Timing chain issues

[Pesky jones]

Make reference marks before removing chain. Count links between sprockets etc. Just do anything you can to make sure you're confident it is back on how it was. I've marked the chain link and sprocket tooth on the inlet cam and then the chain link and tooth on the exhaust cam aswell in the past.

[pudding]

Good advice.  Another tip I can think of is to make sure you remove and refit the chain cover dead square, otherwise 1 or more of the 3 oil control rings can break.  They are pretty fragile.  AKS Tuning sell them if you want to have a set on standby.

[mayesj86]

Well there's no need for them to get stroppy with you, it's very unprofessional, so I can understand your frustration now!

It does sound like they have messed it up and aren't confident drilling out the bolt in situ.  If you haven't already recovered the car, I would do so.  They had their chance and messed it up!

It was the bullying tactics that got my back against the wall more than them not doing the job.

My gut feeling is they have messed up and wont admit it to save face and hoped I would just say get on with it. I went and picked it up on Tuesday after they told me they were just putting it back together and would need to re book it in to have cams removed as they were too busy and fully booked for another week.....if im honest that really annoyed me that part of it.

All parts will be here this afternoon hopefully so next weekend I will have a look and see what the story is with the bolt. If its stripped fine I will deal with it at the time have all equipment and tools to drill it if required. I would have done the work myself if work hadn't got in the way but I have now made the time to have a look and a go. The guide rich83 posted looks brilliant and comprehensive.

OK, well I'm glad you've rescued the car from them!  A bit of a sour experience for you.

Rich's guide is excellent.  I'd already done mine a week or so before he did, so didn't have the luxury of following a comprehensive guide like that, but it's all covered and spot on   

Have you got the VW cam locking tool and the VW spline tool for the bolt?  I really wouldn't recommend using any other brand of tool for this work.

Thankfully the car is back with me ticking timing chain and all. I have always hate putting my car into garages and unfortunately this has made that feelings a whole lot worse. I very rarely use garages if I can avoid apart from an MOT.

I have been studying the guide for the last 2 days and its brilliant the only thing I will need to double check is if my HPFP has the banjo bolt or not - car is an ED30 

All parts and tools are genuine VW items ( apart form socket set and torque set) I don't want to risk using inferior equipment and damaging the bolt if it isn't already. The job itself doesn't look too bad its just the thought of getting it wrong that's the slightly off putting thing. Take some brave pills and go for it 

Yeah it's a struggle to find a trustworthy one unfortunately!

I can't remember what year the fuel pump fittings changed, but my 07 ED30 has the non-banjo fitting, not sure what it's called - the easier one!

Good stuff.  After seeing how much the genuine cam locking tool bent undoing that bolt, I'd hate to use a pattern one!  It's not tightened to a high torque at all, but needs a lot of torque to break the friction removing the darn thing!

The only thing that gets a lot of people with this job is the timing.  Getting it a tooth out is common, but if you follow Rich's guide you'll be fine 

It sure is a struggle to find one. Normally I do everything myself relating to the car.

It bent the locking tool?? Must require a heck of a lot of force to break the friction on the VVT pulley.

Its the tooth out that has me in cold sweats. Would be a nightmare to put it all together and find it a tooth out. Doing other chains in the past I have also marked up the chain itself against pulley's and where the wee gold coloured link sits in relation. I'M hopeful i wont have to move the cam at all to get the VVT unit back on if I do it correctly.

[mayesj86]

You wont have banjo bolt. Only AXX and very early BWA engines have that

Thanks very much for the info was dreading the thought of mucking about with a banjo bolt.

[mayesj86]

Good advice.  Another tip I can think of is to make sure you remove and refit the chain cover dead square, otherwise 1 or more of the 3 oil control rings can break.  They are pretty fragile.  AKS Tuning sell them if you want to have a set on standby.

Thanks for the info I will order some up. I have also ordered the O ring for the HPFP in case its gubbed although they changed the cam follower when rebuilding for me. Hopefully they changed it too.  Want to have everything available that I may need.

