Benefits of going to a Colt Stage 2 Cam?

buyingconstant7

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2014
Location
Calgary, Alberta
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 5spd
Sisters BRM has what sounds to be a smashed lifter. When I'm engine braking and downshift and the revs go up around 3,00rpm, I can hear an intense valve ticking. It alarmed me at first because I thought it was rod knock, but after hearing it, it's definitely lifter tick. Cam is original and car has about 370,000kms on it. No performance issues or MPG issues. Still will accelerate awesome and get 50mpg all day long. But we looked into a Colt cam and for $700 you can't go wrong, especially considering we don't need to ever worry about the cam again. So with this, I read some charts where some people gained 10-20hp. Is this true? And does fuel economy improve/decrease? Can't seem to find anything on fuel economy. And we should stick the the 5W40 505.01 VW spec approved oil?
 

Rembrant

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Oct 31, 2014
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Canada's Ocean Playground
TDI
2013 Golf TDI DSG
But we looked into a Colt cam and for $700 you can't go wrong, especially considering we don't need to ever worry about the cam again.
All you have to do is search a little bit for BRM camshaft information....you will die of old age before you finish all the threads on BRM cam wear, cam options, BRM oil, oil tests, etc, etc, etc. Seriously...

Whether or not "you can't go wrong" depends on a lot of things. That Colt cam will cost you double that by the time you buy everything else you need to go with it. If you have to pay a shop to install it, it will cost triple that, if not more. Has this 06 had it's other spendy items replaced yet? Turbo? DMF?
 

kbaisley

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Jul 31, 2002
Location
Midwest
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 5spd
Personally, I used a AMC Cam Kit on one of my BRM's recently. The kit comes with the bearings, lifters, cam and the seal. I also threw in a timing belt / water pump at the same time. The AMC kit was around 400.00 USD.

As Rembrant mentioned, there is a ton of reading on the cam, bearing mods, etc. The Colt and other cams mentioned on the forum have better hardening and a slightly different profile. For a stock car, I do not remember if there was any significant performance gains. The pitch for the Colt cam, from what I gather, is that it is a one and done. Meaning that you will not have to replace it again due to wear that is common with PDs. On my BRM when I replaced the old worn cam (@150K), I went for the cheaper approach knowing full well, that I will need to potentially refresh it in the future.

If you want to go full out, speak with Frank o6. He is the guru on these heads. He offers a line boring for the cam bearing journals that will true out the journals and reduce the wear. That is in addition to any of the other magic he performs with rebuilding - refreshing the head.
 
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MP517PRCT

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Jan 13, 2016
Location
York Co., PA
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2014 Jetta TDI Sportwagen, 2011 Touareg TDI Lux
I too went with the AMC billet cam kit from idparts.com. My wife's BRM has 160k miles on the clock and I figured that by the time the cam will need to be replaced again the car will be close to 20 years old and will have over 300,000 miles on it. At that point, it probably won't be worth replacing it a second time.

The new AMC cam boosted her fuel economy, it went from ~50MPG to ~55MPG :D
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
I'd say the performance improvement is not worth the money. 10 to 20 HP gain is nothing.

Go with this guy. He has done a lot of research on the weak points of the BRM cam and has done some engineering improvements to the oiling of the BRM cam so that the replacement may last longer.

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

dieselpony

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Joined
Aug 11, 2008
Location
Woodbury, MN
TDI
2015 Jetta SEL 6 speed manual Moonrock Silver
I've been running Frank's stage 2 BEW cam in my BRM since 74k miles. Now at 157k. Performs beautifully.
 

relumalutan

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Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Location
Michigan
TDI
06 Jetta TDI Special Edition
I'd say the performance improvement is not worth the money. 10 to 20 HP gain is nothing.

Go with this guy. He has done a lot of research on the weak points of the BRM cam and has done some engineering improvements to the oiling of the BRM cam so that the replacement may last longer.

Frank's VW TDI's, LLC
1007 Olive St.
Lockwood, MO 65682
417-232-4634
FranksTDIs@sbcglobal.net
Indeed, Frank knows what he's doing. I've installed his stage 2 camshaft kit with its modifications for better oiling at 155K, my car is at almost 230K now, no problems. I've met him at a TDI gathering, nice guy, he also took the time to give detailed installation instructions over the phone to the shop that performed the replacement.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
BEW cams are pretty durable. oilhammer reports multiple customers with over 300K miles on original cams. And BRMs can easily go over 200K miles. Using 5w40 oil with the right spec is key.

These days most cams come from the same supplier: AMC, Colt, and some Kolbenschmidt cams are all from the same manufacturer in Turkey.
 

James & Son

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Oct 10, 2008
Location
Maryhill, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta
I'd say the performance improvement is not worth the money. 10 to 20 HP gain is nothing.
Go with this guy. He has done a lot of research on the weak points of the BRM cam and has done some engineering improvements to the oiling of the BRM cam so that the replacement may last longer.
Frank's VW TDI's, LLC
1007 Olive St.
Lockwood, MO 65682
417-232-4634
FranksTDIs@sbcglobal.net
The OP being in Canada allows colt to have the advantage.

Both Colt and Franko6 cams are pretty much the same when it comes to extra lift and profile and quality.

You can easily get the other necessary cam change parts from Roseland Technical Services and also club vendors in the US. It is good to support all the club vendors and usually their products and service are based on years of experience with their products.

This is a guess but I would say more than 1/2 to 3/4 the club has a colt or a franko6 cam in their car. Frank has sold close to 3000 and colt around 2500.
 

buyingconstant7

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Joined
Jul 13, 2014
Location
Calgary, Alberta
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI 5spd
I'll look into Franks cam, but what is attractive to me is that the cam with Colt does offer the guarantee that you will never need to worry about the cam and lifters ever again. And with Franks cam, from what I can see right now, it sounds like the cam may become an issue sometime again, which just sounds like I'm just putting in an OEM cam for it to fail again. But I'd love to support a vendor on here, so I'll just be a bit more educated since my initial guesses could be wrong.
 

narongc73

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Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Location
VA/OH
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
I don't see the big deal with Frank's cam. Until someone shows me one that goes 500k+ miles, it's all the same as the cheaper ones out there. They're all going to wear early no matter what you do. Buy a sensible cam and motor on.
 

gatz

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Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Location
Windsor, CT
TDI
2005 Mk4 Golf TDI PD, 2006 MkV Golf GTI
Just looking for the most cost effective option myself and was considering just using another OEM or OEM-profile cam. My BEW is still good at 190k, and I won't be driving this car another 190k.

These days most cams come from the same supplier: AMC, Colt, and some Kolbenschmidt cams are all from the same manufacturer in Turkey.
Do you happen to know who makes the OEM boxed camshafts? Perhaps also this same manufacturer in Turkey?
 

Texas_sky

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Dec 23, 2007
Location
ATX/Mile Hi
TDI
2001 GOLF TDI 2dr 5spd
Not sure who the OEM supplier is would be nice to know who made them. Maybe somebody can call VW and find out.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
One of our suppliers is switching to cams from the OE manufacturer. However they won't tell us who it is or where they are. Only that the plant is in the EU. I'd guess Poland, as that's where a lot of TDI engines are made.
 

hymato

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Oct 13, 2010
Location
NorthEast PA
TDI
2010 jetta TDI(buyback) Now 2005.5 Jetta tdi
I have a colt stage 2 in my BRM but it's my first BRM and I never drove it stock but I absolutely love my power band!
 
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