Need cam advice.

I have a 2006.5 Jetta 1.9 TDI diesel turbo engine code Brm. The car has 250,000 miles. I can only attest to the last 10,000.
I have to replace the cam and lifters. One of the lifters has been worn clear through but isn't stuck. The cam doesn't look the best either.
I am wondering first off what all do I need to check so I'm not missing something and putting new parts into a bad situation.
Also what is recommended as far as the replacement parts that I purchase. $400 is my budget and I want to also replace the timing belt while I'm at it.

Your budget needs expanding. If it were mine it would stay parked until the money was there. If you cant afford a frank06 cam kit that's OK but the TB kit alone is 200ish and no tools.

drucifer said:

Your budget needs expanding. If it were mine it would stay parked until the money was there. If you cant afford a frank06 cam kit that's OK but the TB kit alone is 200ish and no tools.

Click to expand...

Problem is my college classes start tomorrow and it is a 60 Mile drive one way.classes 4 days a week. My truck is lucky to get 15 mpg and that's during the summer. If I park it and drive my truck then any monies that I have will go straight into the gas tank of my truck.
I purchased this car for $1900. The guy I bought it from, and this is my theory, thought the transmission was going out. I put a new fuel filter in it and eliminated the "slipping transmission" lol.
I am having trouble justifying spending almost as much on a camshaft as I did for the whole car. The timing belt was replaced about 35,000 miles ago but it looks to be a bit on the worn side. Cheap belt? I don't know.
I have to do something.

You need to either do it right .......now......or don’t do it till you can.
If you cheap out on this it will bite you in the ass and will be a whole lot more expensive in the long run.
Just my .02.

csstevej said:

You need to either do it right .......now......or don’t do it till you can.
If you cheap out on this it will bite you in the ass and will be a whole lot more expensive in the long run.
Just my .02.

Click to expand...

I don't know if you figure what I will spend extra on gas driving my truck I could buy a 2-3 hundred dollar cam and lifter set drive it until I get done with school and the money I will save would probably be enough to buy the frank06 setup.

Not saying that you are wrong

Freemindedclark said:

I have a 2006.5 Jetta 1.9 TDI diesel turbo engine code Brm. The car has 250,000 miles. I can only attest to the last 10,000.
I have to replace the cam and lifters. One of the lifters has been worn clear through but isn't stuck. The cam doesn't look the best either.
I am wondering first off what all do I need to check so I'm not missing something and putting new parts into a bad situation.
Also what is recommended as far as the replacement parts that I purchase. $400 is my budget and I want to also replace the timing belt while I'm at it.

Click to expand...

sell the car, get s scooter or uber. or take out a loan. 400 is not even going to cover parts.

what cam and lifters did you get, there are some really bad ones floating out there.

i would personally sell it for $1000 as is or whatever you can get and go buy a 300$ honda accord. that or drop out of school, its for suckers, go do a trades school and become an electrician or plumber.

Mongler98 said:

sell the car, get s scooter or uber. or take out a loan. 400 is not even going to cover parts.
what cam and lifters did you get, there are some really bad ones floating out there.
i would personally sell it for $1000 as is or whatever you can get and go buy a 300$ honda accord. that or drop out of school, its for suckers, go do a trades school and become an electrician or plumber.

Click to expand...

Lol got to much invested to drop out. I haven't bought anything yet. Kinda cold in Iowa for a scooter and I don't even want to know what a 60 Mile Uber ride would cost.
Where do I find one of these $300 accords that isn't going to need$1000 parts to be reliable?

You dont worry about it. I got a 300 85 accord that all I did for 100k was oil changes with the cheapest of the cheep rock auto $3 filters and $15 oil from walmart. Changed tires from a junk yard for $30. Sold it for 450 years later.
You have to look for deals. Who cares. Dont fix it. Get another $300 pos. Or just move closer or on campus.

Point is you dont have $ for a tdi. Or any decent car and to maintain it. You need a beater.

Automatic? Sell it.

Yes it has the 6 speed DSG. Moving closer to school isn't an option. I am a single full time father and besides I own my home.
I have never once in my life been lucky and or good enough to find a decent vehicle yet alone one at scrap price. If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.

fiar enough. If i was in your shoes, i would try and fix the head. you could probably buy some time by replacing the lifters and polishing out the defects in the cam with some emery cloth. run some zink in it for a while for the break in on the lifters. If you can just buy the ones you need that would be great. maybe it will last 20K, maybe less, maybe more. hard to tell.

Maybe replace the lifters and try to sell it for what you paid. You should be able to get a fairly reliable beater for $1900.