[mayesj86]

Make reference marks before removing chain. Count links between sprockets etc. Just do anything you can to make sure you're confident it is back on how it was. I've marked the chain link and sprocket tooth on the inlet cam and then the chain link and tooth on the exhaust cam aswell in the past.

Thanks for the advice. I have used similar methods in the past doing chains on BMW's. Would you recommend using the gold coloured link as a reference guide? Will mark as many places as I can to make sure it goes back the correct way.

[pudding]

Well there's no need for them to get stroppy with you, it's very unprofessional, so I can understand your frustration now!

It does sound like they have messed it up and aren't confident drilling out the bolt in situ.  If you haven't already recovered the car, I would do so.  They had their chance and messed it up!

It was the bullying tactics that got my back against the wall more than them not doing the job.

My gut feeling is they have messed up and wont admit it to save face and hoped I would just say get on with it. I went and picked it up on Tuesday after they told me they were just putting it back together and would need to re book it in to have cams removed as they were too busy and fully booked for another week.....if im honest that really annoyed me that part of it.

All parts will be here this afternoon hopefully so next weekend I will have a look and see what the story is with the bolt. If its stripped fine I will deal with it at the time have all equipment and tools to drill it if required. I would have done the work myself if work hadn't got in the way but I have now made the time to have a look and a go. The guide rich83 posted looks brilliant and comprehensive.

OK, well I'm glad you've rescued the car from them!  A bit of a sour experience for you.

Rich's guide is excellent.  I'd already done mine a week or so before he did, so didn't have the luxury of following a comprehensive guide like that, but it's all covered and spot on   

Have you got the VW cam locking tool and the VW spline tool for the bolt?  I really wouldn't recommend using any other brand of tool for this work.

Thankfully the car is back with me ticking timing chain and all. I have always hate putting my car into garages and unfortunately this has made that feelings a whole lot worse. I very rarely use garages if I can avoid apart from an MOT.

I have been studying the guide for the last 2 days and its brilliant the only thing I will need to double check is if my HPFP has the banjo bolt or not - car is an ED30 

All parts and tools are genuine VW items ( apart form socket set and torque set) I don't want to risk using inferior equipment and damaging the bolt if it isn't already. The job itself doesn't look too bad its just the thought of getting it wrong that's the slightly off putting thing. Take some brave pills and go for it 

Yeah it's a struggle to find a trustworthy one unfortunately!

I can't remember what year the fuel pump fittings changed, but my 07 ED30 has the non-banjo fitting, not sure what it's called - the easier one!

Good stuff.  After seeing how much the genuine cam locking tool bent undoing that bolt, I'd hate to use a pattern one!  It's not tightened to a high torque at all, but needs a lot of torque to break the friction removing the darn thing!

The only thing that gets a lot of people with this job is the timing.  Getting it a tooth out is common, but if you follow Rich's guide you'll be fine 

It sure is a struggle to find one. Normally I do everything myself relating to the car.

It bent the locking tool?? Must require a heck of a lot of force to break the friction on the VVT pulley.

Its the tooth out that has me in cold sweats. Would be a nightmare to put it all together and find it a tooth out. Doing other chains in the past I have also marked up the chain itself against pulley's and where the wee gold coloured link sits in relation. I'M hopeful i wont have to move the cam at all to get the VVT unit back on if I do it correctly.

It didn't bend it out of shape permanently, I meant I could see it flexing under the strain....and the VW tool is the stoutest one out there!   Probably won't affect you though because it sounds like you've got a hot date with the drill ahead!

There is a way to check the cam timing electronically after you've done the job, which we can go into nearer the time 

[mayesj86]

Well there's no need for them to get stroppy with you, it's very unprofessional, so I can understand your frustration now!

It does sound like they have messed it up and aren't confident drilling out the bolt in situ.  If you haven't already recovered the car, I would do so.  They had their chance and messed it up!

It was the bullying tactics that got my back against the wall more than them not doing the job.

My gut feeling is they have messed up and wont admit it to save face and hoped I would just say get on with it. I went and picked it up on Tuesday after they told me they were just putting it back together and would need to re book it in to have cams removed as they were too busy and fully booked for another week.....if im honest that really annoyed me that part of it.

