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camshaft bracket

MattyMacMK6

Passed Driver's Ed
My CEL came on Monday afternoon and the battery light, so i coasted to the shoulder and shut the car off. I plugged my scanner in and the code was P0341. Dropped it off at the local VW tuesday and couple hours later they called and said the cam sensor and bearing bracket (camshaft bridge) needed to be replaced.

My question is, how would those things fail? is it just regular wear or is it how a person drives?
 

Zayayoung1

New member
My CEL came on Monday afternoon and the battery light, so i coasted to the shoulder and shut the car off. I plugged my scanner in and the code was P0341. Dropped it off at the local VW tuesday and couple hours later they called and said the cam sensor and bearing bracket (camshaft bridge) needed to be replaced.

My question is, how would those things fail? is it just regular wear or is it how a person drives?

I know this is a couple months old, but I was wondering a few things: was this the only time your car turned on the check engine light? And if not when did it tend to turn it on? When you say cam sensor are you talking about the camshaft position sensor? And did the cam bridge fix your problems permanently? Thanks!
 

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
My CEL came on Monday afternoon and the battery light, so i coasted to the shoulder and shut the car off. I plugged my scanner in and the code was P0341. Dropped it off at the local VW tuesday and couple hours later they called and said the cam sensor and bearing bracket (camshaft bridge) needed to be replaced.

My question is, how would those things fail? is it just regular wear or is it how a person drives?

The camshaft position sensor is commonly known for oil leaks, and my outright fail, but it is a very easy part to replace since it is right on the front of the engine.

The camshaft adjuster bridge is also a common failure part. There is an oil screen that is prone to perforation and potentially a piece of the oil screen being dislodged. Sometimes the piece of the screen can cause damage to something along the valvetrain, but other times it can be totally asymptomatic, perhaps ending up in the oil filter getting removed when changed.

Both of these items appear to be related to the design of the parts, not sensitive to how the vehicle is driven.

When I had my timing chain tensioner replaced proactively, they also found that my camshaft bridge oil screen was perforated. It's nearly impossible to tell when it might have occurred, and mine was asymptomatic.

If you have them replace just the cam sensor and you have no further problems, it may not even be worth it to replace the bridge if there are no other symptoms. Some people just remove the rest of the oil screen and put the bridge back in, since it is fine otherwise.
 

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
Ive read on here that the cam shaft bridge screen pops out or tears on damn near every TSI engine

That may very well be the case, which is #1 a bad design and #2 pretty likely to be asymptomatic.
 

Zayayoung1

New member
The camshaft position sensor is commonly known for oil leaks, and my outright fail, but it is a very easy part to replace since it is right on the front of the engine.

The camshaft adjuster bridge is also a common failure part. There is an oil screen that is prone to perforation and potentially a piece of the oil screen being dislodged. Sometimes the piece of the screen can cause damage to something along the valvetrain, but other times it can be totally asymptomatic, perhaps ending up in the oil filter getting removed when changed.

Both of these items appear to be related to the design of the parts, not sensitive to how the vehicle is driven.

When I had my timing chain tensioner replaced proactively, they also found that my camshaft bridge oil screen was perforated. It's nearly impossible to tell when it might have occurred, and mine was asymptomatic.

If you have them replace just the cam sensor and you have no further problems, it may not even be worth it to replace the bridge if there are no other symptoms. Some people just remove the rest of the oil screen and put the bridge back in, since it is fine otherwise.

So my cam bridge more than likely isn't the cause of my VVT acting strange at low RPM's? I figured maybe my screen was doing something funky in the spool valve but it seems from your post that more than likely isn't the case? Also when removing and reinstalling the bridge, do you need to replace the bolts holding it on or are they multi use.
 

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
So my cam bridge more than likely isn't the cause of my VVT acting strange at low RPM's? I figured maybe my screen was doing something funky in the spool valve but it seems from your post that more than likely isn't the case? Also when removing and reinstalling the bridge, do you need to replace the bolts holding it on or are they multi use.

Tough to say that for sure either way. If you do suspect issues with VVT, be sure that your issues are actually the VVT and not the tune or anything else. It is definitely possible that it is affecting your VVT.

I did not replace the bridge myself so I can't speak to the bolts.
 

Zayayoung1

New member
Tough to say that for sure either way. If you do suspect issues with VVT, be sure that your issues are actually the VVT and not the tune or anything else. It is definitely possible that it is affecting your VVT.

