CCT Remove and Replace with Engine Wear Pics

[NY337]

Another CCT Remove and Replace. Wanted to share some pics as well as ask for a little advice on engine wear and diagnostic procedures. After some research here and some invaluable "old guy" threads I decided that I should crack open my valve cover to investigate a P0012 code I keep getting along with a P1290. I will concentrate on the P0012 for this thread. Top end noise on my motor was a bit noisy which in my head was attributing to broken cam tensioner guides. I thought this because last winter when changing my oil pickup tube I found bits of plastic. To my suprise when removing the CCT there was very minimal wear and a suprisingly clean valvetrain (I have been religiously using Rotella and big filter every 3k since i bought the car with 155k miles) at 229k miles.




Before disassembly I counted 16 chain links between the two cams. Do you guys agree?


I also found that the PO (an Audi tech) was also troubleshooting this tensioner before by the looks of this mod to increase oil flow


Well, I already spent the $15 or so to get new tensioner guides so I decided to put them in anyway. I had to break the original ones off by putting a screwdriver in the oil holes. The aftermarket ones I got from ebay needed some massaging as they were a very tight fit and would leave some space between it and the base of the piston at first. Note the oil stain noting the original position of the OEM guide.


Regardless new guides in and compressed for re-installation


Also threw in a new intake cam seal since I had one sitting in my tool box and removed the intake cam to remove the CCT. What do you guys think of the cam wear? Is that too excessive for a 229k mile motor? IMHO I thought that the galling was minimal for the type of mileage the car has unless I am just fooled by the shiny silver in my valvetrain IDK


Here is one of the intake cam caps. Is this bad? I feel like a teenager showing his friends a parking lot dent LOL.


Also noticed a little bit of teeth wear on the cam sprockets


So, after all that I put everything back together for a MIL reset and startup. Everything checks out. I decide to pull out my skid plate to pickup some tools that dropped in my engine bay only to find this:

This is what is left of an APR snub mount fitted by the PO. It was coming apart in chunks. I have had the car for almost four years now so I am assuming this part is at least that old. Another part that I have to order and find time to install

Drove the car about 7 miles and the damn code popped up again! I just changed the oil pump last winter with a new pickup! I really do not want to take apart the bottom of the motor right now as this is my daily. I guess the smart thing to do is buy and oil pressure gauge and test. After getting home I decided that I should just clean the CCT solenoid connector with some electrical terminal cleaner along with the solenoid. Maybe it helped because I have driven 35 miles now with no check engine light. At this point I just need to pass NYS inspection (PIA with check engine lights in NY.) I will update you guys on status but are there any other things you guys might think I should check minus VAG-Com strategies since I don't have one? Your help is much appreciated this site is what maintains my ability to make it to work everyday.

[NY337]

Update: Still have two codes popping up...P0012 and P1290. Just got an oil pressure gauge so going to confirm oil pressure at the oil cooler. I will use this to confirm proper oil pressure going to the head. However, I changed the lower CTS sensor lastnight and the P1290 just popped up this morning. Sensor R&R didn't do the trick. Is there an input voltage that comes out of the harness plug that I can check? Anyone know how I can test the harness just using a multimeter since I don't have a VAG Com?

[old guy]

I really cant tell for sure but it appears to me that you may be off by one tooth with your cam chain. You should not look at the cam cap pointers. They can be misleading. The 16 links need to be between the cam notches and not necessarily the pointers. The distance between the pointers varies with the position of the CCT.

I can't see the cam notch on your exhaust cam but I can see the notch on your intake cam. When you took the picture your exhaust cam was not at TDC. If it was you would be able to see the exhaust cam notch in the 12:00 position. The exhaust cam notch needs to be straight up (TDC) and then count 16 links from there to the intake cam notch. With the exhaust cam at TDC the counting starts form the first roller to the left of the exhaust cam notch.

If the intake cam is rotated one link counterclockwise you will get a P0012.