Cam Follower issues

[cmdrfire]

The American forums have been filled with issues with the OEM cam follower for about a year and a half now. Apparently all revisions have suffered failure, especially on modified vehicles (with stage 2, and especially those with an aftermarket HPFP). Yet I've never seen this issue arise on any European forums... it strikes me as unreasonable that VW would have different specification cams and followers for the US and the ROW, but has anyone here checked their follower/lobe and what have they found? Some dude in the US had his car eat his at 85,000 miles (on a stock vehicle)... this is worrying for me as my car is lightly modded and running at around 79,000 miles!



For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about...
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70222
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3750088
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73012

I'll most likely check mine this weekend, and will most likely look to getting all the components replaced with equivalent parts from the S3. Apologies if I've made anyone paranoid, but I've never seen this issue reported on European forums...

[john_o]

Ive seen the recent flurry over the pond....
from what I know there is no difference in the cam/followers US vs Eur
Awesome did have their car eat a follower+cam (REV A I believe) which was replaced under warranty
Def worth checking imho, however Im not always convinced by the Quality control on US parts and how/when they are fitted and how that contributes to failure.

Are S3 equiv any different?, I didnt think they were.
I do know the TFSI has changes to negate this issue.

My biggest concern is where all that fffing swarf has gone.........

[gazbutS3]

It has been discussed on most of the forums. Awesomes own demo car suffered this and it trashed the cam as well. Personally I think its an item that needs checking regularly maybe at each service or oil change, regular oil changes I think will also help, maybe do 1 in between each recommended 1. I think its something you just need to keep an eye on, even more so if you have HPFP

[ukdub]

Hi Cmdfire
Most people are aware of this issue over here as well.  I do feel that most people don't take it seriously over this side of the pond though, which is a worry for the future when cars are out of warrenty.  Awesomegti's demo car had it cam changed before it hit 20K because of the above issues and that was before any of the big mods eg. Big turbo and HPFP.

Not seen any problems on the AXX engined cars like yours or mine.  I had the APR HPFP fitted at 65k and the follower looked spot on.  This I should add is with the 2 piece cam which is said is the cam you want.

[gazbutS3]

You beat me to it John, must have pressed post at the same time

Don't think the S3's is any different, also the revisions on new tfsi are the pump has a roller arangement rather than the bucket affair

[cmdrfire]

Hi Cmdfire
Most people are aware of this issue over here as well.  I do feel that most people don't take it seriously over this side of the pond though, which is a worry for the future when cars are out of warrenty.  Awesomegti's demo car had it cam changed before it hit 20K because of the above issues and that was before any of the big mods eg. Big turbo and HPFP.

Not seen any problems on the AXX engined cars like yours or mine.  I had the APR HPFP fitted at 65k and the follower looked spot on.  This I should add is with the 2 piece cam which is said is the cam you want.

I was going to add the engine codes... it seems that most AXX engines don't have this problem (for whatever reason) whereas the US BPY+ codes do. I don't know what the last revisions of the 2.0TFSI were before they got replaced with the CCTA (EA888) models.
As I say, my big concern now is 1) that follower got eaten by a stock car with high mileage and 2) I'm well out of warranty Did your AXX motor have the A cam stock or the 2-piece B cam?

[cmdrfire]

You beat me to it John, must have pressed post at the same time

Don't think the S3's is any different, also the revisions on nes tfsi are the pump has a roller arangement rather than the bucket affair

S3's cams are slightly different, apparently, but no one has any idea how they're different I'm aware of the new EA888 roller system. It's a different engine entirely.

[gazbutS3]

there are plenty of diferences like you say, the pump arrangement and cam chain being just a couple

[ukdub]

Hi Cmdfire
Most people are aware of this issue over here as well.  I do feel that most people don't take it seriously over this side of the pond though, which is a worry for the future when cars are out of warrenty.  Awesomegti's demo car had it cam changed before it hit 20K because of the above issues and that was before any of the big mods eg. Big turbo and HPFP.

Not seen any problems on the AXX engined cars like yours or mine.  I had the APR HPFP fitted at 65k and the follower looked spot on.  This I should add is with the 2 piece cam which is said is the cam you want.

I was going to add the engine codes... it seems that most AXX engines don't have this problem (for whatever reason) whereas the US BPY+ codes do. I don't know what the last revisions of the 2.0TFSI were before they got replaced with the CCTA (EA888) models.
As I say, my big concern now is 1) that follower got eaten by a stock car with high mileage and 2) I'm well out of warranty Did your AXX motor have the A cam stock or the 2-piece B cam?

All AXX engines have the 2-piece B cam.  Different pistons as well to all the other engine codes.  I was told by Keith at APR that the AXX engine is the only True lean burn GTI engine as well.

[cmdrfire]

All AXX engines have the 2-piece B cam.  Different pistons as well to all the other engine codes.  I was told by Keith at APR that the AXX engine is the only True lean burn GTI engine as well.

Hmn, that's quite good to know, I didn't realise any of that. Makes me glad to have a very early model now ^^
Nevertheless I'll start keeping an eye on the follower now.

[neg]

All AXX engines have the 2-piece B cam.  Different pistons as well to all the other engine codes.  I was told by Keith at APR that the AXX engine is the only True lean burn GTI engine as well

Not wanting to sounds stupid ... sounds good but what does this actually mean?

Anyway, I had the Autotech pump internals fitted at around 40k and replaced the cam follower as a precaution but there was no real wear on it.  I am due to check it soon to see if the AT pump has made any difference - will probably replace again for the sake of £20 and save the possibility of doing the job twice.

I'm an AXX btw

[bacillus]

Unscrewing the banjo bolt to the fuel pump on the pre 07 models is a real hassle IMO.

[cmdrfire]

All AXX engines have the 2-piece B cam.  Different pistons as well to all the other engine codes.  I was told by Keith at APR that the AXX engine is the only True lean burn GTI engine as well

Not wanting to sounds stupid ... sounds good but what does this actually mean?

Anyway, I had the Autotech pump internals fitted at around 40k and replaced the cam follower as a precaution but there was no real wear on it.  I am due to check it soon to see if the AT pump has made any difference - will probably replace again for the sake of £20 and save the possibility of doing the job twice.

I'm an AXX btw

I assume you're asking about lean burn... it's an operation mode of the FSI engines before VW reduced it... essentially if you are cruising around without much acceleration, the fuel is injected in the chamber towards the end of the combustion phase (IIRC) which reduces emissions and increases economy.

[vRStu]

I used to check mine regularly when I ran an AT fuel pump, for the sake of £20 every 7 to 10k miles it's worth replacing it.

As above, a much nicer job on the later cars with two flexi pipes.

[gazbutS3]

U thinkin of changing  the fuel pump on the S3 Stu?