The little cam follower between your camshaft and high-pressure fuel pump wears through its coating — then the pump grinds your exhaust cam lobe away. We replace the follower, cam and whatever else it's taken with it, at your home.
The EA113 2.0T FSI drives its high-pressure fuel pump mechanically, off a lobe on the exhaust camshaft. Between the lobe and the pump plunger sits a small bucket-shaped cam follower with a hard DLC coating. That coating is the only thing standing between two hardened steel surfaces under constant load — and on this engine it wears through. Once it does, the pump plunger machines directly into the cam lobe, grinding both down and shedding metal into the engine oil.
The symptoms map the damage: as the lobe wears down, the pump stroke shortens and fuel rail pressure falls — long cranking, rough idle, weak power, and P0087 (fuel rail pressure too low). The metal the wear sheds circulates through the oil system, showing up as glitter on the drain plug or in the filter, scoring bearings and anything else it touches along the way.
Caught early — at the follower-inspection stage — this is a cheap save. Caught late, it's follower, camshaft, usually the HPFP itself, and a thorough oil-system flush to chase out the debris. This is one of the most documented wear items on the EA113, and any car of this era with unknown follower history should treat an inspection as overdue.
If your Audi / VW is doing any of these, this is the likely cause:
This failure compounds daily. Every kilometre with a worn-through follower grinds more of the cam lobe away and pumps more metal through your oil system — metal that ends up in bearings, the turbo, everywhere oil goes. The difference between catching it now and catching it later is the difference between a follower and seals versus a camshaft, fuel pump and a contaminated bottom end. If you're seeing P0087 with long cranks, stop racking up kilometres on it.
Yes. It's top-of-engine work — valve cover off, cam carrier out, new cam in, timing set and verified with the proper locking tools. It's a long, careful day in your driveway, but nothing about it needs a shop hoist. The car doesn't run until timing is confirmed correct.
How far the wear has gone. A dealer bill lands anywhere in the $2,000–3,500 range depending on whether it's follower-only or follower, camshaft and pump — plus dealer labour rates on a job with real hours. We inspect first, then give you one flat quote for the complete fix based on what your engine actually needs, before any work starts.
Service records, or twenty minutes of inspection — the follower is accessible behind the high-pressure pump. If you've bought one of these used with no paperwork, an inspection is the single best preventive check on this engine. We can do it on the spot and show you the wear face.
Yes — it's a wear item on this engine, full stop. Smart owners check it roughly every 30,000–40,000 km. With a healthy cam and a fresh follower it wears slowly, but periodic inspection is what keeps this a one-time repair instead of a repeat story.
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