Is it possible to tell from these photos if the cam bearings and cams are good?

They are on an AEB engine.
The oil pump clogged with sludge, the turbo failed and the plastic cam chain tension guides were chewed up. It was in the shop when it happened and was shut off as soon as smoke started coming out of the exhaust.

The mechanic said I needed a new engine, without even opening it up. I installed a new (used) engine. But I'm wondering if I really needed an engine, or if I could have just replaced the oil pump, chain tensioner, and turbo.

I'm trying to determine if the head is still ok. I see what looks like it could be some wear, but is is typical 98K miles wear, or oil pump failure wear, and is it catastrophic, or is it worth fixing?

I'm sure it would be better to actually see it, but I'm hoping someone can give me a little info based on these photos.


Thanks
TurboLag

 

Best I can tell with the pictures, looks like pretty normal wear for the miles.

 

They look clean to me. I've seen much worse leave with nothing but a clean-up and sludge kit. General rule-of-thumb is if your fingernail catches in the grooves, it needs to be cleaned up. If emory cloth doesn't smooth it out, the head needs to be replaced.

But looking at those pics, they look clean.

 

I don't see any scoring on the cam bearings, it looks pretty good in the pics. If you run your finger nail across the bearings does you nail catch anything? Does it feel smooth to the touch?

 

Tweaked beats me again.....

 

Thanks

Everything feels perfectly smooth.
You can see a difference between where the oil groove is.
And some streaks, but nothing that I can feel to the touch.

If these look like they do, what is the likelihood other internals are good?

Whats the next thing to check?

Thanks again to all.

 

If the cam bearings are good its a very good chance the crank and rod bearings are just fine. The cam bearings are the first ones to go.

 

Ha, c'mon man, it's been a long time!

I concur, doctor.

 

Agreed. This happened to me in Nov, and my parents insisted that it was a low oil light, not oil press. because the nice lady at the dealership said so. I turned the car off and coasted home which was about a mile downhill thankfully. The mechanic said doing that saved the motor, because the cam bearings are the last things in the system to get oil, so if the pressure was that bad, they would go first. Still ended up being about 1200 from the dealer with parts and labor

 

I'm putting the AEB and some other parts up for sale.

Here's the link.
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/sho...31#post1191431

Wanted you guys to get first crack at it.