Posting about the VW. Warning: loosely connected thoughts.
I opened up my VW because the mileage has dropped from 38mpg to 31mpg.
To preface: I could hear a bad cam lobe at the start of 2022 and I flat out ignored it because I knew what I was hearing because of the previous Cam failure.
I replaced the cam in 2012 with what was supposed to be the late production OEM cam and DLC coated tappets. That was supposed to fix the cam issue.
There is some voodoo assed oil spec from VW that is supposed to save the cam, but I absolutely do not agree with that, there was never evidence to support it, only VW saying if you didn't use their spec lube, that there was no warranty on the cam. This cam has had Mobil 5w40 synthetic it's entire life. It pretty much takes a defective part to have a wear related failure running that oil.
Also, I assume I damaged the camshaft position tone wheel during the last R&I, because it immediately had a camshaft position implausible code that wasn't repaired by a new sensor or changes to the wiring. I know I bent at least one of the choppers when I was trying to get the hub off the cam, but I painstakingly tried to get the teeth back to uniform. It didn't matter, still has the code (which can't be seen on odb2)
I pulled the intake manifold off about half an hour ago and it's coked to hell and back. (Known issue with these engines). I ran the car for a long time with the crank case ventilation unhooked from the intake system because I knew that was a known issue. I put it back about 15 thousand miles ago because of the mess the open CCV was making under the hood, and I've been noticing oil pushing from the CAC tubes for a while now.
The big reason I went after the intake system is because the car has been doing this shit where it fuels full fuel with no boost, the engine is pulling in a sort of stall state because the turbo won't light, like the wastegate is open. I had been driving around it because you could hit the clutch, rev and dump it and it would pull out of the stall and go on.
It also has had an issue with the MAF that I thought was a ground several years ago, but it turns out it was actually the socket in the fuse panel causing the issue. I had run a hot wire directly to the MAF back in August, but that promptly led to the sensor failing because it couldn't cool when the engine shut off. The issue with the stall was actually worse with the MAF reading flow. Subsequently, I found that the molded vacuum hose between the pump and brake booster was split, meaning the vac operated controls (including the waste gate) haven't been able to function properly.
The shit to fix the Intake was just under $500. To buy a colt cam (I think the OEM is shit, I sent an email to find out if the current part is the same part I bought last time)
Is $699 for just the cam, plus about $425 for the install kit, and a tuner is $650.
I'm really torn at this point. Essentially, this car has now done every shitty thing that I read about them doing on forums. My son has been driving the car for the last month because he blew the engine in his jeep. Now I'm down another vehicle, daily driving the ford isn't exactly cheap, and it's giving me shit to.
I'm struggling with the thought of throwing $2500 at a car that books for less than $1000. I'm sure it would be hell on wheels to drive when I'm done, but I could buy another beater for that. There's always the thought that I know what I've got with the VW.
Just venting I guess. The fuel economy potential is enticing but $2500 is a hell of a lot of fuel, or another vehicle in its entirety.
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