2010 R56 Valve/Engine Problem

rdangelo · 01-25-2022, 08:54 AM

This car suddenly lost oil on the road. (we think oil filter gasket was loaded improperly) The car shut down quickly for reasons that are apparent in picture. (car shut down with 30secs or so of oil light coming on). It seems that this was about overheating the head, which of course first occurs on the exhaust valve side. Many of the Exhaust rocker arms got popped off.
We are B grade mechanics (we do brakes, struts, etc), and have not yet even done a timing chain.
Questions: What are the chances that all we need is a new head and TC? Is there likely piston, cyl wall, or lower unit (oil pump, etc) damages? We are trying to decide if it is worth us buying a rebuilt head, chain, and necessary tools and doing the job ourselves. Car value is about 6K repaired .. estimates for parts above, maybe 2200 or so? Please reply with any helpful thoughts you have!

Konaboy83 · 08-17-2022, 12:05 PM

I recently had 2 ex valves crack on my 2008 MCS with N14 R56 engine. The shop recommended a new replacement motor at $14500 w/turbo. I was flabbergasted and after checking with a few other shops, I decided to do the work myself. I spent approx $1500 on timing tool, timing chain kit, all torque-to-yield bolts, head gasket, valve cover gasket, crank case seal, water pipe, fuel injector seal kits, gaskets for HPFP, t-stat, vacuum pump, oil feed line kit: basically, since I had torn it down this far, I replaced all oil seals.
I work in IT and this was by far the most complicated repair I've ever done. Get yourself a good repair manual. I used Haynes but others have said the Bentley is great.
Do a leak down test on all cylinders. The most helpful video for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPoU6iAIhlc He has a bunch on the N14 R56 engine. The most trouble I had was getting the crankcase locking pin inserted correctly. Lock it down correctly or you will damage valves. Research, research and more research . I can't stress enough the value of vetting all info before starting.
Lastly, my car is running great! No codes and purrs like a kitten. GOOD LUCK!