This civic could use cleaning up for sure, but $800 would buy a fair bit of gas: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Honda-Civic-d586#listing=258076155

top 2 no money pit cars to beat on with negligence and no cares at all for a LONG TIME would be

A: Toyota Corolla
B: Honda Accord or Civic

both from years of 1985 to 2005

you can get them in good running condition but poor shape for cheap.

other than 10K oil changes and a good battery, you can really just about get junkyard parts to keep them on the road and find shade tree or back door mechanics to inspect the car. I happen to know of an old geezer in my neck of the woods who will pass anything as long as its not truly unsafe. or clearly an issue. AKA missing exhaust or rusted out, bad brakes. stuff like that.

you can really cheep out when it comes to these old cars. the mk3 and 4 gen TDI's are a bit the same but cost a modest value (few grand every few years to keep in tip top shape. They are not as forgiving if you cant afford to maintain them unlike the cars i mentioned above.

Another thing you can do is find a junkyard in your area and a local shade tree mechanic and put them together. My dad and myself as well both did this for both our first cars. Pay the mechanic $300 and the junkyard the cost of the parts (another $300) and have a good engine put into a good car. done plenty of times and some yards will do it for you. ended up with a $600 lexus we both put 100K on and sold it for 3 grand.

I live in Iowa so no inspections to pass. I'm no master mechanic by no means but I am capable of doing work that most people won't attempt. I have done several complete engine builds(gassers) and have a well stocked tool box minus the specialty tools required for the tdi. A couple to a few grand a year for routine maintenance on a car isn't something I can't afford and or willing to spend. This situation just happened to come up without warning at the worst possible time. I will do what I I have to do to come up with enough funds to get a frank06 cam and lifters. Anyone interested in buying a kidney or perhaps a lung?

Check into donating plasma. Usually a donation center withing a half hour of most places. Most pay out 40 to 50 a donation and you can do it twice a week. Takes 2 hours. Tax free money and basically there taking water with some protien in it and no blood is taken. I'm a RH- blood type so I get much more. I donated 100 times in 2019 and made $14,000 bucks . You can donate 104 times a year. They usually have bonuses and stuff. If you can stand having a needle in your arm for 45 minutes. You can do it. It's not that bad. Easy instant money. I also started when i got back into school like you. So far I've donated for 6 years now. They take about 880ml each time for a full sized adult. So I've donated about 140 gallons of plasma and made about $84,000 tax free money. Lol.
But you know why I do it. Its 2 hours (usually 1 hour but some times there a bit slow at checkin) to have some free time I can stream movies or tv series and not be interrupted by anything at home. Also only way to make specific meds for life saving pregnant wemon.
Food for thought

Speaking of pregnant women- sperm banks are where the big money is. Might be tough to donate 140 gallons though.

turbobrick240 said:

Speaking of pregnant women- sperm banks are where the big money is. Might be tough to donate 140 gallons though.

Click to expand...

Is that per visit?

Freemindedclark said:

Is that per visit?

Click to expand...

Kinda.
Donors earn $70 for each donation ($50 at the time of donation, and $20 when the sample is released). Healthy men are able to earn up to $1,000 per month
And it is taxed.
About as good as plasma

All this talk of plasma and sperm selling reminds me of college and my some of my financially desperate frat buddies.

$14,000 a year donating roughly twice a week is a nice supplemental income. Way to go Mongler!

the catch on the Rh- program is that I have to donate for a full year, then I can get into the program, they give me a dose of someone else’s blood cells and I make an immune response they are looking for, it’s a gamble because in 6 months of getting cells I’m not guaranteed that will make the stuff they want, if I don't at the end of 6 months then I’m out for life no more donating, 2 weeks before the deadline I started making the antibodies they are after and the rest is $$$ in my pocket. The catch is I’m getting someone else's blood. There is a risk that goes with that. Actually the FDA last year put a halt to these cells because there was not enough testing and no one has stepped up to the plate. My levels are still good but I have not gotten cells in a year.

The medicine they make from this is for pregnant women on their 2nd pregnancy with a child of a different blood type. The body can reject the fetus and the medication they make from my plasma fixes this issue. It’s the only way to make this and only a hand full of people does this. I’m one of 7 some in my state that had this and donates.
It takes something like 30 donations (26,000 ml) to make ONE prescription.
Unfortunately the person who was running the program retired and it’s dropping off. I’m not sure how much longer the program will be around.
Ok derailment and rant over!
Oh and the drawback of having 2 rather bog scars on the inner of my elbow from where the needles goes. I can’t feel the needle anymore and I have been asked if I inject drugs from those who don't know as it’s on both my arms. !!! I’m probably going to stop soon because they just lowered the rate by about $1,000 a year that and I might run my count down far enough that I can't donate if I don’t get cells again soon.

As a student, there are ways of getting paid if you manipulate the system properly. the key is to get most of your income from donations and under the table work, makes no less than 800 a month and no more than 1,100 a month, get food stamps, SSI, cash assistance, energy assistance and low rent and make up the rest in grants and scholarships. I did 4 years of community college and some trades and it was all paid for and I pocketed about 19K at the end of each year doing so, I also pulled a 3.85 GPA and worked 30 hours and ran 15 credits each semester.

I don’t have the time or energy for that anymore....
Ah to be in my 20's again!!!!

rant over. sorry for that but it might help OP been there done that.