Audi A4 cam wear

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The vehicle is my father's "new" 2004 A4 with the 3.0 V6. (The maintenance history is unknown, but it does have a Mann filter on it right now. Perhaps it was taken to an Audi dealer its whole life?) In another thread I mentioned it had about 117k, but it actually has 112k. We took the valve cover off to replace the leaky gasket.. I was impressed with the cleanliness of the internals, but dad noticed some excessive wear on the nose of one of the cams.

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The photo is upside down. The bad cam is on the top.. 4th from the left.
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Should I tackle a camshaft replacement myself? My biggest concern is messing up the timing and potentially ruining the engine.

The front bumper and radiator will need to come off. While I am at it, I might as well replace the timing belt and tensioner too. Might replace the water pump too, but if it isnt broke, why fix it? I have never done anything like this before and consider myself a newb mechanic.

blauparts.com made it look like I needed to replace the cam seals once I dug deeper into the engine, but they sell nothing of the sort for this engine.

^ disregard. They have the other seals in their timing belt kits. http://www.blauparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=GH21119-1A
 
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Originally Posted By: CT8
Do you have actually have the ability and a shop manual? If so do it.


Ability meaning what exactly? I have done a bunch of entry level repairs on my Jeep, but as far as digging into an engine, I have never done it before with the exception of replacing its valve cover gasket. I have a heated garage and I have ample tools. Might have to rent some though.

My dad found an online shop manual that seems to do a decent job explaining things. I am a very visual person so I would be better off reading as I go to get a 100% understanding. Scary right? Lol.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Wow am I seeing that right? The damaged one looks defective compared to the res.


Yeah, I've never seen anything like that!
 
Looks defective...especially since one camshaft is deformed and the others look normal.
 
Poor QC from da Germanz perhapz? Lol

I wonder what kind of shape the lifter's surface is in since that nasty thing has been rubbing on it all this time.
 
Better pics please! It almost looks impossible. Is it a dummy lobe for balancing or something? How could that not chip away the items under it in 112k?

Replacing a cam can be tough because they can tend to break very easily. You need to remove each bolt, a quarter turn at a time,moron all locations. Tedious.
 
wow, engine is spotless, the cam wear is very odd. im betting it was improperly hardened on that lobe. As mentioned above i would replace the roller/lifter whatever is under the lobe as well. im sure it has taken a beating.
 
How'd you get it so oil-free?
The lobe looks dry. Lack of oil could be a root cause.
 
That cam is toast. I wouldn't even start it.

As far as doing it yourself? Delving into an Audi cam replacement your first time sounds like an expensive deal that might probably end up at the dealer anyway. Not saying it's beyond your ability, just that from the looks of it, there is a whole lot more going on than just the cam lobe.
 
The cam looks like somebody went at it with a welder on that lobe
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Unreal! Gotta be defective but my question is the same as JHZR2's: How the heck did it not self destruct the HLA!?
 
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
....... I was impressed with the cleanliness of the internals, but dad noticed some excessive wear on the nose of one of the cams. .....


Thats like saying the Titanic took on a little water.
 
VW/Audi makes a lot of major cam eaters. The 1.8T engines were the most notorious. I've never been to the machine shop where they didn't have at least 5 recent arrivals of trashed 1.8t cylinder heads.

Woman I know has had 3 engines in her Passau. Go ahead and fix it. Take good notes, because you'll be doing it again eventually.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
VW/Audi makes a lot of major cam eaters. The 1.8T engines were the most notorious. I've never been to the machine shop where they didn't have at least 5 recent arrivals of trashed 1.8t cylinder heads.

Woman I know has had 3 engines in her Passau. Go ahead and fix it. Take good notes, because you'll be doing it again eventually.


a lot of this issue was caused by quick lube bulk oil. the oil specs for these engines has to be met in order for them to live healthy long lives.
 
Originally Posted By: CrawfishTails
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
....... I was impressed with the cleanliness of the internals, but dad noticed some excessive wear on the nose of one of the cams. .....


Thats like saying the Titanic took on a little water.


crackmeup2.gif


Plus, this doesn't look like standard cam wear, more like someone going in with a torch, trying to patch things up. That camshaft, plus who knows what else is junked.
 
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