# freak camshaft and lifter failure



## PoVolks (Oct 2, 2003)

-The vehicle is a 02 A4 with 66k miles. The customer stated that it is running rough and the engine is really noisy. VAG Com shows constant misfires on cylinder 2 even with new plugs and a coil. The noise resembled that of a really bad internal rattle, like a VR6 chain, or Audi cam tensioner failure. The next step was to get the "ok" from the customer to inspect the heads, and if camshafts needed to be replaced the timing belt water pump would also be a very good idea. Here is what we found:

















Here is some remains of the lifter and cam lobe:








-At this point we had to tell the customer that if the lifter cylinder was damaged enough he was looking at considerably more $$ for a new cylinder head. 
-The funny thing is that a tech from a local dealership says that this one cam lobe on the #2 cylinder has been known to fail. He has seem a few cars with the same exact issue.
















Hope this doc helps others in pinpointing a similar issue. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## MEDEL514 (Jan 12, 2002)

*Re: freak camshaft and lifter failure (PoVolks)*

What wa sthe reason for failure? did the lifter get seized? I wonder why only on thye #2 lobe?


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## PoVolks (Oct 2, 2003)

*Re: freak camshaft and lifter failure (MEDEL514)*

The actual reason was never determined at my shop. A local dealer master technician has seen this exact issue in the exact same lobe and cylinder on other vehicles more than once. If anyone else wants to share this is the place.


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## dumped_gti (Dec 16, 2003)

*Re: freak camshaft and lifter failure (PoVolks)*

I could have told you that it had a flat cam without pulling down the heads.. In your first picture, you can see where the cam lobe is worn abnormally.. This is a very common problem, and there is a TSB about this problem... The camshafts are very soft in these engines. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Segomil (Dec 14, 2010)

*TSB*

Can someone give me the TSB for this issue? 
A co-worker of mine just had the same issue. Engine was making weird noise on the right side, the #2 cylinder spark plug was broken in the cylinder. The dealer told him that the engine needed to be replaced : Cost of used engine 4000$ + 39 hours of dealer time + 1000$ of parts 
Total cost of the job : Around 10K. 

the dealer told the guy he never saw that before on a V6 3.0


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## Segomil (Dec 14, 2010)

Can someone give me the TSB for this issue? 
A co-worker of mine just had the same issue. Engine was making weird noise on the right side, the #2 cylinder spark plug was broken in the cylinder. The dealer told him that the engine needed to be replaced : Cost of used engine 4000$ + 39 hours of dealer time + 1000$ of parts 
Total cost of the job : Around 10K. 

the dealer told the guy he never saw that before on a V6 3.0


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## James K (Jan 7, 2001)

I have not found ANY TSB's on this myself.

I am dealing with the SAME EXACT situation right now. Same lifter, same damage, same bent valve i am sure. 

I have also found other posts on this in the A4's as well. seems to be a AVK 3.0 issue. Mine has 125K on the clock. 

James K.


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

should check out my engine job post in the a6 b5 section. Same deal, blew out one of the pistons, I still have the head of the valve that was melted into the piston top I chiseled out:wave:


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## nuugen (Jan 2, 2002)

I have the TSB in .pdf format if anyone needs it..


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

just did a t-belt on a 04 3.0 a6 today, sludged good, #4 exh cam lobes were dry lol... sucks to be them, that car was a total pos and they put $3300 into it instead of taking it in the a$$ $5000 trade in


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## James K (Jan 7, 2001)

nuugen said:


> I have the TSB in .pdf format if anyone needs it..


 Please post it up.. I would like to see what it says.


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

tsb states "i'm sorry you bought a 3.0, the worst engine audi ever engineered, the reason why it was only put into production for 3 years then scrapped" lol...


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## VW1990CORRADO (Sep 30, 2000)

Slimjimmn said:


> tsb states "i'm sorry you bought a 3.0, the worst engine audi ever engineered, the reason why it was only put into production for 3 years then scrapped" lol...


 AMEN


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## sbin (May 28, 2008)

Starting to tear into a sludged 2002 3.0l A4 today.The primary failure was an intake cam journal running dry and seizing causing the cam pulley bolt to shear but several hydraulic lifters were frozen acting like solid lifters.I could understand how such failure could wipe a cam lobe.
Not feeling real good about my purchase even though it was only $800.
Found a real clean set of low milage avk heads to bolt on the cylinder walss are very clean but will drop the oil pan to clean and check things out to be on the safe side.Timing belt and head gasket sets are very pricey for a 3.0


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## Slimjimmn (Apr 8, 2006)

just buy a good used 3.0 from LKQ, there like 1500-1700. Very easy to replace. :thumbup:

2003
Engine
Audi A6	RUNS GOOD COMP 130-150	229,000	C	211069	$1750	Shipman Auto Parts, Inc. USA-MN(Brainerd) E-mail 1-800-892-4779


http://youtu.be/BPsY4sqZXwc - VIDEO - 3.0L,RUNS PERFECT-94K	94,000	A	101201	$2000	Pacific Motors USA-MI(Detroit) Request_Quote 313-365-5555 Request_Insurance_Quote


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