Haven

I have one in very good shape. I have removed valves and buckets for other builds. How complete do you need it? Cams and caps are present.

Ok so I cleaned and or replaced all the chassis grounds and added one directly to firewall from battery. No change. It there a scan tool that can assess the viability of the ECU/TCU/BIU? From what I understand the ECU can't just be swapped without matching it to the other components (immobilizer) or swapping the entire set. Anyone done this?

Ok folks- here is a puzzle. 2007 5EAT Turbo sudden P0607 code. All craps out car basically rolls to a stop. Can clear code and drive low RPM and it will hold long enough to get somewhere. But any RPM over about 4K and it craps all over again. No other codes. So hooked up to Free SSM and solid connection to ECU and engine runs fine. But reaching the TCU is not possible. It will connect maybe 10% of the time at ignition "on" but as soon as I start the car it fails to connect. Cannot connect at all with engine running first or switching from ECU to TCU. If I restart Free SSM it will again sporadically connect but immediately loose connection once something is changed. I was able to stay connected long enough to clear TCU memory but a test drive did the same thing again. Thinking it's time for a new TCU? TIA for any insights!

I have several from 2005.

I have several glad to ship from western NC.

I just did this on a 2007 OBXT and have to say it was the worst thing I have ever done- AND I have not even installed the new actuator yet or reassembled everything... The dash was not really that bad to get off- took me about 1.5 hours of actual work plus lots of internet research and FSM skimming. The worst part was access to two of the three tiny screws for the actuator mount. They suck. My arsenal of new specialty tools and redneckery has grown to say the least. I did not look into taking the steering column out which would have helped tremendously (in hindsight). I did remove the steering wheel for better reach. And yes- only new OEM parts going in as I will not do this again!

Free SSM and VAG-COM cable.

Just did this on my second 2005 OBXT. Night and day difference in shift roughness and smooth acceleration. I seriously thought I was going to need to replace the transmission- it was that bad. I got the car as a flip and suspect the transmission fluid may have never been changed. 178K. The other car was 205K. Same thing- hard shifts 2-3, clunking into gear. Both cleared up immediately and I reflashed TCU for relearn. Super easy with an assistant. Just pop the rear-most line and fold over into bucket. Have assistant start car and run it out a measured amount. Refill, repeat with gear changes, etc. as described. Not even 15 minutes total. Great post- thank you!

And for those about to rip on the cam seal- I had already taken the cam bracket off- just took a pic for posterity!

Well... here was part of the problem- a few of the OBDII connector pins were pushed in so we could not connect to a code reader or FSSM. Found that out later after scrapping the car thinking it was electrical issue in the dash= we found MICE. So after doing all the diagnostics possible without a viable connection to the ECU, we pulled the motor. Absolutely knew it was on the mechanical operation of the longblock as the issue moved between cars, three different wiring harnesses, and all sensors worked fine on other cars. So removed the intake cams. BAM! there it was. The amount of misery, time, money and wasted cars that little pin caused is almost unfathomable.

Hey folks! At long last we figured it out. Dowel pin in passenger cam was pushed in so cam gear was not clocked. Thanks again for all the help here!

Well seems no one saw this but just in case it is visited someday I found the issue. Passenger cam dowel pin was pushed in so the cam gear was not clocked...

I'll check my stash with a micrometer and let you know!

Oh bummer man that sounds like the song of turbine death. One quick way to tell is remove intercooler and check the oil film in throttle body outlet for metal sparkles... I truly you hope you avoided engine damage. I caught my turbo fail in my LGT and immediately stopped the motor, rolled off the road, and towed it home. Several oil flushes and all seems well so far... All the best!

