105,000 km service - camshaft replacement, wtf?

[Kenju]

Hi all,

I was told by the service centre that the 105000 km service for the jetta will be over $1000 as they have to replace the camshaft as part of the scheduled servicing for the jetta. This sounded like crap, does anyone have any experience with this model at this mileage?

[NabzGTI]

Hey mate, I replaced the camshaft in my 2006 GTI because there was a new "hardened" revision B version, but I guess with my mods I cant afford to take any risks. If you havent replaced the cam follower in a while, there could also be some serious damage to the camshaft. Check your service manual as it should tell you what needs to be done.

I replaced my camshaft, water pump, timing belt + 60k service all in 1 go and cost me around $1400 (I provided my own camshaft which I bought from overseas).

[Diesel_vert]

Replacing camshafts is certainly not part of scheduled servicing, unless there's a TSB or a recall on them or something.

If for some reason the camshaft genuinely needs replacing, I suppose you might as well replace the cambelt as well.

For the record, the tech manual says the cambelt replacement interval is every 180 000 km for the 2.0 l 147 kW and 169 kW TFSI engines, as well as stating it's not necessary to renew beforehand.

Though it would appear many here have changed it at either 60k, 90k, 105k or 120k km.

[Greg Roles]

What I think they meant is they need to replace the camshaft belt. This is absolutely usual at 100k, and very, very recommended. This service also costs over the grand. Replacing a camshaft, certainly not common, and I would want to see the old one if this was indeed the case, is going to cost more than that, given the cost of a cam, and the extra labour involved.

[kryten2001]

As others have said, camshaft failure at 100k is not normal, but it has happened quite a lot on some older cars with the A revision cam (softer cam) due to failure of the cam follower. If this has happened to you, then you're probably going to be up for a new high pressure pump as well....

This is due to a fairly critical flaw in the design of the camshafts in earlier Mk5's. They 'fixed' this with a harder cam (B revision) in the 07s and onwards, and the new Mk6 has a completely different design altogether.

There's been a s*itload of problems with these in the US, so it's a good idea to change your cam follower (sits on the HPFP piston and rests on the CAM lobe) to prevent it occurring.

100kms is about the time it happens too..

That being said, as others have stated - they could be talking about your timing belt.

Either way it's easy enough to verify. Ask to see your old cam. If its pitted/abraded, I'd be going after VW to fix it - as all the US cars have had their warranties extended to 5 years on cams/followers/fuel pumps to get around a class action there. They didn't do it here, but I suspect VW Aus know all about it, and if you cry loud enough you might get satisfaction.

That's why I change my cam follower every year without fail (mine's very heavily modded). It's a 10 min job, and not worth the pain if it fails...