I was in the process of replacing my rear injectors today,so while i was in there,i thought i would replace the rear valve cover gasket[leaking a little].

I found a little surprise waiting for me under the cover....








Looks like my rear vtc has bit the dust..I haven't pulled out the fsm yet to see exactly what part of the vtc this is,but it doesn't look good..

Most of the broken pieces were still tucked in around the area,i removed them with needle nose pliers...

Any thoughts?

 

1) That sucks.
2) There's aready an arrow pointing to the problem
3) Change your oil more often
4) WTF is that? I've never seen a vtc assembly break in the back of the unit. But I do see a hairline crack that can't be good. Whoa. Good you caught it now vs later.

 

wow you are lucky that you pulled that valve cover. It looks as though the body has started to slip off (the sprocket is supposed to be all the way at the back of that piece). A little more and that motor is toast.

 

Theres a VE auto here, want me to pull anything? I can get it cheap..

~Alex

 

Truthfully jeff,i have religiously changed my oil every 3000-3500 miles.. but we are talking about a 300k+ engine here..

I think that crack you are seeing is a piece of lint..

 

Yea but how long have you had the car? Probably previous owner abuse.

~Alex

 

I have had the car since 2000 @ 170k

The original owner before me,he also changed the oil regularly according to the records he kept in the back pages of the owners manual..But it may be the type of oil he used..[prolly not castrol]

 

No thanks,i've had my eye on a engine in a local yard here,it has 114k on it that i can pick up for $400...I am just going to replace the engine,i just don't see the sense in doing all the labor involved in rebuilding/replacing the vtc's on a engine with this many miles on it.[307,000+]

 

So can you put it back together and drive it for now?

 

Yeah, just replace it.

And remember to do this to your old engine:

 

Yeah,i am going to replace the injectors,slap it back together,and drive it until i can afford to buy the engine.[about a month]

 

I really cant complain,the engine lasted much longer than i expected...

 

just curious.. have the timing chains ever been replaced? they don't look too bad, especially if they're the original chains. my car is screaming "I NEED A NEW BELT" cuz it's been 80k since the last one. I'll get that done within the next 1000 miles though.

 

I'm quite sure everything internally is original on this engine..

 

so... hows your BODY any rust?? my is getting really bad im at 196k and i had both rear wheel wells rotting out into the trunk and even the back seat before inspection. Would you ever consider going to a new gen like 5th? Or not your style?

 

The body is still quite nice,rust is next to nill....

My wife was trying to talk me into a 5th gen a few months ago..I said thanks,but no thanks..


After i pay my house off[9 yrs],it will be bmw time...

 

it allways comes down to $$$ dont ya hate that...well you definately have provided the 3rd gens alot of respect with your car much props ,i am puttin 6k down on the next vehicle.. Yeah i like the 02-03 5th gens thats about it but theres just that something that dosent get me like our 3rd gens, im so debating what im gonna do.... i have 7 wheels in this offset so im stuck with buying a car with 5x114.3 offsets. Which thank god is a common offest and..on alot of popular cars whew...

 

I've got another one for ya...



you could have that car up and running in a couple hours and $75 with a used VTC assembly, or you could spend $600+ and a weekend or two of work on another engine.. your call. my thought is to check the other VTC as well and replace one/both of them with rebuilt units and call it a day.

 

Well matt,if my engine didn't have so many miles on it,i would just replace the vtc's/call it a day....But i was already planning to replace the enigine this year anyway,just not this soon.


300k is good enough for me,i'm satisfied..

 

Haha. Is "fingering the VE" a trend? haha

 

Were the VTC's clacking on this engine?

 

Actually,just the standard clack at cold start up,then quiet after a few minutes...

 

Thats hawt..

 

Well, it's the only thing that came to mind when you take your car to Maxus and come home on a trailer with a connecting rod sticking out of the side of the engine.

 

Man... You need a motor and a trans.

Park it here with a vq3.5!!!

Sorry about your motor, 300k sounds like a record for a Ve.

 

Personally, I think you should go replace/rebuild both vtcs and see how many more miles you can put on that sucker. A new engine might tick worse than this one and you might end up having to rebuild them on the replacement.

Think about it over a half of Black Velvet or somthing..

 

+1 get that bish compression tested. At worst re ring and valve stem seals, as long as the bearings are in spec (which they all should be) VTC rebuild and your good to 500K easily.

May I suggest X1R additive? It works great.

~Alex

 

You're a handy guy, Wayne...I was hoping to see you set the VE benchmark a bit higher than 300+K...LOL

The motor still sounds solid in your video, so why not...fix the VTC and see how long she'll go!

 

Stop tempting me!!!!!!!!



Seroiusly guys,it's not a point of me not being able to do the job,or wanting to get as many miles as i can out of it..It has basically down to one thing..DEPENDABILITY...as much as i would like to think this engine could get me to 500k[which it prolly could if fixed],i want my car to long trip capable at any time[mom lives in arizona,plus a timeshare in fl.],but lets face it,300-400k+ engines are basically bombs waiting to go boom..IMO,this engine has had enough,not because of the broke vtc,but it has simply seen it's best days already...Plus i was planning on replacing it this year anyway,just not this early in the year...

Think about it,when you are 60 years old,wouldn't you like to have a heart of a 25 year old installed?

 

I'd like the heart of a 25 year old now.. Soda, candy and cigarettes FTL.

 

Hehe..

 

Soda and Candy?
I quit that crap when I was 19.
now at 29, I'm regretting it.......

 

29!

I thought you were like 60 or so...

 

he's the opposite of your engine then. Your engine is old but seemed young. This guy's young but seemed old...

well we all gotta someday

 

Wayne is old and his engine is older. (but in better shape)

 

Thanks...I think?


I got it back up-n-running today,it didn't even clack at startup after sitting for 2 days..

Oh well,she will have a transplant in a few months...

 

In for carnage pics when the VTC fails.

 

Well hopefully it will last a couple more months,i am just driving it to work-n-back until then..

 

HAHAHAH!
nah... I've just been at this game so long, I act like a grumpy old fart.

 

Wayne, my turn to pick on ya. how about tossin a VG in there instead