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A quick D.I.Y. Cam Chain and Tensioner *BPY engines

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#1 · (Edited)
(PICTURES UPDATED) A quick D.I.Y. Cam Chain and Tensioner *BPY engines

A quick D.I.Y. Cam Chain and Tensioner *BPY engines
This in not the most in depth write up ever but it will help many of you out to see what you are getting into (It's not that hard) just looks it.

I do want to start by saying I am not responsible in anyway for your actions and anything that may happen as a result of you doing this on your own.

The tools you will need are the following:

T40080 - 6 point socket
T10252 - Cam Lock
T10020 - 2 pin cam wrench (optional)
Ratchets - 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2"
1/2" Breaker Bar
Extensions for all three. 3" for the 1/4" and 6" extractions for the 3/8" and 1/2"
T27 Socket and Screw Driver Bit
10mm Socket
5/8 Spark Plug Socket (optional)
15mm Wrench
M8 Triple square (If you have the banjo style fuel pump)
Pick sets
Screw Drivers, both Standard and Philips head
Safety Glasses would be a good idea too.
Might need a few other little things but this is most of them

Parts you will need: - cost for parts was about $178 plus $100 for the tool kit I bought. The gaskets where all VW brand. The chain was IWIS (same as factory) as pictured and the Tensioner was from INA (same as factory) as pictured. The prices are cheaper from the companies separate compared to buying them straight from VW.
Timing cover gasket - $9
Valve cover gasket - $17
Exhaust cam adjuster bolt - $4
Timing chain - $31
timing chain tensioner - $59
HPFP cam follower (optional) - crazy if you don't while you already have it apart. - $50 with new bolts and gasket
Hose clamp - to replace factory clamp on the rear pcv hose from valve cover $1
Timing tools if you don't already have them - $100




Step One - Make sure the car is in Neutral so the engine can rotate freely. Remove your intake system (whatever brand you may have) This should be pretty simple. Not going to explain because so many mount differently. Make sure to cover the turbo inlet so you don't drop anything down in it. Paint can lid works pretty well.


Step Two - Remove the battery and battery tray. (Optional) I did this this to make more room to work and I am glad I did, You will want the room to gain access and see the lower bolts on the cam cover and to wiggle the cover off.


Step Three - Now it is time to start disconnecting all the plugs on the top end such as fuel pump connectors, Coil Packs, and N205 Valve. You will want to pull the coil packs out at this time. Also disconnect the vacuum line off the cam cover. If you have an aftermarket heat shield, this will also be a good time to take it out. You will want to disconnect the rear two hoses on the valve cover and all the hoses off the front PCV system.





Step Four - Time to remove the fuel pump and follower. Now is also a good time to replace it since you already have to remove the old one. This is pretty simple but make sure you have rags on hand as fuel will come out when you drain the system. You will want to unscrew the cap on the bottom right of the pump and push in the tap to release the fuel pressure. This will drain fuel out so have a rag under it. After it is drained, remove the fitting from the pump to gain access to the bolt behind it. You will want to also remove the two fuel lines under the pump as well, I have the 15mm line and the Banjo bolt which is not as bad as everyone says. Put the tripple square in a socket with a 3" extension on a 1/4 drive ratchet and it comes out in less then two minute. Below is a pic showing how to do it. After they are disconnected, You can now take off the 3 bolts holding the fuel pump on and remove it.





Step Five - Now it is time to remove the Valve cover and Cam Chain cover. You will need lots of rags and the cam cover will leak on the top of the trans. All the bolts here will be T27s. The valve cover is real simple. It's 14 bolts up top and 2 on the left side where the timing belt is. The just wiggle it side to side and it should come right off. You might need to pry at it, If you do, Just be very careful not to crack or break anything. The chain cover it a little bit of a pain to get the lower bolts and this is where you will be glad you removed the battery. There are 3 up top, 2 around the back, 1 under the fuel pump are, and 1 last little sucker under in the center, You will not be able to get it with a T27 socket, You have to have the bit and screwdriver for this guy. He was tucked up in so I couldn't get a good picture. You will also need to remove the 2 bolts shown in the second pic as well as removing the wire loom holder. The third pic is to show the bottom bolt location and how it is surrounded by the case. After all the bolts are removed from the housing you can now take it off, To do this, IT MUST COME STRAIGHT OUT THE SIDE, you might have to bend some of the medal lines slightly to do so but you don't want to break the rings in the housing by bending it around. Just be gentle and careful when doing this and you will be fine.




