Hello everyone. I've been a member for a number of years, previous (first Audi) car was a '99 A4, so I'm not entirely new to the Audi way of doing things. But I have committed to purchasing a 2006 A3 and have some questions regarding this cam follower and HPFP. I'm suspecting that the car has had a cam follower failure and has worn though the cam follower and begun wearing away at the "button" on the end of the HPFP.

If this is indeed one of the problems with this car I do plan to replace the cam and related hardware, but I'm wondering if I need to replace the HPFP too. The car does start/run and using the Torque app I'm reading a fuel pressure at the rail as being between 700 and 800 at idle. Has anyone checked to see what their fuel pressure should read at idle? It would appear that the pump is working, but my concern is about the uneven wear on the tip of the shaft. Is it possible to replace that tip? Or should I just not worry about it?

The car does have a lot of miles on it and I'm looking to put a lot more on. Any suggestions/concerns/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

I have not tested the pressure on my car yet so I cannot confirm what it should show you. I've also checked that cam follower every 10k miles just to be sure and replaced it as needed.
However from my understanding of the issue not only will the camshaft wear through the "button" on the HPFP but it will also start shooting metal particles into your engine that will flow around in your oil. If you suspect any damage I would replace the entire thing this something like this: https://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-A3-FWD-2.0T/ES2081105/

It would replace everything with updated revisions and materials that doesn't have the same issues as the first generations.

If you are also interested in tuning the next question you should think about: does the HPFP provide enough fuel for your future needs? This would be the perfect time to not only replace it but upgrade it.

 

I've been looking at that kit, I just wish it included the chain tensioner. Seems like a pretty complete kit other than that, and the timing belt. I doubt I'm going to "tune" this car at all being that it has so many miles on it. Not sure what it's life expectancy is. My old '99 A4 was still running great at 276K miles with nothing more than t-belt service and regular oil changes.

My concerns are also that I know really nothing else about this car. Not wanting to run the engine as it is I haven't driven it to know if it needs much other work. Any suggestions of other problem areas to look out for? Thank you for your help.

 

The A3 had a few issues and I've been working through them as they show up:

- AC system goes bad before 100k
- Fuel pump fails prematurely (shows up as power loss during hot days / low tank)
- Cam follower and camshaft (replace with newest revision)
- Coolant level sensor (integrated into the reservoir, replace the whole thing or fill up above maximum)
- diverter valve (replace with BOV for permanent fix or updated revision if you don't like the sound of BOV)
- Carbon build-up (I replaced the PCV with an oil catch can, not sure if it helps but it eliminates the PCV)

Besides the above mentioned issues you have the regular maintenance that cannot be neglected:
- timing belt
- oil changes
- brake fluid flushes every 2 years

 

So my commitment to buying this car isn't so solid now. Here's the deal:

The previous owner says the car suddenly starting making a terrible noise coming from the engine. My mechanic friend bought the car from him and offered to sell it to me cheap, since it is presumed that it needs a new engine. He allowed me to check the car out and I suspected the cam follower issue and confirmed that by pulling the pump. I installed a new cam follower but the engine continues to make a lot of noise. I've only run the car for about 30-60 seconds after installing the follower. I decided to pull the valve cover and I was surprised to see how little oil was covering the cams. Now there is oil there, just not what I expected for just running the engine. Part of me thinks there should be more oil residue and that maybe the car has an oil pump failure. There are no oil indicator lights lit on the dash and there are no codes stored. I expect there would be a sensor and indicator telling me to turn the engine off if oil pressure dropped excessively. I have not had an opportunity to put a pressure gauge on it yet but I have begun reading stories on the net about this being a possible failure point with these engines. I also notice there is quite a lot of oil residue in the engine compartment and it appears that the engine has too much oil in it. I think the previous owner may have been dumping oil in the engine because of a leak somewhere and may have overfilled it. Could this have caused the problems I'm seeing?

It's starting to look like the repairs for this car will quickly out number it's value, which is a shame as the rest of the car doesn't look too bad, especially with the miles it has on it.

 

I'd say unless you are looking for a project car I would not take it. Rough running engine with lots of noise is a bad starting point. As you mentioned it could be as "simple" as a Oil pump but I would be more inclined to say you might have metal particles (resulting from failed cam follower/camshaft) blocking oil flow in restricted areas and those are hard to get out.
Next thing of course is finding out if it is leaking oil and if so where. If the previous owner did have an oil light he could have overfilled it (thinking it was low/leaking) but that does not resolve pressure issues. The light he could have cleared and depending on the miles/time you had the engine running it would not come back for a while. Too much oil would cause issues with you catalytic converters and if they fall apart and restrict exhaust air flow - there goes more reasons for a loud/rough running engine.

At this point it's all speculation but I can only keep thinking of horror scenarios you will be battling

 

Okay, the problem is the oil pump. Engine is noisy because no oil was going anywhere. Confirmed engine was not run for more than a minute or two at a time. Pics to follow soon.

Now, what to do when oil pumps cost so much.... even the USP kit to convert to 1.8T pump is still way overpriced. Is it still my cheapest option?

 

I am not completely sure exactly what happened but my first impression is something happened to the balance shaft(s)- they appeared to be locked up. I can not move them. The bolt holding the sprocket on the balance shaft is snapped off. The sprocket, chain, and pieces of plastic were lying in the bottom of the pan. There is also a pin missing from the tensioner but they may have happened when the shafts locked up-if that is indeed what happened. The oil pump sprocket turns but I have not dug into it yet to see if it is okay- not that it would matter now.

It would seem the best option is to buy an oil pump. I've been looking at the USP kit to convert this to the 1.8T oil pump as it seems like the cheaper option at the moment. I have some concerns about the replacement of the crank sprocket- it's location does not make it very easy to do. Not real keen on drilling into the block either, but I'm willing to if that's what it takes to save $1000. There just doesn't seem to be much information about how this kit effect the motor or it's reliability. Looking at the parts separately on Rockauto the total cost comes to about $150... so it also makes me wonder what the other $300 is for.

So... what to do, what to do....

 

I'm not really of much help in this scenario as I have not had the pleasure of going through this yet ...
I see in picture 2 some white residue or film - is coolant getting into your oil? Next thing would be to check gaskets if that's the case.

As to your questions on how to move forward - maybe someone else can chime in and offer some advise.

 

It is an interesting observation but I'm certain it's not coolant (I know what that looks like). I am not completely certain what it is, as it seems to mix with oil easily. I'm wondering if it could possibly be aluminum from wear inside the engine. I also noticed the oil pan was sealed with a silver type of sealant and I also wonder if this could be the source of the residue. It would probably take an oil analysis to be sure.

Do you know of a better more involved forum that could answer some questions I may still have about this engine? Most of the popular forums I've checked out seem to be overly cluttered with companies posting ads without support the forums by paying for ads.