Cam & Spring Replacement Notes for VR6

Last updated: 7/20/2001

Over the weekend of June 13 and 14, 1998 Tom Doblmaier and Bob Tillman replaced the stock cams and valve springs in Bob's 1996 GTI VR6 with Schrick 268s and TT HD springs. These notes are based on the notes taken during the process, and have been updated with later information where appropriate. Some photos are included as links in the text.

Disclaimer:

This procedure is oulined below for your information only! While we've made every attempt to be accurate, we cannot be responsible for any inaccuracies, nor for any difficulties or damage you encounter.

Parts:


Tools Needed:
"Before" photos:
Procedure:
  1. Make sure you have your radio code available! Then disconnect negative terminal of battery and spark plug wires from the plugs.
  2. Remove engine covers. First, remove the center bolt in the rear cover. Then remove the rear cover's bolt which holds it to the side cover (can see this from the back of the motor by the coolant pump). Then remove the two bolts holding the side cover in place. Now the rear cover should be free, the side cover should be free and the silver VW cover can be removed after taking the two bolts which were under the rearmost cover out. Here's a photo of the throttle body with the covers removed.
  3. Remove the PCV hoses going to the throttle body.
  4. Disconnect the two electrical connectors by the throttle body.
  5. Disconnect the throttle body coolant lines. Only one (the one closer to the engine) needs to be clamped.
  6. Disconnect the throttle body air boot connection.
  7. Unhook the throttle cable.
  8. Remove the plastic cover on top of the radiator. Held on with three small bolts.
  9. Remove the two vacuum lines from the front driver's side of the upper intake manifold (one to fuel regulator, one to brake booster).
  10. Remove the electrical connector near the vacuum lines on the driver's side of the manifold.
  11. If there is no plug in bell housing opening to see flywheel marks, cover with rag.
  12. Remove the 5mm bolt holding the dipstick to the manifold. An allen wrench will work for this.
  13. Remove the 7 6mm bolts holding the upper intake manifold to the lower manifold.
  14. Remove the two rear bolts holding the upper intake manifold to the engine. Here is a photo of showing where one of the bolts was removed from the manifold bracket.
  15. Remove the upper intake manifold. Several photos:
  16. Stuff rags into the lower intake manifold openings to keep things from falling in.
  17. Remove the bracket from the rear center of the valve cover. (Single bolt).
  18. Remove the wiring bracket from the rear driver's side of the valve cover (2 10mm bolts).
  19. Remove electrical connectors from cam position sensor, auxiliary coolant pump and coil pack top. Here is a photo with the Auxiliary coolant pump shown on the right.
  20. Remove 4 5mm bolts holding coil pack to side of cylinder head. Remove coil pack with wires attached.
  21. Unclip the fuel lines from the passenger's side of the valve cover (open clips from top, horizontal part of clip).
  22. Remove 2 10mm nuts from driver's side of valve cover.
  23. Loosen remaining 10mm bolts on valve cover and remove cover. Cover with rag to keep stuff from falling in. Some photos:
  24. Remove 3 10mm bolts holding coolant pump bracket to side cover.
  25. Remove chain tensioner (27mm bolt)
  26. Remove 2 6mm at bottom of side cover. Use allen wrench. Have someone hold coolant pump and hoses out of way. One near the front of the engine is most difficult.
  27. Remove 8 5mm bolts holding side cover. The lower most one may not come out if it's blocked by the coolant hose. Just loosen and remove with cover.
  28. Remove 10mm bolt holding wiring harness bracket to front of side cover.
  29. Remove side cover - some force here is necessary. Stuff rags into openings in head and lower timing chain cover where things may fall down. Here's a photo of the cam sprockets and upper chain.
  30. Try to remove dirt from around the spark plug seats using compressed air or a rag dipped in WD40 on the end of a rod before removing the plugs, then remove spark plugs.
  31. Set engine to TDC on cylinder 1: cams have slots which will line up horizontally with cylinder head top. Timing mark on flywheel (sharp mark) should line up with bell housing mark. To turn engine over, go underneath motor and use closed-end 27mm wrench on pulley. Move splash guard out of way. Moving the bolt clockwise is normal rotation of motor. (VW tool 3268 is a plastic template which will show when cams are aligned).
  32. Tie chain to hood to keep it from falling down into the motor.
  33. Holding the front cam at its designated holding point using a 24mm or adjustable wrench, and loosen the sprocket bolt. Repeat for the rear cam. The bolts are tight!
  34. Remove the sprockets. Carefully remove the extra slack from the chain by tightening the rope holding the chain. Do not allow the chain to fall into the lower timing belt cover while doing this.
  35. Remove bearing caps 1 and 7 by loosening them gradually. Then remove caps 3 and 5 alternately loosening each nut ¼ turn to allow cam to slowly rise. (We kept track of which nut goes where.) Remove rear cam.
  36. Remove cap 4. Then slowly remove caps 2 and 6, alternately loosening each nut 1/4 turn. Remove the front cam. Here are some photos:
  37. Install Schley tool. We needed three washers and a cap bolt to hold each side end to head. We tried to position horizontal shaft so it was directly over the nuts holding the ends to the head.
  38. To use the rope trick (here, and here), get about 8 feet of 1/4-inch-diameter nylon rope and a 7-inch length of 5/8-inch-diameter copper tubing. Position the cylinder near BDC and feed the rope through the tube into the cylinder through the spark plug hole. When no more will go in (we were able to insert several feet worth of rope), turn the crankshaft, raising the piston in the cylinder until resistance is felt. To test if valve is being held in place, press down on valve spring and valve stem should not move (note: you need to initially tap the Schley tool lightly to get the valve stem to separate from the valve spring cap). Note with cams removed, it is possible to turn motor with 24mm socket wrench on the alternator pulley. Verify chain rotating smoothly as motor turned.
