SIMPLE DIY cam follower check. DUMMY PROOF

[Nitro605]

I talked to my local dealer the other day, just got my 07 with 72k on it. They said they would not check it unless there is a CEL, and that if the follower goes out, that even with out having a warranty on my car; VW will replace cam/follower/HPFP. Does any body know if this is true, or if my dealer is blowing smoke up my ass (again).

 

[Alik4041]

You could just check it yourself... It's not worth going through VW even if it was true. You'd be without a car for at least 3 days and I wouldn't trust some of these techs with my air filter. It's a really to do, just make sure you have the proper tools.

 

[Nitro605]

Planning on doing it myself next week. Just afraid of what condition it is going to be in.

 

[ChattMkv]

Planning on doing it myself next week. Just afraid of what condition it is going to be in.

I checked mine at 59k miles and it looked like it could have went another 10-15k but I replaced anyways. If the car was stock that whole time you might be okay.

 

[ruffellprefley]

thanks for the DIY. it was so detailed and easy to follow.

wear looked pretty normal though there is a small divot in the center, which you can see as the lighter colored metal. the divot is about half the size of a standard BB.

here's my follower after 45k miles. i've been stage 1 REVO for about 30k of them:

 

[dbgti]

I talked to my local dealer the other day, just got my 07 with 72k on it. They said they would not check it unless there is a CEL, and that if the follower goes out, that even with out having a warranty on my car; VW will replace cam/follower/HPFP. Does any body know if this is true, or if my dealer is blowing smoke up my ass (again).

From what I understand yes they will replace said parts, only if you are throwing the code, under 120k miles and you must pay the diag fee. In advance just incase it isn't the cam follower. (reimbursed if it is ur CF)


Just call vwoa and give them your vin and they will tell you what TSBs your car is under.

 

[Elliott]

So I some how fucked up. All went smooth untill I went to prime the pump and fuel is spraying out the first line under the pump...? Did I over tighten it or something? The car is waiting on the tow truck now to get it down to my mates garage. is this going to be an easy fix ? I'm on my phone now so pics to come later but if you go back to the first page and the 12th pic down I have another brass connection to a silver line to the left of that one, and it's that, that is leaking. Any ideas?

 

[merkeyterkey]

Maybe you tightened it so much you cracked the aluminum? IIRC its a pipe thread (tapered) so if you overtightened it maybe thats what happened, Im talking out of my ass though so dont take it as being correct.

You checked to make sure it wasnt loose right?

 

[adamgti]

Maybe it didn't get seated correctly in the pump before you tightened it? How much force did you use to tighten it?

 

[Elliott]

ok so i didnt use a torque wrench, so dont know how tight exactly but what i felt wasnt too tight but of course with a good amount of pressure. here is a pick. its the left nut and ball joint thats leaking as you can see with the fluid on the nut(when the pump goes to prime it squirts out here at high pressure). it looks like its not seated proper coz if you zoom in you can see it is snug at the rear of the ball but at the front it has a like a 2mm gap.
Anyway, I know have the car in a garage as it was due to go in tomorrow 9:30 to get my new engine and trany mounts fitted so not a big deal as the tow truck was free with my insurance just sucks this has happened,as the first time i changed the cam follower i had no such issues...?
Any way, here is my follower now at 79000 last changed at 45000. Not looking too bad. it was a pleasant surprise.

 

[g60_corrado_91]

Did you hand thread it in initially? If you didn't and used a ratchet right away, I would think there would've been some resistance because it looks cross threaded to me. Hopefully that's not the case though.

 

[Elliott]

replaced the top nut and all fixed.

 

[uberaudi]

Great write up! Just replaced mine today, but still cuts out. Cam was fine. Any ideas?

Car has 63000 miles on it.

 

[adamgti]

What are your mods? Are you getting a CEL?

 

[thechromecoyote]

Just replaced mine yesterday. I was excited to see what the damage was to the follower bc I had been running it for 15k on the APR HPFP w/ stage 2+ and Rotella T6 synthetic diesel oil.

The black protective coating was gone in the center, but there was minimal scarring on the metal surface itself and no visible deformation. Compared to a lot of these shots and my own experience with previous followers Im quite happy with these results. Is rotella t6 going to stop all cam follower wear? No... but it gave me an added 5,000 miles to the usual life expectancy, and it could have easily gone another 5,000 before needing to be replaced.