DIY - Cam Chain and Tensioner Guide

[Juliand]

Skipped a few pages, but what a brilliant guide, with great, clear photo's. Invaluable. If I was 10.... no, 20 years younger, I'd happily have a bash at this myself. Seriously very good guide - you will have helped many young bucks to tackle this job. I'm not that confident now, but almost feel as if I could have a go, having looked at this. Very inspiring. Can't think of enough gratifying comments, to justify your efforts. I've bookmarked it, so you never know, ha ha!

[ducman77]

Brilliant guide
Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to complete it. Very much appreciated!!
Cheers
Dave

[rich83]

No problem. Hope the guide helps.

[Atreah]

Hey - let me start off by saying how brilliantly this guide is written. Makes me feel as if I could pretty much do it myself, but heck, I'm still gonna leave it to a mechanic by trade who also has the necessary tools to do it.

Anyhow, I'll be getting it done next week or so and I was wondering if anyone on here has any opinions on using aftermarket parts for this job? I definitely gotta do the chain and the tensioner, and was also recommended to do the adjuster "for the sake of it". But the OEM adjuster'll cost me around 400+ quid alone. Seeing that the car is 10 years old, I thought about using a non-oem adjustor, although, considering how vital the part is to the engine, I am a bit hesitant to do so without further research. I could get the non-oem adjuster for around 130-140 quid, so I'm wondering; is it likely for a part like that to just "go to s***", taking the engine with it? Or would I just be facing a faster wear & tear rate with a non-oem part?

I am always a fan of using OEM parts, but considering the age of the car, dishing out 400 + quid for a part that might actually still be completely fine, makes me think about possible alternatives, to say the least.

Thanks in advance for any opinions!

[Pesky jones]

I'm doing the cam chain change on my fiends Gti at the moment, and just thought I'd say that a tip for removing the larger rear breather pipe off the back off the rocker cover is if you have an extra pair of hands, is to gently lever the metal section of the breather backwards using a long screwdriver against the engine cover mount whilst the pipe is being worked with a pic from the front of the tube. It came off almost straight away compared to when I did the chain swap on mine without doing it this way.

[superchargedpolo]

Very handy and well written guide.
Thanks

[Terry82]

Great write up. Iv read through it a few times now. Think I'll give it a go myself. There's no record of it been done on my gti service history.
 What would all the parts and vw tools cost roughly?

[JamieKirk95]

@Tfsi_Mike

[Alex Rhys]

This thread saved me a fortune. Thanks Very much!

[Svs]

Also before start up when doing any job with cam timing the golden rule turn over twice by hand and check marks if the spot on starts if not time up again this way no nasty surprises

[Ant b]

Does anyone fancy doing this for me,really don't want to myself

[SDARCY118]

Brilliant guide being using this guide as a rough guide to changing my inlet camshaft which has sadly being eaten by the fuel pump
(only the bolts to take off the cam carrier off as well)...

Thanks :)

[v4rley]

@rich83 can you remove just the chain cover to inspect the condition of the chain without having to remove the cam cover?

[Pesky jones]

@rich83 can you remove just the chain cover to inspect the condition of the chain without having to remove the cam cover?

Yes

[SDARCY118]

Hi guys,

still having few issues since replacing the inlet camshaft, timing chain and tensioner. the car is currently shaking like mad on idle, misfiring count on cylinders, but it seem's to drive well...

now the only fault code that keeps coming back p000a slow intake response...which would suggest the timing is incorrect but i've checked using the tool with the engine set on bang tdc multiple times now , the tool had a little bit of play when placed between the inlet and exhaust camshaft which by looks of things should be correct..

in the last month, i've done the following...
*cleaned oil pick and fresh oil
*replaced the 3 oil separator rings found inside the vvt adjuster
*degreased and cleaned the timing chain cover
*cleaned the n205 valve and also done output test with vcds seemed fine
*compression test results were 160-170psi
*throttle body adaptation
*pcv valve replacement
*dv upgrade to gfb
*tested coil packs and replaced spark plugs

today I managed to check the 91/93 measuring blocks here are the results below...as you can see something still's not right! I'm sure the phase position bank 1 intake shouldn't be as high as 4.0kw...i could be wrong though?!?!

(picture link below sorry can't work out how to get images onto this forum atm)

https://ibb.co/bEE9q6



currently borrowing my university's hex+can cable so i can use vcds on my car but i need to give it back by Wednesday so need some suggestions very quickly.

any help would be much appreciated

sam