2005 Passat TDI BHW, Camshaft wear possible engine damage/BEW Camshaft Swap opinions

k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
Hello first time posting on the forum. I have spent countless hours perusing posts on TDI club related to this issue and really appreciate the amount of information this community shares with each other.

Howdy, I have a 2005 Passat TDI wagon (165k miles) and I have recently experienced some symptoms of something definitely going wrong. I've owned the car for a little shy of a year and unfortunately don't have many service records. I do know that is was regularly maintained by an elderly woman would religiously warm the engine before taking off, and given her residence, I'd assume most of her miles were HWY. And she routinely got oil changes at a local establishment, whether or not they used the appropriate oil I don't know.

Here are the symptoms: The car is making a loud "puttering" noise with the timing of the engine, as the RPMs increase so does the sound. When driving the car, it does not have the normal power it should normally, and it spews a tremendous amount of black smoke. Sounds identical to this:

How it started:
I went on a trip over a mountain highway (plenty of hills) had a serious a$$rider on our bumper and (I will reluctanly confess attempted to leave a little more black smoke behind me by giving the car some hard acceleration, which is really quite out of character for me (no sarcasm). Yes I realize that was stupid. Anyways, the car ran fine on the way to our destination and seemed fine on the way back until we got back on the freeway. that is when a barely perceptible difference in sound occurred that happened upon acceleration. Didn't really think much of it. I left a couple days later for some work that was about 50 miles away. I could tell the car was not quite right and unfortunately could not cancel work and turn home. On the way home it was a little worse, under powered and struggled a bit to make it up hills on the freeway, but I was very cognizant of trying to make as little smoke as possible and accelerating very conservatively. Eventually on my way back the "Emissions workshop" light came on. I ran the ODB code at an autopart store and said faulty MAF, I replaced the MAF with an OEM Bosch. I also cleaned out the EGR while I was at it. Looked all over for vacuum leaks and found none. Symptoms remained.

I took the car into a small time mechanic who definitely knows a lot about VW vans, but BHW engines aren't his forte. Without looking at the car very closely he said he could tell by hearing it drive in that one of the cylinders was not firing. He told me what I had suspicioned, that the camshaft was likely worn, but that it is possible one of the valves could be bent and therefore the car would likely not be worth the $ for him to fix.

So after a lot of research I am feeling good about diving into this project to get some more miles out of this car and to save money on shop labor. I love a lot of things about the car and how it drives. And I also bought a DieselGeek timing belt kit months ago and could also perform that provided there is no engine damage.

-I am wondering if I remove the camshaft and discover one of the lifters is severely damaged, how obvious will it be if the valve below is damaged? I've heard that these can mushroom and be difficult to tell if there is any damage. Is there other damage that can be inflicted to the engine if the camshaft lifter is damaged?

-If there is a damaged lifter, should I be worried about metal shavings in the oil pump? Would that make replacement of the Balance Shaft Delete Kit essential?

Really appreciate any advice or guidance. Thank you.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
It is rare that the valves get damaged, although if you keep running the engine you may do just that.

Take the cover off and take a look. Cam/lifter job is not that big of a deal really.

You won't be able to see the top of the valve stem until the cam and lifters have been removed of course.
 

k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
Okay, that is reassuring. The car was driven for probably a total of 100 miles when the loud puttering was noticeable. Had I not had to go work, it would have been parked immediately. It has been sitting, while I decide what to do. It does currently run however, albeit loud and smoky.

In your, experience if there is serious damage to the lifter how noticeable the damage to the valve would be?

And should I worry about the metal shaving from the lifter causing damage to anything else?

Thank you
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Just look to see if the valve stem top and keepers are all straight and aligned, that's all. If it is not right, you'll know.

I just change the oil and motor on. The metal didn't happen all at once into the engine's oil. It happened over a long period of time.
 

k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
Ok great, perfect thank you! I'm probably going to have to wait a week to dive into this, so I can clear out some covered shop space to perform this.

Now, I am also curious if you have opinions on certain camshafts? I've read through a bunch of threads on differing opinions and longevity. At first the AMC seemed like a fine option, then I've heard Frank06 saying that he has seen those wear dramatically in 25k (or 45k?) miles!
I'm still waiting on a price quote for a Frank06 camshaft kit but haven't heard anything. Right now I am leaning towards the Cascade German Parts kit, but am waiting to hear back on who supplies there camshaft as it isn't listed on their website.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I've only ever used Kolbenschmidt camshafts, not ever been a problem. And I know you bought this car well used, but going forward you'll find that proper oil, proper care, etc. will greatly increase the life of the cam/lifters in the first place. My BHW has nearly 220k miles and its valve cover has never been off and it runs perfect.
 

k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
Ok. Thank you. Yes I will certainly be using a higher caliber synthetic and keeping a strict oil changing schedule.

