What to do?

[Ado2022]

Hi all,
New to the forum!
Recently picked up a mk5 GTI and having one before I know how important it is to change the cam follower unlike the previous owner. The car drove perfect and had no rattling sounds etc.

The car recently had an oil and oil filter change before I bought it.

I replaced the cam follower, should I just drive it and see how long the follower lasts?
Thanks

[mjmallia]

You could just change the follower and drive to see how you get on, but the damage has been done and the engine will never run at 100%

To do it properly, would require a new cam unfortunately.........while it is out, you might as well do the small cam adjuster chain and tensioner if not done recently.

[Ado2022]

Thanks for the reply.

The cam chain, tensioner and pulley have all been done recently

[pudding]

Yep, new cam time.

A new follower will buy you a bit of time, but not a lot.  A cam lobe that worn will chew up the new follower pretty quickly, and be mindful of all that metal dust potentially clogging up oil galleries.  If that gets into the VVT phaser, that'll be another £500+ to add to the cam job.

TBH, you can buy an entire head with cams, VVT phaser, chain and tensioner for about a grand.

But naturally you can get a used cam off ebay and give that a whirl if cost is a factor. Time for some man maths and beer thinking!

[Ado2022]

Thanks.

Can't seem to find any online. I'm in Ireland too 🙈

[JoshB]

I’d just do the follower (or at least check it) every year, or every oil change if you do them sooner.
It’s scored but doesn’t look destroyed to me, it drives the fuel pump so just don’t expect hard pull toward the red line.

It all depends on what you want from your car.

[Ado2022]

Thanks Josh.

It's my weekend car so I really could stay on top of it. It's weird you say that though because I drove the car hard once or twice on my way home from buying it and the thing definitely doesn't lose power at any stage. I couldn't believe it when I seen the follower.

I'm curious to know has anybody else been in the same situation and just kept an eye on the follower?  I think an engine flush and another oil change will be the first thing to do.

[pudding]

What year is your car?  On early AXX engines they did have a 'soft cam' problem, which was sorted in later cars.  If yours has the harder cam in it, you might get away with just more frequent follower changes.

[Ado2022]

It's 2008

[pudding]

That will have the revised cam in it then.

[Ado2022]

Interesting 🤔

Let's see how long my cam follower lasts. I'll keep this thread updated 😁

Thanks 

[ald1717]

just check it after a week with new follower and see how it looks, i would just change follower more often

[rich83]

That will have the revised cam in it then.

Yep. The revision B (I think it's called) is a two piece design. The original is a one piece design (as viewed from the end)

[Ado2022]

Hi all,

Another what to do question. I recently broke the front mount on my vaccum pump when I over tightened it. I put in a new O' Ring and put it back on. It's not leaking and my brakes aren't acting different. Is it safe to continue or should I stop and get a new one?

Picture attached. Thanks

[ROH ECHT]

As already pointed out by others;
Yours is the revised version intake cam with a two-piece tri-lobe.
But the peaks of the tri-lobe look worn and keeping a good follower installed will buy you time.
Eventually it will suffer to produce proper fuel rail pressure. You will have a fault code pointing to fuel pressure out of range. Then is when you must replace the intake cam...or sooner if you can. You can check the follower as often as you feel you should. But at this point, the peak wear on the lobe will likely give out before another follower is needed. If were me, I would plan on just swapping the intake cam within the next year...and add a new follower along with the new cam.