Although I bought my 2008 cabrio second hand with only 20,000 miles on the clock in November 2012, it wasn't until December 2020 that I first heard of the dreaded cam follower wear problem.
When I researched the problem on the Internet I found a detailed write up of how to fit a new follower and two particularly useful YouTube videos that made it all look very straightforward. As one of the videos showed a worn follower in a 58,000 mile engine, I thought it best to replace mine as soon as possible before my engine was wrecked.
I bought a genuine VAG kit of parts online (cam follower, O ring and three bolts) for £58 although they would have been very slightly cheaper from an Audi dealer had there been one closer to where I live. I also bought a set of stubby spanners and a low-range 1/4" torque wrench that I was advised I would need for tightening the mounting bolts and set about doing the job this morning. What a pig of a job it was and one that I will certainly never be tackling again.
My engine is a late model one so instead of having to remove a banjo bolt, it was 'simply' a matter of releasing a clamp on the rubber fuel pipe and pulling it off the spigot. All well and good in theory but the tabs on the clamp were facing the engine and totally inaccessible. In the end, I had to hacksaw through the clamp and then struggled with screwdrivers trying to push the pipe off. This has to be one of the most frustrating jobs I have ever carried out on a car; there is simply no access to the area and no slack in the rubber pipe. The fuel pipe is now retained by a far more sensible Jubilee clip.
When I finally got the pump off after a great deal of swearing, I found that my follower still had a largely black surface with only a 1/4" circle in the centre showing silver. The cam also looked like new so all that ****** pain and effort was largely wasted but, having gone to all that trouble, there was no way the old follower was going back in. During this stunning example of preventive maintenance I dropped my 1/4" Torx 30 socket onto the engine undertray where it shall remain, somehow contrived to lose the plastic cap on the pressure relief valve and also had the PCV pipe break into three pieces when I tried to refit it (It is now held together with electrical insulation tape.)
So it was with great trepidation that after replacing fuse 28 I turned the key and after a heart stopping churning it burst into life and ran as sweetly as ever with, to my amazement, no smell of leaking petrol and no engine management light showing. Phew!
I understand that the recommendation is that the cam follower on an ordinary road-going TFSI be checked every second oil change and more frequently if the car has been modified. They must be joking!
One thing I did learn this morning was that at 73 I'm getting too old for all this car maintenance malarkey. My neck, back, shoulders, arms and particularly my lower back and hamstrings are all aching from the stretching and struggling involved. Mind you, tackling a job like this with the air temperature hovering around freezing wasn't perhaps the brightest of ideas.
Do other owners really check their cam follower on a regular, routine basis and if so, what's the secret that I'm so clearly missing?
When I researched the problem on the Internet I found a detailed write up of how to fit a new follower and two particularly useful YouTube videos that made it all look very straightforward. As one of the videos showed a worn follower in a 58,000 mile engine, I thought it best to replace mine as soon as possible before my engine was wrecked.
I bought a genuine VAG kit of parts online (cam follower, O ring and three bolts) for £58 although they would have been very slightly cheaper from an Audi dealer had there been one closer to where I live. I also bought a set of stubby spanners and a low-range 1/4" torque wrench that I was advised I would need for tightening the mounting bolts and set about doing the job this morning. What a pig of a job it was and one that I will certainly never be tackling again.
My engine is a late model one so instead of having to remove a banjo bolt, it was 'simply' a matter of releasing a clamp on the rubber fuel pipe and pulling it off the spigot. All well and good in theory but the tabs on the clamp were facing the engine and totally inaccessible. In the end, I had to hacksaw through the clamp and then struggled with screwdrivers trying to push the pipe off. This has to be one of the most frustrating jobs I have ever carried out on a car; there is simply no access to the area and no slack in the rubber pipe. The fuel pipe is now retained by a far more sensible Jubilee clip.
When I finally got the pump off after a great deal of swearing, I found that my follower still had a largely black surface with only a 1/4" circle in the centre showing silver. The cam also looked like new so all that ****** pain and effort was largely wasted but, having gone to all that trouble, there was no way the old follower was going back in. During this stunning example of preventive maintenance I dropped my 1/4" Torx 30 socket onto the engine undertray where it shall remain, somehow contrived to lose the plastic cap on the pressure relief valve and also had the PCV pipe break into three pieces when I tried to refit it (It is now held together with electrical insulation tape.)
So it was with great trepidation that after replacing fuse 28 I turned the key and after a heart stopping churning it burst into life and ran as sweetly as ever with, to my amazement, no smell of leaking petrol and no engine management light showing. Phew!
I understand that the recommendation is that the cam follower on an ordinary road-going TFSI be checked every second oil change and more frequently if the car has been modified. They must be joking!
One thing I did learn this morning was that at 73 I'm getting too old for all this car maintenance malarkey. My neck, back, shoulders, arms and particularly my lower back and hamstrings are all aching from the stretching and struggling involved. Mind you, tackling a job like this with the air temperature hovering around freezing wasn't perhaps the brightest of ideas.
Do other owners really check their cam follower on a regular, routine basis and if so, what's the secret that I'm so clearly missing?
