Ceramic cam follower

[colesey]

£10 says there’ll be a copy within 3 months...

https://wasamotor.com/shop/vw-audi-skoda-and-seat/tfsi-2-0-ea113/cylinder-head/cam-follower-hpfp/?wmc-currency=GBP&fbclid=IwAR3ypEAkcwcJuFwSBwmhHASd5smnT_488IQJZmmntflsVLOwftNhFz9wGjQ

[Jb55]

100%

[pudding]

Haven’t read all the blurb yet, but my initial thought is you might get the reverse problem. The cam lobe will wear out instead of the follower, being a much softer material than, erm, sand basically?  Interesting mod though and not bank breaking!

Who wants to be a guinea pig? 

[colesey]

I’m game when I next change mine however you’d need to wait a couple of decades for a user report as the car has only done 150 miles since February lol

[pudding]

Lol, we need someone who does a 100 miles a day or more 

[rich83]

No way that would be going anywhere near my car. OEM follower is fine providing the cam lobe is in good shape.

[Mark_DF05]

Interesting although I’ve no issue with checking/replacing mine every year when it’s serviced.

This one is CRAZY hard though 

[ROH ECHT]

This is one thing I am looking into regarding the concern for wear on the tri-lobe from this ceramic CF. Because this material is also used as bearings for turbos...and those ceramic bearings do not seem to drastically wear its metal counterparts. Still looking into it, but have yet not gotten any answers. Perhaps some of you are also willing to try getting some reassurances on this.

For now, I am happy to stick with replacing the less expensive bit over an intake cam. It would've been helpful for the product launch if they did some long term testing on HPFP-upgrade tuned cars with higher rail pressures as well as non-molested stock engines. Then stated the lobe specs before and after to reassure prospective customers. Otherwise, the product launch will likely fail as we are all quite leery of failure of both the cam and HPFP.

[ROH ECHT]

Here's the replies I've received:
"Used in bearings for years (I have over 17 years experience with silicone nitride rolling elements). Won’t ever wear down and hard as hell."...and when I asked "will this ceramic CF wear down the tri-lobe of the intake cam?"...he answered "No, as long as your oiling system is good and you use quality synthetic oil you shouldn’t see any detriment."

[rich83]

"No, as long as your oiling system is good and you use quality synthetic oil you can keep using the OEM follower and it will be absolutely fine."

EFA

[ROH ECHT]

OK, true...you are absolutely correct. The oem CF and proper oil and care have been fine for mine as well.
That is, ever since the original CF failed at 58k miles, having just 5k miles on it with the HPFP upgrade, forcing the replacement of the HPFP and its upgrade and the intake cam.

I myself have since replaced my CF ten times at $45usd each for genuine VW CFs.
So yes, I am interested in finding out more regarding possible wear associated with this CF and the tri-lobe. Mostly for others considering this really.

[JR.303]

Hmmm, from their blurb.
"Our cam follower is not a marble of engineering "

[pudding]

No way that would be going anywhere near my car. OEM follower is fine providing the cam lobe is in good shape.

That is unfortunately the main problem.  Once the cam lobe wears, it starts chewing through followers very rapidly. 

Marketing and scare mongering will always scare people into opening their wallets......but that is one inescapable fact of these engines.

Providing the cam isn't utterly past it, switching to a ceramic follower would be cheaper than a new cam.

[rich83]

Did anyone else see the catastrophic failure of one of these on the TFSI FB group?

[colesey]

Did anyone else see the catastrophic failure of one of these on the TFSI FB group?

Yep. Is unfortunate and the manufacturer deserves some credit for taking it on the chin rather than trying to evade responsibility. Was a shame to see so much schadenfreude in that thread.