Is my engine dead?

[MrFernze]

Hello everyone,

I need some help, I purchased my lovely but unloved Mk5 Golf GTI AXX in January, I've changed a lot of things to the car. Such as new driveshafts, full suspension, tyres, brake kit, exhaust, pcv, cam follower, service etc. I was in hopes to change my sparks and coils shortly after as there was a misfire which was noticed. However, I have came across a serious issue when driving to work.

19th of Feb, my car jolted and would not go past 3k rpm. When at work, I tried starting the car and moving it and it wouldn't pass 1k rpm. So I had it picked up and diagnosed from a friend of mine.

The engine codes are; P2293, P0171, P0441.
From the looks of things, the camshafts are scored badly and the engine needs timing and he mentioned that it was running lean due to the soot on the spark plugs. I'm just wondering, is it worth it getting repaired. As my mechanic is telling me to get a new engine block, or the other option would be an engine swap. Hope someone can help me, as I need it to get to work fairly soon.

http://imgur.com/a/e5aYUAy (see image for camshaft damage etc)

Thanks for any messages or information in advance.

[pudding]

Oh dear, that is not a happy engine.

Judging by the dark oil staining, it's not had regular oil changes.   Engines with regular changes look almost new inside.  I've seen that dark varnishing all too many times on neglected engines.

The cam chain tensioner looks to be at maximum extension, so that lot will also need replacing.

If you can catch a finger nail in that cam bearing scoring, it's f'cked and you'll need a new head.  I'd get one from VW/TPS.  Comes with cams etc I believe.  You can barter with dealers on big stuff like that as the discount codes are bigger that regular service parts on heavier stuff like that.

The soot is over rich fuelling, not lean.  Looks like the fuel pump cam lobe is worn down so the fuelling will be all over the place.

Sorry to say it mate, I think you're looking at a new engine, or a new top end at the very least.  The primary cause of the failure should also be investigated to prevent the replacement going the same way.

[rich83]

Ouch... that is bad unfortunately... Needs a top end rebuild for a start, and as pudding says, investigation to see why it happened to make sure it doesnt happen again 

Luckily, the base TFSI engines are available from the usual suspects and will probably work out cheaper than a rebuild.

[MrFernze]

Thank you very much for the unfortunate news. I'm looking at doing a CDL engine swap later in the year, just didn't think it would be this soon before it died. Especially with the amount putting into it already. Just unsure whether I need to do the awd conversion or can I CDL swap without doing the conversion.

[pudding]

That is how the dice rolls with second hand cars unfortunately. You can run the CDL as FWD no problem. Haldex of that generation has no influence on the engine mapping.