Mastertekb

Ok I got a 02 a6 with a 3.0 v6. Needed a motor. Had a cam gear eat into the head. I got a motor off eBay. Guys said it ran perfect he drove it into the shop to pull the motor when I bought it. I put the motor in and started in up. It ran like crap. I pulled the codes. P0391, p0366, p0346, p0341 and a random misfire code. All 4 camshaft position sensor range codes, I tested the sensors and even replaced 2 of them off the old motor. Tested the engine speed crankshaft sensor. New plugs swapped the coils with other motors, when i turn it over it cranks and locks up for a quick second and continues to turn over, every once and a while I'll get a backfire, then after 6-7 times of cranking and feathering the throttle it fires up. Revs up and the dies. Start, rev, die. If I give it slight throttle at about 2000 rpms it will smooth out and run. But I get a slight rattle sound like a diesel chatter. I was listening around the motor to see if I can pinpoint it and I saw the cat was glowing red hot. After like 1 minute of running. We shut it off. I figured cat was clogged. Lowered motor and pulled cat. Blew air through it, it had good flow. Reassembled everything, put new plugs in, fired it up. And this time it actually ran but it ran rough but it was surging really bad, up and down up and down up and then dies. Figured I had a vacuum leak. I checked everywhere and couldn't track one down. I unplugged every line and capped it, with no results. I figured it time to bite the bullet and check timing. I pulled the covers. And the driver side cove had a crack in it. When I pulled it off the very thin lip on the driver side exhaust cam gear was bent in and it would bearly touch the intake gear. I'm thinking when it got hit maybe it locked the two gears together enough to jump 1 tooth. If I jumped 1 tooth on the exh cam would it cause all my symptoms? I don't have the cam lock tool. And I have called every shop in Knoxville and no one has this style. Only 2 euro shops and I can't borrow it. They will only do the whole belt job. So I have to pay a couple grand to let them line my cams up. Boo. Anyone got any other ideas. It's hard for me to believe it's the timing when the guy I got it from swore it ran fine and even offered me a replacement. (if he's even serious) I'm out of money and out of options. I have google myself into insanity trying to figure this one out. What could it be?

jcman

You said: I pulled the covers. And the driver side cove had a crack in it. When I pulled it off the very thin lip on the driver side exhaust cam gear was bent in and it would bearly touch the intake gear. I'm thinking when it got hit maybe it locked the two gears together

So you're saying that the drivers side v-cover got hit enough to cause the cam gear to be out and you started it after noticing this?

I hate to be the first one to say this but you may have bent valves and punch-potted pistons too based on the diesel sound, any time you see a red cat you're dumping raw gas as you mentioned with the miss-fire codes.

Sounds like you might have more "new" issues to contend with before you do a TB service like pulling that head

Mastertekb

No, I did all the starting and cranking before I checked the timing. After I pulled the timing gear cover and noticed it I haven't turned it over. But the cam looks perfectly fine it just bent that thin lip that keeps the belt from walking off it. It looked like it touched the other gear. Not bad. It just has a lil metal scrape on the small area that was bent back. The part is very thin metal. I was able to bent it back with my fingers or a set of pliers. I did a compression test on all 6 cyl and it's equally across the board

jcman

Got it, it's possible the timimg is out and you're saying the cam looks fine??, did you pull the valve cover too?

jcman

What side cat glowed red?

Mastertekb

Yes I pulled both valve covers. The cat is glowing on the drivers side

jcman

The codes you have do suggest that the cam timing is off, the horse shoe cam locks you need can be rented with a tb service kit from a few online vendor sources such as blauparts or others.

If you're attemping to the tb service you will also need a crank lock bolt, cam sprocket socket, tensioner pin tool and the cam locks to do it right.

You can STF "search the forums" for info and guides from members who have done a 3.0 tb service, take your time researching.

Mastertekb

ok i just got done with the timing belt. took me forever to get the cam lock and crank lock pin. but now timing is dead on. i started it up and im still surging up and down and then it dies. same thing as before. and i still have the same cam positioning sensor codes. it runs pretty smooth except for the surging up and down then dieing. UGH what is wrong with this thing.

Mastertekb

I pulled the fuel rail and all the injectors and swapped them with the rail and injectors from the other motor. No change. I unplugged the maf an no change to the surge. I unplugged the lil valve next to the air box with a wire plug and two air lines. No change. I've checked for air leaks. What about the egr system could a leak in it cause this? Why would it throw cam codes

4Driver4

Leak down test time.