bananahead
New Member
I dont know much about td5s im afraid but you say the head was skimmed then it sounded like a bag of nails, 2 thoughts: I had a 300 that sounded like death for a long long time but it pulled ok and didnt smoke - it was a washer rattling about with a loose crank shaft bolt! Tightened it up and it just kept coming loose again, replaced it (with one from another engine) and it stayed tight ever since! Secondly, if the head is removed on a td5 engine do you need to set tappets as with tdi? Anyone know? I wouldnt be suprised if the guy had sorta not known about that given your estimation of him!