2006 Camshaft questions

Hi,
Is the cam kit at IDparts any good? Have had good luck with them on other items.

I have 128K miles and car is running good but I'm thinking now would be a good time to replace the camshaft.

Does anyone know of a honest reliable mechanic in the Denver/Colorado Springs area? I live between those cities.

Thanks,

response

Anyone? Surely, someone knows

Anything off IDparts is quality . Or You can get the better Colt cam or a Frank06 cam and never have to worry about it again. I wouldn't change it if it's not causing issues. Some Original cams have been known to get 200 K easily with the right oil used (5w-40). Pull off the valve cover and check the lobes for sharp edges. There is a ton of info on our years engine and cam shaft R&R , etc .

As far as mechanics , there is a list of trusted ones around the country.

Frank06 cam is the way to go!

Scobi-wan said:

Anything off IDparts is quality . Or You can get the better Colt cam or a Frank06 cam and never have to worry about it again. I wouldn't change it if it's not causing issues. Some Original cams have been known to get 200 K easily with the right oil used (5w-40). Pull off the valve cover and check the lobes for sharp edges. There is a ton of info on our years engine and cam shaft R&R , etc .

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If you want Frank to install it, take a day trip to SW Missouri and spend some time camping while there! His modified bearing design improved oiling on the journals. his design with reduced diameter on the dwell side of the cam yields less wear.

Don't do it until it is time. Take a peak under the Valve Cover takes an hour or two to accomplish (with care), but you can reassemble without any parts. Basically, if you have no radius / chamfer on the edge of the top of the Cam Lobes, you have >0.010 inch wear. This is a condition which will turn south in 25,000 miles or so and should be addressed before the unique exhaust bop note starts.

Scobi-wan said:

As far as mechanics , there is a list of trusted ones around the country.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.......I think I'll take the advise given and take the valve cover off first. I've always used the recommended oil and change intervals.

If it needs a cam, where might I find the list of trusted mechanics? Is it here on the site?

Whitelite,

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130044

The link is in the top of the TDI101 forum under a sticky

kbaisley said:

Whitelite,

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130044

The link is in the top of the TDI101 forum under a sticky

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Scobi-wan said:

Anything off IDparts is quality . Or You can get the better Colt cam or a Frank06 cam and never have to worry about it again. I wouldn't change it if it's not causing issues. Some Original cams have been known to get 200 K easily with the right oil used (5w-40). Pull off the valve cover and check the lobes for sharp edges. There is a ton of info on our years engine and cam shaft R&R , etc .

Click to expand...

Where are Frank's cams for sale? I took a look in the vendor section but did not see any thread started by him.

-Alex

You can order one from anywhere and have it ground by Hillcrest camshafts in Little Rock. That's who does them for Frank.

Good Choice of Cam

Alex22 said:

Where are Frank's cams for sale? I took a look in the vendor section but did not see any thread started by him.
-Alex

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Private Message him. He is in SW Missouri.

You will have much better luck just plain old calling him. His wife Mary does the phone work for him and can probably answer 95% of your questions as well as put your order together.

Frank's VW TDI's, LLC
1007 Olive St.
Lockwood, MO 65682
417-232-4634
FranksTDIs@sbcglobal.net

I got my Colt cam and all the tools and parts from Kerma. Very happy with them and their customer service. They ship from Avon, Colorado.

I used all the right oil and maintained the engine meticulously, put in a block heater for the winter starts, and drove with a feather touch on the accelerator, and the cam still wore out and rubbed through the lifters at 128K. I think it's inevitable for these.

Did you use proper can break in procedure and oils ? Did you replace cam and lifters or just the cam ? At 157k mi, my 2005.5 can was just starting to go. It had sharp edges on 2 can lobes and some very minor pits on one lobe. 3 lifters were just starting to to get wear circles on them. I was doing the timing belt and decided to do the can, lifters' and can bearings also. Be sure to use Librimoly or Pentosin 5w 40 oil.... no 5w 30 oil, these engines need the heavier oil for sure and that is what the owners manual specs. The guys at ID parts recommend the Pentosin oil. They see a lot of diesels, so I value their advice. Be sure to also check / set the lash on your injectors when doing a new camshaft

Just changed my cam at 200k miles. Used 5-30 when under warranty (only oil dealer had back then). Used Mobil 1 TDT 5-40 from 50k on. Cam had wear on 3 lobes but very little dishing/wear circles on lifters. New Cam; Lifters; and bearings hope it makes it 200k more.

Almost forgot. Do not change your cam by miles, change it when it shows signs of wear. Some people only get 80K miles out of their BRM cams while many have gotten 200K to 300K miles.

N.CaTDI said:

Just changed my cam at 200k miles. Used 5-30 when under warranty (only oil dealer had back then). Used Mobil 1 TDT 5-40 from 50k on. Cam had wear on 3 lobes but very little dishing/wear circles on lifters. New Cam; Lifters; and bearings hope it makes it 200k more.

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What kinda cam and bearings did you end up installing? I think I'm due for one soon. Trying to decide on BEW or BRM cam for 06 Jetta. Currently at 185k just got the car 4k ago, no records at all. Bought it from a dealer.

Just a standard BRM cam with the black lifters. I can look up name but it was just a OEM standard cam; lifters; and bearings. Think is spend around $450 for the kit.