HPFP Cam Follower arrives

[eurocars]

what oil will you be using?

 

[GIACUser]

can you measure the wear too?

I will do my limited best to measure everything before it goes in and after the fact.

 

[markcaughey]

There is a extended warranty for this from VW is there not ?

 

[langer]

There is a extended warranty for this from VW is there not ?

Yes, but why risk having it fail and then possibly have vw deny your warranty claim due to aftermarket parts/tune. I'll be sticking with the oem follower every 10k.

 

[gti2slow]

Surface friction is what will cause wear.

We will see. As stated, friction will be key.

lol, whatever you say. The DLC coating and the follower metal itself gets worn down without extreme wear on the cam lobes. Once it hits the harder material on the plunger the cam lobe is usually f*%&ed.

The solution to me isn't to make the follower material tougher. H2Sport solved this with their roller follower kit.

 

[markcaughey]

Yes, but why risk having it fail and then possibly have vw deny your warranty claim due to aftermarket parts/tune. I'll be sticking with the oem follower every 10k.

True.

Quick question my car is 2005 with 80,000 on it so I thought I would check the CF so I picked one up today. But now after finding out it should be under warranty I'm concerned that I open it up and the CF is wrecked. Would my warranty be void due to the fact I have been into this part myself ?

 

[3BallUG]

H2sport solution all the way. Had it installed in my 06 early January haven't looked back since. Pricey for sure but the peace of mind will make you forget the dollars you spent (and I'm a tightwad). For anyone looking to upgrade to any stage above stock this should be the first mod on your list bar none.

 

[3BallUG]

Sorry didn't mean to thread jack OP. I just wanted to share my experience.

 

[bostonaudi]

No but 4x longer will (if one swaps that out every 40k miles instead of every 10k miles). It becomes more convenient as well as that would mean only taking the pump off every 2-3 years for me.


My problem with aftermarket followers is this: If VW has made multiple attempts and they haven't been able to come up with an effective coating/dimension with the budget they have to do so AND what its costing them in repair cost I'll be damn if I'm going to trust the research/development of someone with lessor resources. Surely VW has tried other coatings and thicker material and chose not to use it for one reason or another. The amount of long term testing it would take to develop a product like this in real world conditions is insane. You need multiple cars and years of mileage. I probably won't still have the car but I don't want to find out 5 years later an aftermarket follower wore down my camshaft. After market cam follower may work great but at $50 and 20 minutes of time I'm alright with using oem every 10k miles.

I don't buy this argument at all. Why would VW spend another Reichspfennig on re-engineering the cam follower on an old motor that isn't getting any more development???

Replacing this part every 10k miles is also immensely retarded, and I have to do it on my motor as it has a K04. Taking off the fuel pump over and over is not a good thing, it leads to wear and tear on the fuel line connections and the mounting threads which are soft aluminum, a number of folks have already managed to strip or weaken them and have pumps come off while driving.

I think this effort is a good one, and I hope this follower works out, its a great alternative to the expense of the H2Sport solution, which is obviously the best.

 

[gti2slow]

The understanding of OEM level engineering here is laughable. I don't believe anyone here can comprehend the amount of effort there is in creating, testing, and then certifying a new revision component to work with an existing system.

The OEM solution is fine, when you mess with it with aftermarket tunes and pumps then wear will likely increase. VW thoughtfully decided they would rather replace cam followers than rip the engine apart to replace a cam. I hope this works out as well but this effort seems awfully short sighted.

 

[ChattMkv]

VW thoughtfully decided they would rather replace cam followers than rip the engine apart to replace a cam.

I don't really agree with this line at all. VW didn't just decide this for the sake of it. The same intensive amount of research and thought that you mentioned resulted in the decision that it would be cheaper in the long run to replace and repair the # of followers that explode because on a stock GTI that will likely only happen ONCE in the 120k warranty extension range that is covered. They cover the costs to fix that car one time and likely get the car past the 120k mark and then if it happens again, cost to fix is on the customer.

The costs for a one-time repair on a large # of FSI's is arguably going to be cheaper than for them to go back and re-invent the wheel, investing a lot of money in the process, for a new cam follower solution. All of this for an outdated platform as well since MK6's saw the TSI (excluding Golf R) and MK7's are seeing a completely re-designed engine. It's not that they didn't try, there was just no motivation for them to fix the problem.

So honestly I welcome the attempt that HPFPUpgrade has made towards a solution. At least they tried what VW wouldn't do because it wasn't a solid financial decision.

 

[Bunnspeed]

If this product can provide 3-5x the life over the stock follower, the convenience will be well worth the cost. I hate taking off my pump over and over, especially since I drive 30k miles a year, and roughly half of that year it's cold out and the weather is shitty.

As for friction being the deciding factor as to how the cam or the follower will wear, I think the hard, low-friction follower could be very safe on a car with low miles and a flawless cam, but I have a feeling that it'd eat up a cam with any little bit of scoring. I'd prefer to run a stock, softer cf on a high-mile cam, so the scoring of a hard cam would wear a soft stock cf quicker, instead of the follower wearing on a softer cam that's scored.

 

[bill6211789]

Id rather have a softer follower to replace than a harder one that would wear on the cam. I thought the whole purpose of the B cam revision was to harden the cam so that the follower would be the replaceable item.

This seems like its going to reintroduce the issues seen with the A revision cam. I am genuinely curious about how this will play out after 10K miles or so.

follower replacement > cam replacement

Its already been said that this follower is not harder then the cam. Its harder then the oem follower and the hardened chrome is more slippery then the OEM follower. Ill keep up with this thread also with my follower at stage 3 power (oem follower lasts 9k or so at this) , so far i have about 1k miles on mine

The convenience is also great changing a follower 3-4x a yr is a PITA. I can do ot in 20min but its still time to pick up the follower at the dealer and whatnot. Spending 165$ on somthing that is going to be better for us is great and really not a huge expense...... People spend more on less all the time.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII

 

[markcaughey]

I am having bother finding a tool for the banjo bolt I know it's says on all the threads m8 triple square. But in the uk people don't seem to have ever heard of this before the only thing I can find that looks right is a spline bit is this the same as a triple square but just different name to the US version. If so what size of bit will I need ?

 

[GTI4John74]

The convenience is also great changing a follower 3-4x a yr is a PITA. I can do ot in 20min but its still time to pick up the follower at the dealer and whatnot. Spending 165$ on somthing that is going to be better for us is great and really not a huge expense...... People spend more on less all the time.

Sent from my Galaxy SIII

So base on what you are saying. If this follower is really that good, you would have to only replace it 2x per year or less.

To put that in numbers $165 x 2x replacement per year = $330 every year to spend. So in 3 years time you had spent $990 just to get this fixed.

vs

H2Sport roller of $495 + ($75 x 3 hrs labour) = $720 (1 time) and no longer work on this.

So to sum it up you have wasted $990 just to fix your cam follower with chrome version vs H2Sport which you do 1 time and no longer worry...


just my .02