is up to the job (it isn't). Suffice it to say, I barely managed to lock it in position, after about 20 attempts, straining back muscles in the process. Definitely the most frustrating part of the whole experience.
But then, there's the sense of accomplishment at getting it up running again, to consider - I guess you can't have one without the other.