Rebuilt engine needs rebuilding after 5 years!

need advice as i am not very mechanical. I had my Kombi engine rebuilt 5 years ago. Not naming by who.
Anyway kombi has been running awful so took back to them and was told the camshaft gear studs were worn so engine will need to be split and and may as well rebuild with new rings bearings etc. The price quoted would be 5 grand.
I was a little put out about this but said nothing and decided to not use them and get engine rebuilt by someone else. new guy has now pulled engine apart and the gear studs are not the problem and are fine. But the actual cams are worn out.
Do you feel this is something that should have been sorted in 1st rebuild, or is 5 years enough time that this could happen?
I really feel a bit ripped off to be honest and am sure the first company would have kept with story of gear studs being worn if had split it.

Any advice would be great

I should also point out that 3 months after it was rebuilt, I had to go O/seas for a year. An idiot of a mate who I asked to start it weekly never did it once. So i came back to perished seals and hoses that had to be fixed. Tho have used regular for short trips since my return it has not done very much milage at all (probably around 4 or 5000 km since rebuild.

1st question I will ask is how many kms in 5 years?

Sorry about that. I was actually editing post with that info while you were replying. It got drove 5 days a week on average doing about 65 kms a fortnight. So i guess thats around 6000 kms (not 4 or five as I stated)

I dont imagine there would be any sort of warranty .
just unlucky I guess.
was a new shaft fitted 5 years ago??

kombivw wrote:It got drove 5 days a week on average doing about 65 kms a fortnight.

Is this correct, as this is only 6.5km a day. I also live and work in Sydney and drive more in one day than you drive in a fortnight and that's only to work and back. I know this doesn't help your question, but just wanting to confirm the very low kilometres you stated.

Also, I gather all servicing was done as required. I would be very pissed off if it was stuffed again.

Good luck, Kevin.

Sounds like someone I know of here in Bris who had their 2L engine rebuilt a few years ago, which when they got it back were very happy with for about 10,000km or so.... then it started to just not run right, lack power etc.

Something was definitely not right, so the engine was pulled out and torn down and yup - the cam had gone flat. Seems the thought-to-be-reputable mob that had done the rebuild had put in a used/reground camshaft rather than a new one, saving about $100 or so on the cost... which then ended up costing a whole lot more when it needed an early rebuild.

🙁

Oh and yeah - 65km per fortnight... really ???

At just over 4000km in 3 seasons, my race car does more miles than that !!!

😉

Kombivw , the main reason a cam wears out or goes flat is due to the incompatible material between the canshaft and the lifters . The excesive wear usually happens in the initial run in period where you have to burnish the cam and lifters as one unit . There are also a number of other factors that can contribute to a cam falure , but cant speculate on this with knowing what type of engine , brand and type of cam / lifters , valve spring pressures , who actuall installed /ran in the engine , maintanance ect . The engine should need a good clean , a set of bearings , new cam and lifters . With only this amount of miles on the engine I doubt that it needs a total rebuild , ROD.

is 5G the average going rate for a type4 rebuild these days?

Yes that's about right, I paid something similar for my long block last year (Gary Williams at VW Classic, Kirrawee, did a top job). That included as many new parts as possible - heads, cam, lifters, pistons, cylinders etc etc - with my old stuffed long block as exchange. I wanted to pay a good VW pro to do the long block, but was happy to do the remove/install/setup myself. Done 15,000 km since with no problems at all.

Would be more if you wanted the workshop to do everything - pull the old motor, complete and fit new one.

It's important to find a good VW specialist; no one minds paying a bit more for a quality work. There are still good Type 4 builders out there...

Oh and yeah - 65km per fortnight... really ???

I live less than a quarter of a km from work.Could walk it, but either ride bike or take car. Do the shopping at local shops fortnightly and pick up children (should say child tho she is not that young anymore and other has car) from X once a fortnight. Obviously do occasionally do a 40 km or so drive on top but then other weeks dont use at all. 65 km is an average per fortnight, and i would say an accurate guestimate.

No idea when they rebuilt it whether a new shaft was fitted but am guessing it was not.

It's important to find a good VW specialist; no one minds paying a bit more for a quality work. There are still good Type 4 builders out there...

I actually did use a VW specialist and paid a lot. I just feel rather than saying its another 5 grand, and not even considering I have all my work regularly done there, and that I use car so little that they might have at least offered to see whether they could reduce another rebuild. And I am sure that they would have stuck with story that the forged bolts came loose and not the actual fact that cams were so worn.

The initial year of car sitting while I was away cost a lot as well due to all fuel hoses being perished and lots of seals to replace in various places. Engine is a 74 2 ltr twin carb BTW

Andrew Dodds now has car and been there for a month now as he has not had time to work on it till this week. He did offer me a car and also wants to try to keep price down (even tho he never done initial rebuild) So shows I dont need car that much . Shopping has been only problem as I can use bike for all else. But I really would have liked other garage to have said similar things that Andrew has.

So good people get named, but the bad people don't ??!..............bummer about your motor.

Unfortunately I also was caught with a reground camshaft myself a few years ago,I fitted it in good faith as new cams were very scarce,it lasted approx the same kms as what yours did rounding off the exhaust lobe on No 1 cylinder,the supplier didn't look after me,i purchased a new cam which by then was available and fitted it at my cost.Obviously most trade users are in the same boat,we buy the best that is available,but when parts just aren't there we have to use a part that should be but isn't always the best quality.As a result of my negative experiences with rebuilt or reconditioned heads and reground camshafts I avoid such parts regardless of the quality claims.

So good people get named, but the bad people don't ??!..............

Well to be honest untill this episode I had not found them bad, pricey yes. But obviously I wont be going back after this, and actually like the people. I just feel ripped off and I am still not really sure if I have been?
As Sides and grumbles stories are so similar.

There were a HEAP of "flat cam" stories about 5 years ago - especially stateside.

A bloke (Ryan) on SBO is an experienced builder (IMO) andhe had lots of troubles.
He had a pic where the head was gone off the lifter

Sadly the quality of what we want to pay for doesnt meet our expectations