https://www.audiforums.com/forum/members/esandes-36163-albums-esandes-album-3837/

this is 42,000 km with mobil 1 ow-40 and the original 8000 km with factory fill castrol syntec 5w-40. looks like new. there's no wear noticible other than the 1 micron film of "anti friction" black coating. the dealer told me they only had 4 cam follower failures.

also in the album are pictures of the OEM diverter valve i had replaced with the rev D.

 

What exactly does the cam follower do? I love to drive my Audi, however I am not exactly mechanically savoy?

 

im not exactly sure 100% what it does but it follows the cam which is directly under the fuel pump and the cam moves it up and down into the fuel pump

 

The dealerships I talked to mentioned only having 4 or 5 failures too. Those failures happened before 36,000 miles due to a cam lobe manufacturing defect that was corrected partway throught "07" with a "B" revision cam lobe that all subsequent cars received. There have also been many people who reported failure of the cam follower later than 36,000 miles. I think the cam lobe and follower failures might be different issues, but sort of related since if either one fails, it takes out all of the same components. There seem to be many different variables, since some people have reported problems at low mileage, and others at high mileage. There are also many people that report a near or close failure when the follower they describe, was still possibly within VW/Audi specs if you look at the pictures from the TSB on this issue. There does seem to be something to the follower issue. Is it getting blown out of proportion mabye, possibly, I don't know.

 

inside of the cam follower is a spring which is attached to the high pressure fuel pump. the pump is fixed on top of an intake cam lobe. the follower itself is constantly in contact with the intake cam lobe. when the lobe reaches its high point, it trips the fuel pump solenoid and squirts fuel into the combustion chamber.

of course this problem is getting blown out of proportion. however, i love my car so i plan to spend the extra cash every 50,000 km to have the follower replaced. the audi dealership will love me but it's a small price to pay for some piece of mind.

 

i got me a follower waiting to get changed...man i'd be mad if it failed within the next 2 days cuz i plan on changing it soon, it doesnt seem too bad to change and it wasnt a very expensive part, i bought an upgraded one that supposible will last a couple thousand miles longer but i hasnt been proven so who knows if i wasted my money. I have a little over 50k miles, not km's so its about time for me to change mine.

 

it looks .. not bad...i replaced mine with the kmd one at 90.. and it really wasnt bad but had to check it out........ all the black was gone and it had a couple grooves/cuts into it.......... plus i was getting the pressure code. and after i changed it it hasnt come on since...... but its a known problem with these cars. so wear a lil some wear alot.... but my dealership wouldnt even chage it........ so its a fact that dealerships are like if its not broke dont fix it. problem with that is.. if that thing is f"ed up. your cam will get f"ed up and thats costing u serious cake.....i think they said thed put it in your 330...... like. go .... yourself.... took me.. and hour or so with sum friends......3 cans of beer

 

i would use the OEM follower. i think the KMD one is harder than the original. not good for the cam.

 

http://www.kmdtuning.com/index.php?_...productId=1426


..... i dono it says that it been tested and is at the same spec hardened to the factory yad yada.. same material..... as oem. idk...... but i guess ill have to b the test pilot on this one cuz im not changing it till theres 150k... so ill keep yas posted on anything major

 

Esandes, thanks for the information on your C-Follower experiance. I spoke with the German Audi people here during my last service, and they told me this is extremly rare. And that is taking into account for all the A3, A4 2.0tfsi (200/220/265hp) and the A4, A6 2.0tfsi-e (170hp) versions they have over here. Of course it does not hurt to have it replaced every 25-50tmls (if needed) for piece of mind.