Email sent, sorry for the delay bro!

How did it run before and why did you take it apart?

He bought one that was hydrolocked win damaged internals for cheap to rebuild it.

Shit man, I just read what you posted on the 16th (I was out of town). And before swapping any parts you really need to double check the timing as it is easy to put off when you put the vanos units on etc. You need to get cyl 1 at top dead, lock the crank in that position with the crank lock pin, (or a tight fitting drill bit) then make sure the cams are perfect. It only takes being one spline off to make it run like total crap.

And if the timing is off 1 spline, the sensors will be reading correctly, but the signals will be implausible. As for what the dealer told you, unfortunately that is about all they can do... they have no way of knowing the condition of the engine without running all the basic tests on physical engine condition, and they need to know the engine is perfectly timed first as well. And being that you put it together, I'd say you should be capable of cheking the timing as well as running all the basic tests yourself afterwards. I think I paid less that $200 for a good quality leakdown tester, and you could probably find it cheaper than that.

updates?

Weasel,

You said #1 is passenger front. Is that front from driver POV, or from grill looking in?

It's the same, there is only one front. Bumper end. Rear is firewall end.

Passengers front, not right front. (unless your passengers swap seats when you turn around ;))

lmao at this conversation

Guess there is not arguing that -- just making sure.