Step Six - At this point, the tricky stuff is done. The rest is easy. Now we need to rotate the engine to get the cams lined up to lock them in place. It is (optional) if you want to remove the spark plugs to make this a little easier, I did to release the compression as I rotated the engine. Here is where the 2 pin cam wrench come in, You will want to slip it in the intake cam and rotate the engine around the the notch on each cam face each other, once they do, slide the locking plate in and bolt it in to 7 ft lbs. You can now press the tensioner down and insert the locking pin to hold it down.



Step Seven - Time to remove the camshaft adjuster bolt and take the chain off. To do this, You need a the T40080 socket and a breaker bar. I had my brother hold the socket square and in while I pulled to break it loose. Don't be afraid to give it some force, they are designed to hold in there tight. Once it is out, You can then just slide the adjuster and chain right off.




Step Eight - We can now remove the old tensioner, It is held on by 3 T27 bolts and comes right out. After it is out, Clean up the oil passage hole, mine had some build up in the screen on the tensioner. It would explain why it was ticking.






The rest is just a matter of reverse bolting everything back up the way it came out.



Torque specs are the following All are ft lbs.

Cam adjuster bolt is 15 lbs plus additional 1/8 turn
Tensioner bolt is 7 lbs
Valve cover bolts are 7 lbs.
Cam chain case cover is 7 lbs
hpfp bolts are 7lbs
banjo bolt on fuel pump is 13 lbs
union nut on hpfp is 18 lbs

On a scale of 1-10 on how hard, I would rate a 6. It's not hard so much as how long it takes. You really do need the special tools to get the job done though. If not, You are going to break something.

Here is the Valve cover pattern to tighten down to 7ft Lbs.



If you need any help, feel I left anything out, or any question, feel free to message me and I will see what I can do to help, add, fix, or change.
 
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#95 ·
I am in the process of doing this on my 2008 Passat with 166K miles. Just bought the car cheap because it wasn't running. HPFP is toast and need to pull the cam chain cover to clean out the debris from the follower and check the chain tensioner and chain. Anyhow, with regards to timing, can't I just put some marks on the timing chain and teeth of each sprocket, remove the chain, transfer the marks to the new chain and reinstall? If the old chain is intact and hasn't jumped a tooth the timing between the intake and exhaust cam is correct. As long as I have the exact same amount of chain links difference between the exhaust and intake came the timing with the new chain will be correct. I don't plan on using the cam locking tool, just going to mark the chain and teeth, hold the intake cam in the slot with a home made tool and remove the adjuster. Just curious if I am missing anything? Do I need to have the exhaust cam locked down or will the chain transfer the torque to the intake cam that I will be holding with my home made tool. Is there any risk of damage to the adjuster? What is the dowel pin that I am reading about on the adjuster and where is it located?
 
#99 ·
Where does it say in my post that the cams are out of time? My cam chain is intact and the vehicle is currently timed correctly. If I mark the chain and both sprockets precisely and reinstall the new chain in exactly the same place the cams will be timed correctly. YES OR NO?
 
#100 ·
Well, you stated that you just picked up the car and it doesn't run. Most likely due to HPFP but who knows. I guess he's trying to tell you to start fresh if you're going to be in there.
Get the cam locking tool, if you take the chain off one of the cams may move slightly and you'll be in trouble. Get it at TDC, lock the tool/cams in place, then just swap the chains (counting links if you want).
Spin the engine more than once/twice and make sure ALL marks align and voila!
 
#103 ·
Not sure if this vid helps you at all but watch and let me know.
I just put this engine back together and it runs smooth like a top.
https://youtu.be/SVitvQBf0ao
I can dig up more pics, I'm sure.
If you notice, the tensioner is not fully extended at the top, but trust me that changes as you rotate the engine over.
There is no chain noise, no CEL, nothing.
Hope it helps. [emoji481]


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#104 ·
My whole point to this thread was to try and explain and get reasonable input on the reasoning behind the cam lock tool. This site and forum is made up of DIYer's, not professional mechanics that can afford to purchase specialty tools. If there is a way to accomplish this without the special tools I would like to know and share with rest of the forum. I still believe that you can replace the cam chain without the tool as long as your cams are timed correctly prior to starting the job. 99% of people just read something and never ask why or really think about how something works..... In this case all you have to do is replace the new chain with the exact amount of links between the sprockets as the one removed. Same concept as this timing belt video. around 3:00 mark they mark the belt....

https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...=24ffab58759c1b851af166169fcbe444&action=view
 
#105 ·
@kjr6306 I am a professional mechanic and I've posted information on this thread when it first started, if you don't use the cam locking tool you are going to give yourself a whole heap of trouble, even though the inlet cam moves a tooth out of synch either way with the tool in and yes Mark the cams with a fine scribe to the cam girdle. The exhaust cam adjusters screw is that tight you will break something costing you more money by doing it the bodge job way

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#106 ·
Ah that's a really good point. I doubt you would be able to get that bolt out without the lock in place.