I talked to Aaron at Cascade German over the phone. They supply an AMC shaft in their kit, and he recommended the BEW camshaft swap for it's increased longevity. I've noticed that you (oilhammer) had some dialogue about this swap in years past on other threads. I think I know your position but if you have any advice or opinions you'd like to share any is appreciated.

At this point in time I'd be curious about the success of BEH camshaft in the BHW over time? A lot of the threads about this seem to be pretty dated and I'd be interested if opinions have changed after clocking some more miles.

thanks!
 
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zzdiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Location
sask. mostly now Wa.
TDI
05 passat tdi Geared BSM and Bewcam 2nd 2005 deleted ,converted and bew cam stage 2 Malone3 tune.
So we have two with Cascades BEW cam kit. One is stock and I have seen no significant difference
power wise. The second has a five speed conversion and delete and stage two tune. It has a lot of power and does plus 42 on the highway. I also did Cascades break in procedure on both.

I would suggest deal with the balance shaft if you want an engine.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
There is no "increased longevity" with a BEW camshaft. My source has KS camshafts for both BEW and BHW on the shelf, and the BHW one is only about $30 more, so I am not sure why you'd even bother with the wrong camshaft?
 

Zambee500

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Location
Atlanta, GA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI GLS, 2014 NMS Passat TDI SEL Premium
If you go with franko6 BHW camshaft rebuild kit "2.0", he uses a reprofiled BEW camshaft. Franko6 recommends (recommended at the time) the Joe Gibbs break-in oil procedures, which I believe requires 3 or 4 oil changes after varying (increasing) amounts of engine run time/mileage.

I'm 115k miles and 8.5 years later on the franko6 camshaft kit and am still motoring on happily. I don't recall noticing any drop in power with the BEW camshaft, but I also got a Malone Stage 1.5 tune a few months later and don't really have great memories from that long ago. The tune is a definite added bonus - highly recommended!
 
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k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
So we have two with Cascades BEW cam kit. One is stock and I have seen no significant difference
power wise. The second has a five speed conversion and delete and stage two tune. It has a lot of power and does plus 42 on the highway. I also did Cascades break in procedure on both.

I would suggest deal with the balance shaft if you want an engine.
Thank you for the input! Good info to know
 

k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
If you go with franko6 BHW camshaft rebuild kit "2.0", he uses a reprofiled BEW camshaft. Franko6 recommends (recommended at the time) the Joe Gibbs break-in oil procedures, which I believe requires 3 or 4 oil changes after varying (increasing) amounts of engine run time/mileage.

I'm 115k miles and 8.5 years later on the franko6 camshaft kit and am still motoring on happily. I don't recall noticing any drop in power with the BEW camshaft, but I also got a Malone Stage 1.5 tune a few months later and don't really have great memories from that long ago. The tune is a definite added bonus - highly recommended!
Thank you for sharing. Had a great and very informative chat with Frank on the phone today. It does sound like the way to go.

Just praying that I haven't bent any valves. Going to probably have some time next week to dive into it. Will post updates.
 

zzdiesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Location
sask. mostly now Wa.
TDI
05 passat tdi Geared BSM and Bewcam 2nd 2005 deleted ,converted and bew cam stage 2 Malone3 tune.
I considered Franks camshaft at the time. I have nothing against it except price. If your car makes another 165000 it will be 330000 and at the same rate of use 2035.
 
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k.k

Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Location
WA
TDI
2005 Passat TDI wagon
Thanks everyone for the input. After diving in I discovered that lifter #1 had a hole bored all the way through, and the camshaft itself looking in pretty rough shape.

Great news though, valves looked to be in great shape!

Have a camshaft kit and BSD kit coming in the mail from Frank!
 

chickensoup2180

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2021
Location
Ga
TDI
2005 Passat Wagon (BHW)
If you are concerned, take the valve cover off and inspect the lobes and lifter faces. You will need to buy a new valve cover gasket and clean the surfaces as well. If you do find bad lobes or lifters, remember when you replace the cam assembly, you must remove the carnage from the oil pockets. and easy way is to use a magnet.
 
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