Cam Follower and Seal replacement at 40K

[218army]

Hey Everyone-

I just wanted to share my experience of changing out the follower and O-ring. Surprisingly it went super easy mainly do to the fact that my '07 has a soft line for the fuel return line instead of that POS banjo bolt. However, the soft line was the reason I had to pull the pump out again because it was spraying fuel do to the stock clamps not being able to hold the increased pressure. If you have the soft line set up, I highly recommend swapping out the audi clamps for the screw style worm clamps. This is what I did and it worked well. Here are some photos of the pump with the soft line attached and what my follower looked like after 40K miles and about 1000 miles with the APR pump in. One other thing to note is that the fuel release valve that you have to remove to access the 3rd torx bolt isn't a 17mm fitting like some of the DIY's mention its 13mm. This was my first time doing it, so it took like 1 1/2 hours to do. I think now that I have the worm clamps in place and I know whats going on, I could have it in and out in 30 min. If you are on the fence about doing this yourself, don't be its really straight forward following the PDF DIY thats floating around here somewhere.
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb128/218army/follower.jpg
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb128/218army/photo-2.jpg

[Brillo]

Thanks for the useful info. Looks good, virtually no wear at all. That thing is good for another 40K miles.
I would like to get a hold of a few of the older and newer ones that have been taken out and analyze them in my metallurgy lab, mainly for metallurgical structure and micro hardness. Anyone interested in sending me your old ones? I would post the results.

[rnp614]

Theres a chance I have a few but I'm in the process of a move.

[Khaotic]

Just did a cam follower change myself for the first time a few hours ago, was abit nervous about starting to take apart such a new engine as to what I've had experience with before.
But as you say, its really straightforward and not difficult at all. I didnt disconnect either end of the soft line for the follower swap, which I guess made it abit more tricky.. The soft line is real short and quite stiff, and since you dont have much clearance behind the pump to take it out, I was abit nervous I would nick the internals as I pulled it out.
I would recommend if you have the bamboo connection just to buy the screw type hose clamps and disconnect the soft line to release that stress while pulling it out just like 218army says.

My follower looked pretty good still, evenly worn and just a tad more wear thru the coat than yours ('07, 70k miles & 220hp engine). Cam lobe and pump looked fine aswell going by other threads with follower changes, so my mind is finally at ease! :)

Im pretty set on getting the APR pump aswell, does it come with the bamboo or banjo connection? Did you swap pumps because of fuel cuts? Worth the money? :)

[218army]

I just sent my stock pump to APR and had it rebuilt. I wasn't having fuel cuts, I just wanted to get it done in prep for my STG 3 kit. I re-used the soft line connection, I just swapped the the pinch clamps for the screw clamps, b/c the pinch clamps couldn't hold the heightened fuel pressure as gas was leaking from the fuel pump end of the hose. How the hell did you get the pump out without disconnecting the soft line? It doesn't feel like there is enough slack on it to clear the plunger from the head. As to the worthiness of the pump, its hard for me to gauge, because I did the pump, Front mount, and HFC at the same time. As far as driving is concerned, it feels a lot quicker and robust than it did before. I feel like I am getting all I can get out of the little K03 now. Amping on getting the GT28 kit. 18 more days...

[martin0079]

it just takes some fenagaling to get it out without the removal of the low pressure rubber line