That bolt is in there. I mean its REALLY in there.


Also i have read posts where people buy a cheap knock off cam lock tool where the bars that slide into the groves are screwed into the base of the lock tool as opposed to being welded in, and the bars bend inwards as the exhaust cam starts rotating as torque is applied to the bolt. I had to use a huge long extension pipe on the end of a breaker bar to break the bolt free.

On that note, I'd suggest only the genuine socket as well.

This is likely a one time job. I'd suggest sourcing genuine tools for this job.

If you were going to skip on a tool I would say skip the rotating bar and instead rotate engine via the 12 point bolt on the crank pulley. But maybe someone more knowledgeable than I might chime in with a reason not to do that.

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#110 ·
It's a $60 tool. I wouldn't call that "very expensive". What's very expensive is what could go wrong. [emoji482]
The $60 one is known to fail... quite easily. The good one is around $120. While "very expensive" may be a bit of an exaggeration, I think that's a bit much to spend on something you are likely to use only once. If I had to do it again I'd probably buy the $60 one and mod it to be much stronger. Or buy the $120 one and sell it after.
 
#113 ·
I tried moving the intake advanced one tooth and put it back together and it ran like crap so I put it back to original position. So then I bought a new cam adjuster and put it in and I'm still getting P0016 even though the car runs great. An expert told me it could be an oil pressure problem, so my next step is to install a test gauge where the oil sender is. If the cam adjuster is not getting 40-75 psi it won't behave correctly and sets the code. Problem could be a worn oil pump or too much play in the balance shafts, reducing pressure to the top end. The car has 207K miles, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's it.

Both times I pulled the cam chain I used only an air impact gun set at 150psi with a modified T-55 bit, and held the intake cam with a small right angle bar (a nail puller). Serious heat with an acetylene torch was required to get the bolt to move. I'm hoping to find the issue with the oil pump so I can clear this code.
 
#115 · (Edited)
Yeah if it's an oil pressure issue that just popped up after you replaced the chain/tensioner look into the cam adjuster oil rings as Nater said. If any of them got damaged during the cam chain/tensioner replacement then there's your problem. Make sure you replace with the revised ones if you do need to replace. There's a good thread on here that you'll find if you google search those rings by name. You better hope it isn't the oil pump because they are a PITA to remove, they're very complex (compared to models prior to 2006) and they are VERY expensive units.
 
#117 ·
I just wanted to post a quick comment for all those saying buy the tool. After quite a bit of research I have discovered that the tool is not a fool proof way to time the cams. There is enough slop in the tool to allow you to be one tooth off. So if you buy the tool, you have the possibility of having to do the job twice along with potentially breaking/stripping the adjuster bolt and possibly breaking the tool.

I chose to do the job with out purchasing the tool because I had to remove the exhaust cam which required removing the cam cradle anyway. Its a bit longer but much easier and safer. For those of you that say its safer to do it with the tool and spend an extra 60 bucks, think twice.
 
#118 ·
I completed this job with the locking tool about a year ago. With the locking tool in place, the exhaust cam is locked in place and the intake cam has a three tooth range of rotation. This is by design. If you follow the factory service manual, the play on the intake cam is addressed and in fact used to make the job easier.
 
#122 ·
I'm having a hard time getting the cam bolt out. I started to drill it out but It's very hard. I broke some drill tips and the top of one Ez out tip.

Is any easyer way to remove the bolt?
Any specific bolt extractor kit?

Please I need some help..