I did not replace the bridge myself so I can't speak to the bolts.

Car is on stock tune, and my friend is a very very good BMW mechanic who thinks it's my VVT due to conditions when fault happens and the actual fault so I'm confident that's my problem. I guess I'll pull it out and have a look, gives me an excuse to check the tensioner.

Update: I checked the tensioner, I have the newest revision, so I ordered the special tool to remove the cam bridge.
 
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Doclively79

Passed Driver's Ed
Mine is in the shop now. My car died 3 times in a row, then threw camshaft delay and sensor codes. After I cleared those I got all 4 cylinder misfire codes. So I thought the car jumped timing. I changed a bad battery, cam position sensor and nothing changed. Took it to VW and they said the spool valve separated from the camshaft which is why it starts up fine but then drops rpm and sounds like a stroker motor. They recommend replacing my already updated tensioner, timing chain and per their TSB/service announcement, they need to replace the complete camshaft with spool valve, the cam bridge bracket that holds the cams, bearing and screen etc etc. They are trying to charge me $4,900 to fix it even though there is no valve or piston damage etc.....I thinks it’s time to go back to STi’s...��*♂️
 
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BudgetPhoenix

Autocross Champion
Min is in the shop now. My car died 3 times in a row, then threw camshaft delay and sensor codes. After I cleared those I got all 4 cylinder misfire codes. So I thought the car jumped timing. I changed a bad battery, cam position sensor and nothing changed. Took it to VW and they said the spool valve separated from the camshaft which is why it starts up fine but then drops rpm and sounds like a stroker motor. They recommend replacing my updated tensioner, timing gain and per their before recall notes or whatever they’re called, they need to replace the complete camshaft with spool valve, the bracket that holds the bearing and screen etc etc. They are trying to charge me $4,900 to fix it even though there is no valve or piston damage etc.....I thinks it’s time to go back to STi’s...��*♂️

That price is ridiculous.
 

Doclively79

Passed Driver's Ed
Yes it is. I need to find a shop in Austin that can do a great job and not charge so much. I’m a Vet that doesn’t have a job so I don’t have much money to be fixing this crap....but it is what it is.
 

Tony48

Go Kart Champion
Mine is in the shop now. My car died 3 times in a row, then threw camshaft delay and sensor codes. After I cleared those I got all 4 cylinder misfire codes. So I thought the car jumped timing. I changed a bad battery, cam position sensor and nothing changed. Took it to VW and they said the spool valve separated from the camshaft which is why it starts up fine but then drops rpm and sounds like a stroker motor. They recommend replacing my already updated tensioner, timing chain and per their TSB/service announcement, they need to replace the complete camshaft with spool valve, the cam bridge bracket that holds the cams, bearing and screen etc etc. They are trying to charge me $4,900 to fix it even though there is no valve or piston damage etc.....I thinks it’s time to go back to STi’s...��*♂️

I had very similar symptoms after completing my timing chain replacement. See my thread here. I chased problems around for hours without any success. Ended up disassembling the spool valve and cam bridge bracket, cleaning, and reassembling. The problem somehow fixed itself.
 

Pooley

Ready to race!
They made it seem like once it separated it couldn’t be put back together.... I’ll have to look into that.

So they are saying they pretty much have to do a timing chain replacement plus replace the cam bridge, N205 valve, and intake cam for $4900? If so then that's really high. I've heard dealers charge around $1900 for timing chain job which involves removing the cam bridge and N205 valve already in order to remove the old chain. Parts are around $250 for new cam bridge, $100 for N205 valve, and $700-ish for intake cam (added a little over what online shops charge for same parts considering it's at the dealer). I heard the special sealant used for the cam girdle (valve cover) is pricey, but parts over typical timing chain job should still be closer to $3k than almost $5k. Sounds like they're charging labor to replace each item individually rather than fact that things will already be removed while doing the other work. You could nearly get a replacement used engine and have it swapped for that price. I'd call another dealer or find an independent shop that charges much less for labor.

From what I've heard those tiny mesh screens always break free from the cam bridge. When I changed my timing chains I found the screen stuck against the side of the head. I made sure no parts were left to break free on the cam bridge and reinstalled without the screen. If it's going to break free then why bother buying a new cam bridge? At least I know mine didn't get sucked into an oil galley and the car has been fine ever since.
 
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