MK5 Golf GTI - Cam Follower Nightmare

[Ads22]

Hi there

I am a new owner of my MK5 GTI with 102000 miles on the clock. After acquiring my car with full service history - I quickly checked to see if the Cam Follower had been replaced after reading horror stories about them wearing through and causing damage. I rang the VW specialist in Wimbledon who looked after the car for the previous owner and discovered they never replaced it. The car seemed to drive absolutely fine so i thought I would get this changed as soon as possible at my local specialist.

I then received a phone call on the day of replacement with news I didn't want to hear that it had already worn through!!! Causing damage to the Cam and fuel pump aswell as the cam chain cover! To my shock as I haven't witnessed any symptoms, no rough idling or white smoke ect.

The garage have stripped the cover off for me to inspect. The Cam intake appears to be worn at the end and the part above that (not sure what the part is) has been scored. There is also damage to the fuel pump as the small bolt looking part at the end has come off and caused damage inside to the cam chain cover and the fuel line inside it. There doesnt appear to be any signs of debris however - id imagine the piece of cam follower has disintegrated. The mechanic advised it looks like its been worn through for some time!

The price to fix this of course is sky high! and looking at £2700 all in with new cams, fuel pump, follower and cam chain cover and engine clean up. The garage said they can also do cambelt but that was changed recently so have asked them not too.

I am now panicking as that is a huge amount of money - do I get the bare minimum done to get it running or replace everything they've advised - considering the car ran well before this with no codes EML's ect. Im no expert so ive attached pictures of the extent of the damage aswell as part of the quote.







Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rassi]

You bought privately or at dealer? If the latter you have warranty and need it!

If not, I would look for a lower mileage engine. 2700£ In repairs is insanity.

[Ads22]

It was bought privately unfortunately so no warranty, at a loss as to what to do surely a new engine would be huge £££

[DuraAce]

Used parts to reduce the bill or patch it up and flogs the car instead.

Parts list looks a bit ott to me. Why does the chain need replacing? Why the cover? Surely you get the cover repaired much cheaper (alloy welding, jb weld etc)

£60 for sealant?! £100 for decontamination? WTF is that?
10 hours labour seems generous as well, but if you aren't capable of DIY-in anything then your in trouble..

Engine change is insanity IMHO. Don't even think about it.

Edited by DuraAce on Friday 7th July 09:25

[SuperchargedVR6]

DuraAce said:

£60 for sealant?! £100 for decontamination? WTF is that?
10 hours labour seems generous as well, but if you aren't capable of DIY-in anything then your in trouble..

It's a special sealant for the cam girdle. Wurth make an equivalent which is cheaper, but it's still expensive.

Decontamination is to blow out all the oil galleries, sump and casings of metal shavings from the collapsed follower.

We've already given him some advice on the MK5 GTI forum where he originally posted this.

[phumy]

If it has been serviced by a dealer ask for help under "good will", if it has good service history with them they normally cough up and will help you out. I used to have a 150bhp TDi (the old ERL engine) Mk 4Golf and the cam on them is notoriously like chocolate and it went. They inspected it and found it was knackered, they quoted me £2.2k to fix. I asked VW for good will as I have had it serviced by VW and they coughed up for the labour , I paid for parts which came to about £540 I think now. So its worth ago if you have the history.

[Ads22]

phumy said:

If it has been serviced by a dealer ask for help under "good will", if it has good service history with them they normally cough up and will help you out. I used to have a 150bhp TDi (the old ERL engine) Mk 4Golf and the cam on them is notoriously like chocolate and it went. They inspected it and found it was knackered, they quoted me £2.2k to fix. I asked VW for good will as I have had it serviced by VW and they coughed up for the labour , I paid for parts which came to about £540 I think now. So its worth ago if you have the history.

Unfortunately it wasnt serviced at a main dealer but a VW specialist - I was a bit shocked they never replaced as i called them shortly after the car to see if theyd replaced it. Id imagine they will tell me where to stick it if I asked them to contribute to repairs.

[thebraketester]

All you need is a new intake cam and pump with follower + seals. Anything else isn't really required.

[xjay1337]

thebraketester said:

All you need is a new intake cam and pump with follower + seals. Anything else isn't really required.

Yeah this.

Its a commom issue.

Can be fixed pretty cheaply all things considered.

[xjay1337]

Ads22 said:

Unfortunately it wasnt serviced at a main dealer but a VW specialist - I was a bit shocked they never replaced as i called them shortly after the car to see if theyd replaced it. Id imagine they will tell me where to stick it if I asked them to contribute to repairs.

Replace a part not listed on any maintainence schedules?

[Belle427]

Is that fuel pump operating cam lobe part of the inlet cam?

[thebraketester]

Belle427 said:

Is that fuel pump operating cam lobe part of the inlet cam?

Yes the tri lobe cam is on the end of the inlet cam (if that's what you mean)

Edited by thebraketester on Sunday 9th July 17:11

[MrBarry123]

Not that it's any consolation at the moment OP however the new cam follower designs are much tougher. Mine was replaced for the first time at 85,000 miles and had zero wear.

[HJMS123]

MrBarry123 said:

Not that it's any consolation at the moment OP however the new cam follower designs are much tougher. Mine was replaced for the first time at 85,000 miles and had zero wear.

A member/friend on here has just bought an 55k 09 plate TTS and replaced his at the weekend .... it also had zero wear as well

[SuperchargedVR6]

They tend to last for ages if serviced on the dot (or more frequently) and a good oil used.

Aftermarket pumps with stiffer piston springs and/or heavily boosted remaps tend to cause massively accelerated follower wear. Perhaps the car was modified and returned to standard before it's sale. Quite common. Also common to not have any supporting documentation / invoices with modifications if they are bypassing the insurance declarations.

[Ads22]

Ive settled in getting the cam follower, pump and engine flush done with engine flush for just shy of £900. A lot i know but i wanted the minimum done before I decide what to do long term - hopefully the car will be ready soon. I may look at getting S3 engine cams if these fit in the TFSI. Im deciding whether to repair this in stages so im not paying one massive sum or just sell it really.

[thebraketester]

Camshaft as well?

Edited by thebraketester on Thursday 13th July 13:43

[xjay1337]

Ads22 said:

Ive settled in getting the cam follower, pump and engine flush done with engine flush for just shy of £900. A lot i know but i wanted the minimum done before I decide what to do long term - hopefully the car will be ready soon. I may look at getting S3 engine cams if these fit in the TFSI. Im deciding whether to repair this in stages so im not paying one massive sum or just sell it really.

I assume that includes new cam?
As it will almost certainly be screwed.

[Ads22]

Not just yet as that was the main chunk of that big repair bill. Im avoiding driving it for now and have just replaced the hpfp, cam follower and done and engine flush with new oil filter. Im hoping i can source cheaper parts from somewhere.

[xjay1337]

Ads22 said:

Not just yet as that was the main chunk of that big repair bill. Im avoiding driving it for now and have just replaced the hpfp, cam follower and done and engine flush with new oil filter. Im hoping i can source cheaper parts from somewhere.

The cam will almost certainly be badly damaged. It needs replacing.
I wouldn't pay more than about £1000-£1200 all in with cam and timing chain and tensioner replaced as well!