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#123 · (Edited)
Aside from buying better quality bits/EZ outs or softening up the bolt with a torch first I can't think of anything else. I landed myself in the same situation and was able to get it with some basic craftsman EZ outs. It took a lot of patience and you gotta oil the tips and stop drilling periodically let them cool frequently. If you still can't get it you're gonna have to do the job the long way which involes removing the camshaft girdle/cage (the thing that sandwhiched between the head and the valve cover which has like 20-something torx bolts holding it in). There are topics om vortex about it but if you can't get enough info I'll do my best to explain the process. If you wind up going that route make sure you don't cheap out on the sealer used when you resecure the girdle or you'll be doing the job again later and remember the bolts securing the girdle are torque to yield so they need to be replaced. You can get a reusable and significantly stronger set of ARP bolts from integrated engineering for not much more than the cost of the OE bolts so I'd recommend that while you're in there.
 
#125 ·
Thank you for the input guys.. I got a new set of ez tips. The broken one I was able to take it out, so not problem for that. I will follow your the drilling tips.

Round 2!

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#128 ·
Another question, I put the new chain tensor and the chain but seems the chain is not very tense and the tensor is still down after removing the security hook.

Is this normal?
Do I need to do something to the chain tensor before bolt in?

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#129 · (Edited)
Glad you got it, put that bastard with your line-up of "pain in the ass bolts that made you jump and yell when you got them out" if you have one... I know it made it in in my line-up but not at the top!



I did not personally run into this issue but I know that some have. There's nothing to do with the tensioner before bolting it in but I am frankly having a brain-fart on what the folks who ran into this issue did. I'm like 95% sure that the answer is somewhere in this thread though so look through the thread and use Ctrl + F for "tensioner" to make it easier to find. That's the only suggestion I have at the moment, my memory isn't what it used to be (and I'm not even that old lol)... if it comes to me in the meantime I'll update you.

ALSO, when you put the valve cover back on DO NOT use RTV! Yes, you read that right... I've lost count of the number of people who insist on using RTV on the valve cover gasket but it is NOT supposed to get RTV and it did not have any from the factory. Though it is a gasket think of it more like an o-ring, all it needs to seal is a light coating of oil and a well prepared/clean surface, so make sure you very carefully clean off the top of the camshaft girdle where the valve cover goes onto. Remove any trace of the old gasket or anything that is caked on there before putting the new valve cover/gasket on. Be extremely careful not to scratch that aluminum or you're possibly screwed as far as getting a good seal.

I hope I didn't just start a war with somebody by saying don't use any sealer on the gasket... I know that there are some very opinionated people who say otherwise. Some say RTV the whole thing, most say RTV the "half-moon" and the spark plug hole surrounds. That could possibly be safe, and as long as you use a good sealer like this (https://www.amazon.com/Elring-Dirko-Silicone-Gasket-Compound/dp/B0068NKY2C) then that might be fine. But like I said, it gets not sealer from the factory and the one time I've used sealer on mine it leaked a year later. In my experience, dry with a coating of oil is the way to go.


UPDATE:

While I have re-used the special valve cover sealing bolts before in a pinch with no issue, they are technically one time use bolts and should technically be replaced. If you aren't replacing them then at least take the torque spec and tightening sequence in the DIY seriously because it is important to promote a complete and uniform seal of the gasket.
 
#130 ·
Thanks everyone for all the opinions and ideas in this DIY.

I was able to change the chain and chain tensor successfully. The car feels smooth and the engine is very quiet.


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#134 · (Edited)
JJ is right, per VAG it does not get sealant (supposedly that blue stuff on the gasket is enough) but it could only benefit from a THIN layer of something good. The valve cover gasket on the other hand does not call for sealant and should NOT get any. Think of that particular gasket (very different from the chain cover gasket) as more like an O-ring. Just use some oil to coat it before putting it on and that's it. I can't tell you how many people have used RTV on that gasket and had leaks within a year. Some will say to use some RTV sparingly on the half-moon portion and spark plug hole portion of the gasket. I'd just stick to no RTV on it. I've had good luck without any and it doesn't get any from the factory and usually stays leak free for yeaaars after that before it ever gets removed for the first time.

This may go without saying but it is of crucial importance that you carefully clean the surface that the valve cover gasket seals to on top of the head (or technically the camshaft girdle/cage which sits on top of the head). Do so very gently as any nicks in the aluminum can easily prevent a good seal. You need to remove all old gasket material and anything else baked on there.

This stuff might be overkill for the cam chain housing gasket but it is very good stuff. About as good as it gets without buying the suuuuper overpriced green VW sealer they call for on metal to metal. https://www.amazon.com/Elring-Dirko-Silicone-Gasket-Compound/dp/B0068NKY2C
 
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