hi all,

i recently had a slight problem with oil starvation on my tdi which totalled the turbo.. i stripped the head off, just to check everything as there were 'unusual' starting issues after- felt like it was only just running,,

anyway- decided to removed head/cam/valves just to check everything as there seemed to be slight valve marking on two of the pistons.. removed cam- no1 journal found to have 'picked up' a bit- although salvageable.. 1 of the cam followers found to be cracked and three others have very slight marking (polished out with a polishing stone..)

problem is- none of the valves seem in any way bent?? i was expecting to find at least 1.. but i honestly find any.. spun them in a drill- all run true.. rolled them on straight edge- all true, all same length.. all square to face :S is there any other way to check them?

obviously in an ideal world i'd just buy 8 new followers, 8 new valves (or a complete head!) and have done with it.. but cash is mega tight at the mo.. so every penny counts.. :(

any thoughts would be appreciated

Could the marks on the pistons be from a previous valve to piston contact? do you know the full history of the car? if not maybe its had a timing belt failure & bent a few valves previously.If it was running fine before the original problem i doubt if the valves are bent.