VR6 TIMING CHAINS (No noise doesn't mean all's well)

[GB_SEAN 0]

Will Document the whole job at the end and put the Photo's in order.

[Chris VR6nos 0]

I just thought i'd utter something here.

My engine has 165,000miles on it and everything in the timimg chain area is fine, worn, maybe but will run like that fine for year to come so i wouldn't be put off buying a 101,000miler for fear of the chains needing changing, and in all honesty it's not a hard job, very obvious and the cams can only go in 1 way unless you aren't paying attention to what you're doing.

As for £1300 to do the job, my god! that's crackers and hence one main reason i learned to be a mechanic years ago with my MKII Escort.

If bits drop into the sump, good! they're not going to do any harm.

You can be hyper critical but they are 10yr old cars and you can go over the top, great if you can do it yourself but you need to keep things in perspective if you ask me.

 

 

Chris

[corradokid 0]

Yeah i understand that and im not worried about tackling the job myself, its just the general buying a corrado thing. When i brought my valver 5 years ago it was the first one I looked at and I brought it straight away. This time Ive looked at 5 or so and all of them have been less than great, some have been downright dogs. I think mine is a bit shabby and so far 1 ive seen has been better. It just seems at the moment every man and his dog seems to be asking top money for poo and to be honest its leading me to consider other cars, which is not really what I want to do. ( little mini rant over )

[Christoph 0]

You'll notice I used the 509E item for the upper tensioner instead of the lame standard Corrado one. This means I have no use for the old tensioner bolt as this better type tensioner needs to be used in conjunction with the 507B tensioner bolt.

 

Excuse the probably stoopid question but what's this 509E, 507B business about? Is that the last 4 digits of a part number?

 

What's the difference between these and the standard parts?

 

Thanks

 

Chris

[Christoph 0]

OK, so I used the search and answered my own question...

 

But... I'd still like to know what the difference is between these and the standard parts though.

 

Chris

[Kevin Bacon 5]

509E is solid polymer and used on American market MK4s VR6s and late Golf VR6s.

 

509A, the original corrado tensioner, is a resin pad riveted to a metal plate.

 

The difference is A wears out at or around 100K, E doesn't. Also, A deposit's bits of itself into the engine, E doesn't.

 

507A - Is a hydraulic only tensioner bolt (the bit that presses on the tensioner pad to keep the chain tight)

 

507B - Is spring and hydraulic and can only be used with 509E due to the piston shape.

 

By the way, 'E' denotes how many times a part has been modified...i.e. 5 times since A.

 

Cheers

K

[GB_SEAN 0]

Like I said before I decided to go for it on doing this job I did some research into what parts I would need. The original Corrado tensioner was made up of the same type of 'brake pad' design. On the MK4 Golf that improved the design with a solid tensioner but to use this it's needs to be used in conjuction with the appropriate tensioner bolt that suits this pad.

 

Thats about all there is to it really. I also had Mk2 escorts, about 50 of the things in reality but not all were used for the road and this is where I learn't my mechanical knowledge from the beginning. Having now tackled the VR engine it really is a piece of cake so £1300 is horendeous for a fairly straight forward engine....

 

I agree if you don't feel confident then best not to attempt it but the engine not as difficult as what some would like to make out. :?

[Chris VR6nos 0]

GB_SEAN, yeah i agree, there's no black art though people want to make money so keep the shroud of mystery over it.

 

Chris

[dr_mat 0]

I don't think anyone believes there's a mystery to it, just that it takes a long time, that's why they charge lots of cash. You have to have some guy working on your car for nearly ten hours, that simply costs a lot of money.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Not everyone can be arsed to drop the box though, or has the space/means. But agreed, if you're relatively competent then it's not a difficult job. Need to be on the ball with the timing though as you can get it a tooth out if you're not careful, as I can testify.

[2cc 0]

Yeah, its certainly time consuming but it is not 'difficult'. Long as you can afford to take your time and have somewhere to do it (NOT the street) its no big deal. I am actually doing a mega write up at the moment to do clutch and chains, including the whole strip down process to get at them in the first place - plus lots of other stuff I did while I was at it. Hope to have first draft with loads of pix to Dinkus in a couple of days from now.