All parts will be here this afternoon hopefully so next weekend I will have a look and see what the story is with the bolt. If its stripped fine I will deal with it at the time have all equipment and tools to drill it if required. I would have done the work myself if work hadn't got in the way but I have now made the time to have a look and a go. The guide rich83 posted looks brilliant and comprehensive.

OK, well I'm glad you've rescued the car from them!  A bit of a sour experience for you.

Rich's guide is excellent.  I'd already done mine a week or so before he did, so didn't have the luxury of following a comprehensive guide like that, but it's all covered and spot on   

Have you got the VW cam locking tool and the VW spline tool for the bolt?  I really wouldn't recommend using any other brand of tool for this work.

Thankfully the car is back with me ticking timing chain and all. I have always hate putting my car into garages and unfortunately this has made that feelings a whole lot worse. I very rarely use garages if I can avoid apart from an MOT.

I have been studying the guide for the last 2 days and its brilliant the only thing I will need to double check is if my HPFP has the banjo bolt or not - car is an ED30 

All parts and tools are genuine VW items ( apart form socket set and torque set) I don't want to risk using inferior equipment and damaging the bolt if it isn't already. The job itself doesn't look too bad its just the thought of getting it wrong that's the slightly off putting thing. Take some brave pills and go for it 

Yeah it's a struggle to find a trustworthy one unfortunately!

I can't remember what year the fuel pump fittings changed, but my 07 ED30 has the non-banjo fitting, not sure what it's called - the easier one!

Good stuff.  After seeing how much the genuine cam locking tool bent undoing that bolt, I'd hate to use a pattern one!  It's not tightened to a high torque at all, but needs a lot of torque to break the friction removing the darn thing!

The only thing that gets a lot of people with this job is the timing.  Getting it a tooth out is common, but if you follow Rich's guide you'll be fine 

It sure is a struggle to find one. Normally I do everything myself relating to the car.

It bent the locking tool?? Must require a heck of a lot of force to break the friction on the VVT pulley.

Its the tooth out that has me in cold sweats. Would be a nightmare to put it all together and find it a tooth out. Doing other chains in the past I have also marked up the chain itself against pulley's and where the wee gold coloured link sits in relation. I'M hopeful i wont have to move the cam at all to get the VVT unit back on if I do it correctly.

It didn't bend it out of shape permanently, I meant I could see it flexing under the strain....and the VW tool is the stoutest one out there!   Probably won't affect you though because it sounds like you've got a hot date with the drill ahead!

There is a way to check the cam timing electronically after you've done the job, which we can go into nearer the time 

That's impressive it was flexing. I have just picked up all the VW items and its one chunky bit of gear to flex. Your probably right buddy I see a date will a drill in my very near future 

I like the sound of the checks once its done. Save that for another day and hopefully get it right first time...fingers crossed

[Pesky jones]

You really end up putting alot of stress on the camshafts/tool when you pull down on the breaker bar, when it releases it goes with a crack.

[rich83]

Sure does.....

[mayesj86]

You really end up putting alot of stress on the camshafts/tool when you pull down on the breaker bar, when it releases it goes with a crack.

I really hope it goes with that crack and I wont have the hot date with the drill. It does go with a huge bang though 

[barelyrelevant]

My car in the garage at the moment to have the chain and tensioner done tomorrow. I trust them, but fingers crossed it all goes to plan and I can enjoy a lovely quiet engine without worrying it's going to go bang.

[Juliand]

My car in the garage at the moment to have the chain and tensioner done tomorrow. I trust them, but fingers crossed it all goes to plan and I can enjoy a lovely quiet engine without worrying it's going to go bang.

There's a third component too - a chain adjuster - some don't change this, but seems to make sense to me to replace all of the components, whilst its being done. Not sure how much the adjuster is, or what it's made of, but if there's plastic bits in it.......

[Dan_FR]

The adjuster is a complex and expensive piece of kit, costing several hundreds from VW.

[pudding]

The cam phaser on the exhaust cam?   Yeah I bought one to have on standby as I'd read about the bolt head cheesing out, and it was over £300.  Didn't need it as my bolt came out OK, so took it back for a refund.