  39. Using a magnet, lift the tappet out. Depress the spring slightly with the Schley tool and tap lightly with a hammer to separate the valve stem. Verify that the valve stem will not sink into the head by pushing down on it. It shouldn't move. Here are some photos of the Schley valve compressor tool installed:
  40. Depress the spring and using a magnetic pickup, remove the two valve stem keepers.
  41. Release the spring and remove the spring cap. Then remove the springs. Note the comparison between stock springs (on left in photo) and TT HD springs (on right).
  42. Replace the springs and spring cap.
  43. Depress the springs and use tweezers to position the keepers on the stem. Be very careful not to drop keepers into motor. Slowly release pressure on the valve spring and watch that the keepers move into position. Tap Schley tool lightly to verify the keepers are seated.
  44. Replace tappet. If tappets are re-used, keep them in the same positions they were in.
  45. Do the cylinder's other valve, repeating steps 39 - 44 above. It's easier to remove keepers from side that doesn't have the lower cam bearing.
  46. Repeat steps 38 - 45 for remaining 5 cylinders.
  47. Remove Schley Tool.
  48. Position piston in cylinder 1 toTDC using a rod inserted in the cylinder's spark plug hole to get an idea of where this is. Fine tune the piston position using the timing marks in the bell housing.
  49. Verify that the intermediate shaft timing mark is lined up! If if is not, turn the crank one entire revolution and check again. It should take no more than two additional crank revolutions to get the intermediate shaft lined up.
  50. Lubricate tappets, cams, and bearings with assembly lube.
  51. Position rear cam in place. Install caps 3 and 5 first, slowly tightening.
  52. Fit caps 7 and 1 next. Cam may need to be shifted slightly laterally to get cap 7 to fit. Tighten down slowly. Torque cap bolts to 15 ft-lbs.
  53. Position front cam in place. Install cap 6. Install cap 2. This one is very difficult as the valve must be depressed. We placed a small wooden block over very end of cam and then used a horizontal metal breaker bar to push down on the wooden block. Install cap 4 next. Torque cap bolts to 15 ft-lbs.
  54. Double check cylinder 1 is at TDC and align cam timing marks. Install sprockets.
  55. This is key: all slack must be on tensioner side of chain. You should not be able to hardly move the non-tensioner side of the chain at all.
  56. Torque sprocket bolts to 74 ft-lbs.
  57. Replace small green "O" ring in inside of side cover. Clean cover surfaces and apply AMV 188 001 02 gasket sealer to surface. Position side cover.
  58. Cover timing hole in bell housing with a rag when installing side cover bolts.
  59. Loosely install the 5mm bolts in the side cover then fit the bottom 6mm bolts. Tighten the 6mm bolts first (a drop of oil on each bolt might help here).
  60. Tighten the 8 5mm bolts on side cover.
  61. Install wiring bracket on front of side cover with 10mm bolt.
  62. Install the coolant pump bracket with 3 10mm bolts. Top most bolt has to be inserted with needle-nose pliers.
  63. Install chain tensioner. It should not need to be bled down unless the piston came out or it was disassembled. The tensioner should screw in all the way with only hand pressure. If not, then there was slack remaining on the non-tensioner-side of the chain which should have been removed in step 55, and your cam timing may be off. Then torque to 22 ft-lbs.
  64. Turn the engine over once by hand (two revolutions) and verify the timing is still the same.
  65. Remove rags from cylinder head.
  66. Install valve cover and clip fuel lines back into place on the side. Note: The new valve cover gasket we had purchased from the dealer didn't fit, so we re-used the old one with no ill effects.
  67. Install spark plugs.
  68. Install coil pack and reconnect electrical connections to coil pack, cam position sensor and coolant pump.
  69. Install wiring bracket on driver's side rear of valve cover.
  70. Install bracket on center rear of valve cover.
  71. Remove rags from lower intake manifold.
  72. Install new gasket on upper intake manifold, noting position of old gasket ("Germany" readable and on left side of manifold if gasket positioned on lower manifold.)
  73. Install upper manifold. Install 7 front bolts and 2 rear bolts.
  74. Install dip stick bolt.
  75. Install air intake boot on throttle body.
  76. Install throttle cable, note routing.
  77. Install PCV hoses.
  78. Install 2 electrical connectors on throttle body.
  79. Install coolant lines to throttle body.
  80. Install 2 vacuum lines to front driver's side of manifold.
  81. Install electrical connector by front driver's side of manifold.
  82. Install side engine cover. Position vacuum line in holder on cover.
  83. Install silver top engine cover with 2 bolts.
  84. Install rear engine cover with 2 bolts.
  85. Install spark plug wires.
  86. Install plastic cover on top of radiator with 3 bolts.
  87. Install replacement ECU chip.
  88. Reconnect battery negative lead (car alarm will sound until door unlocked).
  89. Double check all tools and rags removed. Here is one photo of the reassembled engine, and here is another.
  90. Start and drive car. There will be some fairly loud tappet noise for several seconds as the tappets pump up with oil pressure. Hold at 2000 RPM for a couple of minutes while having someone check for leaks. Once its found to be leak-free, take a test drive. Avoid hard acceleration until oil has warmed.

This page is maintained by Bob Tillman