Go on then, give me the wordy back storyA very well documented weakness on the EA113 TFSI engine is the high pressure fuel pump's tappet. They last a long time if the car is standard and serviced on time with good quality oil. It's not a scheduled service item and there is no fixed life expectancy.
Modified engines running aftermarket pumps such as Loba, APR, Autotech et al see massively accelerated wear of the tappet. Some people reporting considerable wear in <5K miles. The reason for this is aftermarket pumps use much stiffer springs, which massively increases the forces exerted on the tappet, wearing it out prematurely. Remaps with 7500rpm limiters doesn't help either. Stock limiter is around 6500rpm.
We all know what happens when the tappet wears through. Kiss goodbye to your pump, cam and follower. You also need to flush the metal crumbs out of the engine. In years to come, this could potentially write off some leggy GTIs as it's a 4 figure sum to put right properly. If you're reading this and not aware of the problem, google it and make sure you're sitting down when you see the horror pics.
Yikes, not good. Is there a cure Doctor?Luckily for you, there is
For the EA888 engine, VW modified both the fuel pump and the follower. They ditched the tappet in favour of a roller (which the intake & exhaust cams also use).
Rollers have virtually no friction and suffer considerably less wear compared to a traditional tappet. They were utilised in the early 2000s in some VW engines (R32, TFSI etc) along with hollow cams as a way of reducing rotational and frictional losses to save fuel and improve engine responsiveness. They are fit and forget and last the life of the engine.
Sounds good, but I don't have an EA888 engine do I?No you don't, but the clever guys at INA engineering in the states came up with a solution for us EA113 users which uses the roller follower from the EA888, along with a couple of customisations to make it work in our engines.
Our chums over at AKS Tuning sell this kit for the princely sum of £500, £100 of which is a surcharge for your old chain cover, which you get credited back to your card when you return your old cover -
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/engine-components/387-aks-tuning-vag-tfsi-cam-foller-tsi-roller-conversion.htmlThe reason for returning your cover is it has to be machined to accept the roller and as new covers from VW are over £500, this is a more cost effective way to keep the kits in circulation.
£400!! Is it crafted from a titanium billet or something???Erm, no. Rumour has it INA are working on their own billet cover though, which will do away with the need for the adapter, more on which later.
A lot of things in TFSI tuning land are super expensive, and this is no exception. The same money will buy you 10 tappet changes over 100K ish miles and 95% of people prefer this method, and there is nothing wrong with that at all. For the 5% of lazy people like me, I am happy to pay for something fit and forget.
The other thing to consider is the standard tappet was not designed to be checked and replaced frequently, and people are finding the threads in the chain cover can't handle it indefinitely. If you're super careful removing and refitting the pump and not over torquing the bolts, you can get away with it for longer, but the risk of stripping the threads out is always there....and if you do that, you're down £500 for a new chain cover anyway....or helicoils if you want a cheaper repair. So this conversion is a great way to just forget about the sodding tappet forever
You're slowly convincing me. Show me some stuffHere are the key parts but you also get a new gasket and some longer bolts.
As mentioned already, the chain cover needs modifying and that represents a big portion of the cost, along with a custom made hardened alloy adapter to space the pump out correctly, due to the roller being a lot taller than a tappet. The adapter moves the pump out 18mm.
The adapter and roller in the modified housing.
Fitting the kitI'm not going to do a step by step guide as that's already covered in this comprehensive DIY video -
There is also a chain replacement guide on here which covers removal of the chain cover -
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,106158.0.htmlOne piece of advice I can offer is to unload the follower before removing / refitting the pump which greatly reduces the risk of stripping the chain cover threads. Get the cam lobe into this position (after removal of the vacuum pump) and don't ever pull the pump down with the bolts. Press it down by hand and THEN wind the bolts in
As an optional extra, I recommend replacing the oil control rings for the VVT adjuster as well because they get brittle with age. I'm not 100% certain but I believe INA/AKS replace these in the modified cover they send you, but I replaced them anyway for peace of mind -
https://www.akstuning.co.uk/engine-components/376-genuine-camshaft-adjuster-housing-seal-set.htmlCool, so does the OEM engine cover still fit if the pump is pushed further out?Straight answer, yes, but you need to wind the two righthand mounting pegs out quite a lot otherwise the cover will foul the pump. You'll see what needs doing when you do the job.
It's pretty tight as standard (hence why people crack the pressure sensor) but by adjusting the mounting knobs on the right side, it fits fine.
People would be hard pressed to notice the right side of the engine cover is sitting 15mm or so higher than the left.
Nice! Anything else I need to be aware of?Some people have mentioned a slight increase in noise from the pump area with this kit, but I noticed no additional noise. It sounds exactly the same as the standard setup.
After fitting the kit, I would take it out for a run with VCDS and log the requested/actual rail pressure and the VVT channels just to make sure nothing has changed there.
And that's it! Takes about 2 hours in total and only basic tools required. No need for expensive Millers NanoDrive. Just use normal oil and forget about it for the life of the car
