2.8 cam chain and tensioner replacement
08-01-2015, 09:18 AM
#281
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The other day I get a phone call " Dad my check engine light is flashing" by the time I got back to my office to check on her car she was in tears. Co workers had just gave her the news that her engine was done. It still ran but had allot of valve noise and threw codes for misfire 4,5,6..(2.8 5valve V 6) I looked on here and bingo found this thread. Ordered parts from Blau watched the video on page 4 of this thread. 8 Hrs later it runs better than ever. Thanks for saving the day 
08-20-2015, 11:27 PM
#282
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Sorry for butting in but I wanted to say thank you, this thread has been killer help. But if I could get some further opinion too that would be awesome.
So a couple weeks ago I bought a A6 2.8L AHA 30v. It only had 127k mi and as far as I could tell I was only the 3rd owner (not bad for $2k off craigslist haha) anyhow everything ran fine other than needing brakes and rotors which is no prob. Recently it's been having "symptoms" if you will (e.g. ticking similar to injectors needing replaced, slipping gears) , I did an oil change just cause i figured it should have one and it seemed to make the problem stop for a few days. Yesterday it started again but this time worse. I had damn near lost all pressure while driving.. Is it safe to assume that (the broken cam shoe) is the actual cause?
I have ordered new cam tensioner, water pump, cam seals, oil seal, theremastat n O ring (all the other stuff is just cause she's 17 yrs old and since I'm in there already might as well get it done). There was a bentley manual in the trunk when I bought it so I'm good on that The CEL threw a code for bank 1, is that the pass side?
I apologize again if any of this is redundant, just wanna do it right. Thanks again
btw, that audi analogy was on point hahaha
So a couple weeks ago I bought a A6 2.8L AHA 30v. It only had 127k mi and as far as I could tell I was only the 3rd owner (not bad for $2k off craigslist haha) anyhow everything ran fine other than needing brakes and rotors which is no prob. Recently it's been having "symptoms" if you will (e.g. ticking similar to injectors needing replaced, slipping gears) , I did an oil change just cause i figured it should have one and it seemed to make the problem stop for a few days. Yesterday it started again but this time worse. I had damn near lost all pressure while driving.. Is it safe to assume that (the broken cam shoe) is the actual cause?
I have ordered new cam tensioner, water pump, cam seals, oil seal, theremastat n O ring (all the other stuff is just cause she's 17 yrs old and since I'm in there already might as well get it done). There was a bentley manual in the trunk when I bought it so I'm good on that
The CEL threw a code for bank 1, is that the pass side?I apologize again if any of this is redundant, just wanna do it right. Thanks again
btw, that audi analogy was on point hahaha
08-23-2015, 03:18 PM
#283
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Lost oil pressure... Correct that first. Clogged pickup screen? New oil pump?
Cam chain tensioner, V6 or V8 replace them as a pair. If one is slowing down in its old age, the other is certainly not much better. I just did the job on a 2.8 ATQ so I'm familiar with it if you have any questions.
Cam chain tensioner, V6 or V8 replace them as a pair. If one is slowing down in its old age, the other is certainly not much better. I just did the job on a 2.8 ATQ so I'm familiar with it if you have any questions.
08-24-2015, 04:20 AM
#284
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Lost oil pressure... Correct that first. Clogged pickup screen? New oil pump?
Cam chain tensioner, V6 or V8 replace them as a pair. If one is slowing down in its old age, the other is certainly not much better. I just did the job on a 2.8 ATQ so I'm familiar with it if you have any questions.
Cam chain tensioner, V6 or V8 replace them as a pair. If one is slowing down in its old age, the other is certainly not much better. I just did the job on a 2.8 ATQ so I'm familiar with it if you have any questions.
Sorry I should've specified. Oil pressure is lacking a lil bit but it was resolved when I did the oil change. I meant that while I was driving, it was like there was no acceleration at all. I made it home but that last mile was rough, no matter how much I pushed the gas pedal down it wouldnt go over 25mph, which earlier that day she was doin 70 no prob. There's a VW/Audi specialist close to my place n they pretty much diagnosed it bein the cam shaft seals.. I haven't driven it since I got it back to my place that day. I'm waiting on these parts to show up so I can take care of all of that before I start doing more.
08-24-2015, 01:07 PM
#285
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I doubt leaky cam seals would be cause for lack of acceleration. When you brought it to Audi specialist, did they read any diagnois trouble code for the engine? If not...then maybe not so much of a specialist as you think.
08-24-2015, 05:21 PM
#287
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Bank one is passenger side, cylinders 1-3. Cam position sensor code? You may have jumped a tooth or two if the cam chain tensioner is completely kaput. If so, you bent a few intake valves.
A 2.8l V6 came in like this, the bank 2 cam chain tenaioner was totally shot, intake cam was off its marks. Pulled the head and found 3 bent intake valves on Bank 2, the middle intake valve on each cylinder 4-6. We had the car a while: Valve job on bank 2, new cam chain tensioner on bank 2, and tons of new parts.
Sad story: The shoes on the bank 1 tensioner were badly worn, when I hand rotated the motor to varify timimg it was obvious that bank 1 tensioner was about to give up. The customer was brought down to see the progress and problems. We suggested he should replace both tensioners, but he elected to just replace the failed bank 2 tensioner. The bank 1 tensioner he said would have to wait till spring. We test drove the car for a couple days. Noise was obvious from bank 1 tensioner for a couple seconds at startup. The customer drove the car home and two days later it died on him. We pulled the bank 1 valve cover to discover a broken chain and another failed tensioner.