[GB_SEAN 0]

Did a bit more today, The gearbox was a nightmare as I did not get the car high enough in the first place' it was difficult to get under it while cuddling a gearbox, not to mention the weight of the thing when in tight space.

 

When it finally agreed to go in I double checked the cam caps torque settings and one felt a bit loose, so giving it a little tweek and the stud snapped. Also did the waterpump as well so unbolted the rear (servo side) mount, when putting the bolt back in 'snap', that was greased as well. That was it, I'll leave the rest for another day.. When VW parts are open Monday. They also supplied me with a 507A tensioner bolt, so need to get this replaced with the newer item.. The job is a headache, but worth while.

 

Here are some photo's...[schild=18 fontcolor=0000FF shadowcolor=00008B shieldshadow=1]'Knackered' ![/schild]

[GIXXERUK 0]

this is why i like this forum :-)

[Chris VR6nos 0]

Very good photo journal

 

 

Chris

[GB_SEAN 0]

Thought it might help people to see that it is not really a nightmare just time consuming.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

so giving it a little tweek and the stud snapped.

 

It's unforseen things like that that add a lot of time to the job too!

 

I dropped one of the bearing cap nuts after undoing it and it vanished. Fearing the worst I started shining torches into the plug holes and down the oil gallery in the head, but thankfully I found it hiding behind the alternator! So even though it's relatively straight forward, always factor in Murphy's law with these things.

[Chris VR6nos 0]

Yeah Kev LOL I have to agree with that one!

 

I've done exactly the same and even took a head back off once to find a nut!

 

Chris

[GB_SEAN 0]

The finished Article.

 

With an exception to a leaking Auxilary Water Pump.

 

The engine is definately a lot smoother and has a different note to it. Should have changed the tensioner bearing as with that done the engine would just sound like a humm.

 

Glad it's done finally...

 

Spent a lot of time cleaning parts up as I refitted, I could have done this job quicker but as was my first venture into doing this engine and as I wanted a good outcome have done it over 3 weekends.

[KARMANN 0]

When the "How To" has been finished on this job i think il be printing it off. Just so i start getting a feel for doing this or getting somebody to do it.

Have any of the scottish folks had Star P do this job for them? I know there work is top notch-just wondering on how much theyd charge?

 

Cheers Fraser

[matt_corradovr6 0]

do you have to have the clutch replaced as i have just puit a new one in after diff blew. my vr is on 105 k. blodduy money pit

[2cc 0]

Nearly there Karmann. Its been amazingly time consuming.

What you asking Matt? - bit confused there m8

[Geo 0]

I think he means do you actually have to replace the clutch

 

The answer is no, if you have a new clutch in there already then there's no point in replacing it, but for a car with 100k on the original clutch it would be stupid not to as you have to take off the clutch and flywheel etc to do the chains anyway.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I would recommend you replace the tappets whilst in peices though.

[GB_SEAN 0]

Thats why I did chains, tensioners, oil seal, clutch, hydraulic lifters, water pump and I'm now forced to buy a new electric auxilary water pump too. All in one hit. It's has cost me a small fortune so will doing a few jobs on the side at weekends to try to replace the cash.

 

Am tempted to put it up for sale as would be a good selling point and a good buy to anyone who wants a VR6 with everything done.

 

Most of the Pics are now in my gallery.

[Roger Blassberg 0]

In the overall scheme of things, these may be minor and almost frivolous questions, but I'll ask them anyway.

 

How on Earth did you manage to get the engine and the engine bay so clean? In particular, the inlet manifold and top cover look brand new. Did you have them chemically cleaned and painted/plated? Was all the rest steam cleaned?

 

I'm a bit nervous about steam cleaning when the wiring looms look so fragile.

 

In conclusion though, thanks Sean for a really useful series of commentaries and photos. It has given me encouragement to do the job myself.

 

Chris, I look forward to your write-up too.......

 

Best wishes

 

RB