Ok folks- here is a diagnostic puzzle for ya... 2005 EJ255. Pulled from a running LGT that had one slightly burned valve- but ran pretty well considering. Did a refresh on it with new pistons, rings, bearings, gaskets, timing, etc. I've done this a dozen times before so nothing new. Put motor back in car and would not start. Found no spark signal to cylinders 2&3. Coil packs, plugs, injectors all working fine. Plenty of fuel but no spark signal. Coil packs and plugs worked fine on the other cylinder leads. Pulled cover from harness and traced wires back to main plug- all good. Pulled and swapped entire intake manifold and harness from another running car. Same issue as above but later found a mouse nest in the interior of the car. Figured it was not worth the effort to replace and parted out the shell and kept motor. Installed same motor in an 2005 OBXT. (BTW- the intake and harness removed initially are now on a running car so wiring was definitely not the issue...). SO, same thing AGAIN. Exactly. Did the same diagnostics again but this time also did compression test. Cold, never-run-with-new-rings-engine but all cylinders within 4 PSI. No CEL codes so I pulled the connections from the crank position sensor- instant code. Same for cam position sensor passenger side (did not move on to the drivers side as I was frustrated and have big hands) So this leads me to believe the lack of signal is from a sensor on the original longblock. But the question is- can a sensor be bad and not throw a code? Since a cylinder is not sparking on each side would this point to the crank sensor? Remember- this engine ran fine before the refresh. I have swapped a crank sensor from a known running engine but don't have it back together yet to try it. Also, timing is dead on and crank sprocket has all the teeth.

All ground wires are cleaned and present. Swapping complete wiring harness from another car didn't change anything (other than our frustration level). Ugh

Ok folks, here is an update. Couldn't get Free SSM to connect so that was not useful and may not have been anyway. So, we checked/cleaned and replaced grounding straps on heads and rail on intake manifold. Found out brand new battery was stone dead AGAIN so something is draining it in two days or less. Swapped good battery and no fire- same issue. Cranks great though. In order to eliminate the wiring as a problem, we swapped an entire intake manifold with wiring harness from a running car to his car. No change at all. So the only thing left to test ECM is to swap it into a known running car. Recall that the running car had its' ECM put in my sons car and it did not run. So put son's ECM into running car and it would not fire either. So question is, if ECM from son's car is bad why won't it run with known good one? The part numbers are different so maybe that is the reason? His is 22611AJ17E and mine is 22611AJ17B. If they ARE compatible what else in the system will cause a no start in both vehicles?

I have Free SSM and free time this weekend so hoping to get this thing going. Thanks for all the input!

No codes at all...

Hey folks, My son scored a sweet RBP 5MT LGT sedan with 212K miles. Ran fine but seller said it had rod knock. We could not hear it but due to mileage we tore it down and refreshed bearings, rings, gaskets, etc. Turns out it had a single burned exhaust valve. Anyway, this is like the 12th motor we have done with every one coming to life at first start. This one, however, would not start. Timing is dead on, valve clearances checked and in spec, but we discovered no spark signal to cylinders 2&3. Coil packs and plugs to those cylinders work perfectly when connected to 1 or 4 leads. Spark plugs are wet with fuel. Grounding straps are connected. We removed covering from main plug to packs on #3 and wires looked fine. I swapped ECU from my other 2005 LGT 5MT with no change. Nothing was done to the intake manifold and wiring harness other than new intake/TGV gaskets and splicing in a coil pack plug end on #3. Is there a security shutdown or something? This car is super baffling and frustrating at this point. Anyone gone through this before? THANK YOU!!!

I have a 2005 LGT and plugs are not a problem with a little time to spend. Remove airbox, etc and described above after pulling car up on ramps or jack stands. Remove both 14 mm engine mounting stud nuts, and get a short 4X4 block of wood and jack up the side you're working on a few inches to get the coil packs exposed above the frame. Do one side at a time and you don't have to pull the dogbone trans bolt out.

Well, I got it out fine and took it apart. Seems the contacts have worn right through.

I going in to do this actuator remove-and-lube on my 2005 LGT. There is NO way that I can see to get the bracket off without growing a second (or third) elbow or wrist. So, I suppose I will detach what I can and bend the bracket out enough to get the assembly out. Unless someone can advise me on a better way...

Awesome write-up! I printed your directions and was able to do my rear passenger side in a hair over an hour. Tips were great, photos excellent, and overall a great, helpful post.