A 2.8l V6 came in like this, the bank 2 cam chain tenaioner was totally shot, intake cam was off its marks. Pulled the head and found 3 bent intake valves on Bank 2, the middle intake valve on each cylinder 4-6. We had the car a while: Valve job on bank 2, new cam chain tensioner on bank 2, and tons of new parts.
Sad story: The shoes on the bank 1 tensioner were badly worn, when I hand rotated the motor to varify timimg it was obvious that bank 1 tensioner was about to give up. The customer was brought down to see the progress and problems. We suggested he should replace both tensioners, but he elected to just replace the failed bank 2 tensioner. The bank 1 tensioner he said would have to wait till spring. We test drove the car for a couple days. Noise was obvious from bank 1 tensioner for a couple seconds at startup. The customer drove the car home and two days later it died on him. We pulled the bank 1 valve cover to discover a broken chain and another failed tensioner.
10-29-2015, 09:52 PM
#288
ok the bently book is nice its not 100% right and thats why i am helping charlie the editor fix missing things for timing and cam chain adjusters and other things, i did all adjusters seals and timing 8 times in a week and a half so am like a pro i will happly help you along in areas not covered in the book and thats all the cam stuff nothing in the book, you can use the 200 adjusters nothing wrong with them i put them in both sides last week perfect no problems from them and the felpro valve gasket fit and sealed better then the fabi and the victor so advance and napa will have all that stuff. dont forget brake cleaner must have for doing this and also edge motor and ratchet and wrench youtubers have diy on this i watched about 30 videos before doing all mine and took me forever to get the cam chain timing since no one really knows, but now i know. lol
10-29-2015, 09:55 PM
#289
If those pads are gone, the chain might be running on the adjuster's metal plate. IMO, this issue in itself would not be a "real" serious problem. The chain is on the tensioner's metal. Big deal! Well, you don't want that but, it's not the end of world for camshaft adj. or chain itself. Most likely, nothing devastating would happen. Those pads are there primarily to prevent or minimize friction. You would hear lot of noise however due to chain running on bare metal. however, if there are any kinks or if the metal plate is bent somehow, party is over.
Timing? Hard to say. It could be but not necessarily. If the chain is off the tensioner, I would say yes. But, there is no way for it happen while it is all bolted down -unless chain broke and in that scenario, pads are the least of your problems. {Perhaps someone with more experience can pitch in} You could also check how the timing is now before opening using VAG-COM. I still haven't done this -requires finding measuring blocks in manual.
Tensioner - don't tighten the tool too much; the bottom tab can bend and that's not good. Also, watch if the tool "cutting" into the head from side/bottom of its threads when tightening the tensioner. This happened to me and probably because of cheap tool I got. Nothing alarming, just couple small metal shavings I had to remove...
Pay attention to chain links count. Align and mark current position with white-out or paint marker... Read through the whole procedure BEFORE you open it! Search for my "Camshaft" posts -more info there.
Great! Previously, I've worked on Honda(s) incl. clutch replacement. Truth be told, initially, I wasn't sure where anything is after opening the hood on my Audi. Of course, a problem here and there started and I was taking apart (mainly engine covers and intake duct work repeatedly; well you know, for practice!
) small things to troubleshoot. After the camshaft adj. seals started leaking barrels of oil due to some "destructive" testing, I decided to go for it and completed a t-belt, valve cover job along with Oil cooler pipe (specific on V8 - I think). This experience was great and it's helped by the fact that the car is still running - actually, better than before!
If you already have experience working on cars, you'd appreciate the engineering and technology on Audis. It's like in NYC, you can see the building is very close but it will take couple hours to get there... and that analogy may be applicable on Audi in some cases where the repair is buried and you'd need few things off before getting there (V8's oil cooler pipe -for ex.).
Timing? Hard to say. It could be but not necessarily. If the chain is off the tensioner, I would say yes. But, there is no way for it happen while it is all bolted down -unless chain broke and in that scenario, pads are the least of your problems. {Perhaps someone with more experience can pitch in} You could also check how the timing is now before opening using VAG-COM. I still haven't done this -requires finding measuring blocks in manual.
Tensioner - don't tighten the tool too much; the bottom tab can bend and that's not good. Also, watch if the tool "cutting" into the head from side/bottom of its threads when tightening the tensioner. This happened to me and probably because of cheap tool I got. Nothing alarming, just couple small metal shavings I had to remove...
Pay attention to chain links count. Align and mark current position with white-out or paint marker... Read through the whole procedure BEFORE you open it! Search for my "Camshaft" posts -more info there.
Great! Previously, I've worked on Honda(s) incl. clutch replacement. Truth be told, initially, I wasn't sure where anything is after opening the hood on my Audi. Of course, a problem here and there started and I was taking apart (mainly engine covers and intake duct work repeatedly; well you know, for practice!
) small things to troubleshoot. After the camshaft adj. seals started leaking barrels of oil due to some "destructive" testing, I decided to go for it and completed a t-belt, valve cover job along with Oil cooler pipe (specific on V8 - I think). This experience was great and it's helped by the fact that the car is still running - actually, better than before! If you already have experience working on cars, you'd appreciate the engineering and technology on Audis. It's like in NYC, you can see the building is very close but it will take couple hours to get there... and that analogy may be applicable on Audi in some cases where the repair is buried and you'd need few things off before getting there (V8's oil cooler pipe -for ex.).
11-02-2015, 08:55 PM
#290
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Guys and gals, replace both sides. If one is bad, the other is soon to follow. The conditions that caused one tensioner to fail have adversely affected the other side, so just do both. And be glad you caught it before it went.