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16K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  sunshinecc 
#1 ·
Greetings folks, I'm looking for anyone with knowledge or experience with a 2.5L that has gone through the timing chain fun. A 2005 2.5L 65K miles rolled in dead, no compression and making a lovely clacking noise when cranked. We had heard some rumors of these older 5 bangers eating chains or chains eating motors (or both).
Tearing into it we got the top cover off to access the shorter of the two chains (top chain) and found nothing really broken but the tensioner was useless and must of led to the chain skipping and the valves crashing into each other with the intakes hitting the pistons, etc, etc, etc.
Other than the tensioner being junk everything else looked pretty good except for two gears with awfully worn and very sharp teeth. Guides weren't too bad, nothing showing lack of oil except for those two gears and even the chains weren't too bad.
Somehow the cams didn't break and actually look good, too bad all the valves are bent and run into each other, that was the clacking noise and you can see it happen through the intake ports when turning by hand. Now the entire motor is out and the part list begins. Can't believe the owner wants to fix it but who am I to say?
My questions to any and all out there is there an inherit oiling problem with this engine? Bad gears, bad tensioners? Just seems a bit young for an engine to come apart like this. I'll try and post some pics later and thanks to anyone with knowledge.
 
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#8 ·
I should taken a pic of the oil filter, N-A-S-T-Y ! These pics show as it all came apart, nothing has been cleaned at all and everything looks really clean. Cams look great, no signs of sludge build up 'cept for the filter, maybe it caught most of it. I still say the tensioner failure led to all this and the tensioner prolly failed due to an oil issue.
People, change your oil! Change it early change it often and use a good oil (synthetic) I don't care what any manual says 10,000 miles is to long between changes, personally I go 5K and I don't like going that long.
 
#9 ·
i go 10-12k miles between changes (already at 130k+ miles).

the problem is the tensioner, hence the vw update to that part. it has been said that those early 2.5s are destined to fail unless they get the updated parts.

what can lead to those outdated tensioners failing sooner would be the use of conventional oil instead of fully synthetic.
 
#10 ·
Sunshine, the early 05.5/06 chains had alot of issues, it was the tensioner guide setup that vw redesigned. I literally have one on a lift for about a month now, came in with the cam/crank correlation code, however no bent valves. Its got another issue now i need figure out.

The chain stretches, you can tell by the tensioner being tensioned all the way out. When you hold the old and new chains together you wouldnt be able to tell the difference. To do a full set of chains, oooof thats some labor, and parts galore.
 
#11 ·
Mike, is there a way to tell whether a car was fitted with the updated design part by using the VIN or manufacture date? Given I have an '06 it's making me a bit nervous especially since I autocross the car.
 
#12 ·
Just a little more info. here...Before we ended up with this jem it was in South Florida at a dealer and you can see from the attached work order that things were starting to go south. The dealer did CYA themselves by reccomending not to drive the vehicle but you would think experience would of recommended just a little more than don't drive it. I may be wrong but it seems it could of been repaired then for a lot less money and a lot less damage. Needless to say the owner ignored the warning and somehow made the drive up here to the Tampa area (about 350 miles) before it blew and we ended up with it on the hook with no compression.
Dunno Gator but if I's was you's I would defiantly find a way to check yours out. The first picture shows the top cover off the engine with the engine still in the car. That's a bit of work but not too much. You may want to do just that just to check the tension of the chain and see if that tensioner is junk or not. DonJuan would be a better source for this plus he has better avatars. (Yo Don, any chance your at SmithTown VW?)
He wasn't kidding about the parts either, the list just keeps getting longer and are trickling in slowly. Maybe in a month we'll get this done.
Thanks to all have participated!

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