Franko6
Vendor , w/Business number
Over the years, we have had a few cam followers come our way. One I will always remember was supposed to be a nitride cam follower for the Pumpe Duese engine. It was shipped in a nicely sealed container. What was claimed to be a black nitride cam follower was PAINTED BLACK! The paint would scrape off with a pen knife. Not even a good try at a fake...
Another we saw foisted on the unknowing public came of several years ago, when about 800,000 overstock cam followers from the S. African VW plant, intended for the MK1 were dumped on the market. They are the same size as an ALH or AHU engine, but they are only good for about 50 hp. They wear out prematurely. The cup around the plunger is only marked 'INA'. No part number to show what it fits, as they were supposed to be installed in factory engines... no real need to stamp them, was there? That's the way it was done. But now, we see these regularly failing in somewhere around 50-100k miles.
So, here we go again. We see yet another junk cam follower. Here are the tops of an engine that didn't make 100k.
As you can see, almost all the cams were not spinning and most have divots in the faces of the followers, which causes them to make tapping noise and overheat. The reverse sides are not remarkable, unless you look closely..
The cups are completely unmarked. Or to put it another way, no manufacture name usually means no quality. I believe these are Chinese crap. Further look shows manufacture method that is mechanical hammering to seat the cup.
Compared to the INA cam follower, you will see two differences.
The Name, manufacturing plant code letter and the part number, clearly stamped into the cup, and
A properly welded bead to attach the cup to the body of the cam follower.
We have sold about 90,000 cam followers with virtually no failures. Comparatively, we have seen very cheap cam followers, like the S. African ones that sold for $1.50- $2.00 ea., and resold at 300% profit. The Chinese cam followers are much the same and you can expect the same shortened life expectancy.
If you pay for a good cam follower, in my opinion, it should be an INA follower. It can be a 'real' one, stamped INA, and it's still probably good to go into a 1.6 N/A engine. But if it's not marked F-46516-72, it should not be used in an ALH or AHU. If it's stamped F-46516-83, it's for the PD motor.
Don't get fooled and buy junk that looks like the part.
Another we saw foisted on the unknowing public came of several years ago, when about 800,000 overstock cam followers from the S. African VW plant, intended for the MK1 were dumped on the market. They are the same size as an ALH or AHU engine, but they are only good for about 50 hp. They wear out prematurely. The cup around the plunger is only marked 'INA'. No part number to show what it fits, as they were supposed to be installed in factory engines... no real need to stamp them, was there? That's the way it was done. But now, we see these regularly failing in somewhere around 50-100k miles.
So, here we go again. We see yet another junk cam follower. Here are the tops of an engine that didn't make 100k.
As you can see, almost all the cams were not spinning and most have divots in the faces of the followers, which causes them to make tapping noise and overheat. The reverse sides are not remarkable, unless you look closely..
The cups are completely unmarked. Or to put it another way, no manufacture name usually means no quality. I believe these are Chinese crap. Further look shows manufacture method that is mechanical hammering to seat the cup.
Compared to the INA cam follower, you will see two differences.
The Name, manufacturing plant code letter and the part number, clearly stamped into the cup, and
A properly welded bead to attach the cup to the body of the cam follower.
We have sold about 90,000 cam followers with virtually no failures. Comparatively, we have seen very cheap cam followers, like the S. African ones that sold for $1.50- $2.00 ea., and resold at 300% profit. The Chinese cam followers are much the same and you can expect the same shortened life expectancy.
If you pay for a good cam follower, in my opinion, it should be an INA follower. It can be a 'real' one, stamped INA, and it's still probably good to go into a 1.6 N/A engine. But if it's not marked F-46516-72, it should not be used in an ALH or AHU. If it's stamped F-46516-83, it's for the PD motor.
Don't get fooled and buy junk that looks like the part.
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