I've said it before; these cars are an absolute charm to work on! As far as a DIY, it's fairly simple:
Remove front bumper
Remove rubber air dams
Remove crash bar and head lights
Remove crash bar supports (16mm bolts)
Remove Intercooler
Swing AC Condenser aside
Drain coolant by twisting valve many turns.
Unhook tranny oil line ( if so equipped)
Unplug fans and remove rad.
Unscrew lower rack carrier braces
Remove lock carrier (rad support)
If you don't feel comfortable getting to this point, perhaps this shouldn't be attempted.
Next is the engine:
Unhook turbo coolant hose and swing aside.
Remove serpentine belt, tensioner and idler.
Remove crank pulley and install T10368 spacer.
Remove cam actuator.
Remove exh cam bolt.
Remove LH THREAD valve with T10352/1
Set cover aside.
Remove lower cover (try not to destroy it! It's on there solid!)
Remove oil pump tensioner and unhook chain.
Remove upper chain guide rails.
Remove chain and shit yourself when intake cam slams forward!
Remove old tenisoner and top guide.
Assembly is reverse. A helper is recommended as is patience i order to line marks up with copper chain plates. Hand rotate engine a few time to ensure all is well.
Note, install chain, guides and upper cam bracket HAND TIGHTENED only before releasing the cam tensioner. Tighten once chain is tensioned.
Some needed tools:

My engine is an 09 CAEB with 145 000 Kms (90K miles) on it. I change these components for peace of mind as they have been problematic for some of the MK6 GTI guys. The following is MY interpretation of what could be the problem with the original tensioner design. The rest is just so the curious out there can get an idea of the wear accumulated on a high mileage 2.0 unit. Disclaimer: this engine got a stage 2 at 49000km, I was told by the dealer that all this was replaced during the stage 2 repairs as was the 144J bracket that "hold" the cams and valve unit at the top front of the engine. This is involved in the 15D6 RVU campaign. These items were CLEARELY NOT REPLACED!!!!! The time stamp on the tensioner is 08 and the number on the J Bracket ends in 166G!!! The screen was ripped but no damage was persent.
> Edit: Blaspheme removed and the following added:
Just a clarification: when I was ranting about the the two SAs lying, I was referring to the fact that specifically asked about 2 specific items ( the 144J bracket and the tensioner). One looked down at his screen and said something like "yes, that was all done at the same time". The other looked at his screen, scrolled, clicked around and said "Oui monsieur, le tout a été completé durant le service de réusinage". ( yes Sir, everything was done during the engine rebuild". <
Anyway, on with it:
Tensioner rail wear was minimal although it feels brittle when compared to the new unit:

Bolt for this unit has a lip on it, maybe 5 thou.

Guide rail has minimal were as did bolts:

Upper slider shoe broke taking it off, it's not bad but looks odd:

Tensioner itself is hyraulic. It runs off oil system pressure: Edit: the new 267K unit seems to be self contained hydro and spring, more like a shock absorber and eliminating the need for oil pressure in order to function properly.

Cyliner has some wear:

Now, this is where thing start to go wrong in my opinion. This shows the amount of travel that can be had; under pressure isn't an issue but when shutting off the engine or starting it, low oil pressure will allow the ratchet to slam back and forth causing the dreaded startup death rattle. That in itself may be acceptable...

But over time, may wear the retainer thin enough to break or allow the ratchet to release the tensioner and allow the chain to skip. While installing the new chain, it became VERY obvious how easily it can skip with only light tension being applied:

And finally, the stretched out chain: ( notice how plates alternate while the new 158AA chain has plates doubled up...)

While doing this work, I cleaned the rad, straightened fins on the charge cooler, cleaned and greased the idler and belt tensioner bearings. I also removed all types of crusted on dirt from anything that spins. The car is SO MUCH more enjoyable after this work that it makes me wonder if the stretch of the old chain had the timing off enough to affect performance that much. A greased idler does not a race car make!
Bookmarks