I didn't go black wheels. The wheels are a lighter gunmetal color. Look good. They are in a post above. As for the engine choice? I did go into this eyes wide open. Even though I may at times curse the Germans for the way they did things or how complicated it CAN be.......thats all forgotten when its working right. The car is a joy to drive, even with the stock power levels. Its an amazing vehicle. In this case the rewards handily outweigh the punishments.
At least IMO. I do think the 2.5 sounds amazing though. I had a 07 Colorado that had a 3.7 straight five, which at one point had a 3 inch catback. Sounded amazing.
So my third brake light was busted. VW in their infinite wisdom made it so you have to cut the top of the spoiler off to install it correctly. A quick YouTube search shows nothing but people breaking them apart and clipping them in. I have no luck. Mine won't clip. So thankfully we have a body shop attached to us and a little cash and chat with the body shop manager. Will be taken care of. Thank god!
I've loved the sound of the 5 cylinder from the first time I saw the rally coupes back in the day. You are correct they are great cars to drive when running correctly. Though they can be a bit tempting to drive off a cliff when they decide to start effin with your sanity. I looked back at the picture and they look to be the same charcoal gray color I had on my jetta. The problem I had was I hit a good size rock on a freeway ramp and broke the rim. Then find out that they are discontinued so I have 3 rims sitting in my yard as art. Good friend has a 2019 GTI and that is a fun car. Handles way better than a front driver should. The rear light sounds like something the Germans would do. I feel like they are effin with the rest of the world because they lost two world wars.
As you are learning about, the HPFP can be an issue on these 2.0 FSI cars. I bought a cheap one with an oil leak that I figured could be fixed and found some good carnage when I starting opening up the engine. The best I can tell, someone never replaced the HPFP follower and because of that it destroyed the pump, cam, housing and follower. The busted follower went for a ride between the cover and timing chain (because VW thinks an engine needs both a timing belt and timing chain!) until it busted the aluminum housing. They put a cheap new pump in to make it run and sold it off. I bought a few VW specific tools to replace the cam and got it running well again. Surprisingly the DSG was still hanging on at 175k and I'm sure it was similarly not well maintained.
The cam follower should sit in a nice tight bore there, but this one was trashed.
See that worries me. I've not found the remains of the follower. Unfortunately I can't take the car to pieces to find it either. As it's my daily. I can only hope it's someplace safe. Lmao. Or at the least was slow and gradual and is already gone. Idk.
At the least the follower fit fine in the bore. No issues.
In reply to brad131a4 (Forum Supporter) :
Exactly. Well said. I mean as I'm posting below the timing belt to me at least was off with the water pump in maybe an hour and a half if that? That was with breaks. Somethings are thoughtfully engineered and others are like........yeah let's just do that. No rhyme nor reason.
So my ocd is something that has in occasion saved my ass. This doesn't appear to be one of those. But it will help me sleep better knowing it's done. So. I am doing the timing belt as well as water pump. While I'm in there I will slap on the ECS UDP. As well as an upgraded metal impeller water pump. Really wish the new HPFP came in as I could slap it on with the new pressure switch. I'm a big fan of doing these things. It gives me a fuzzy feeling to know it's done and I can drive wherever I want and at least that won't break! Hopefully.
And done. Just need to reinstall all the goodies.
Check on the timing chain guides & tensioner as well. I think they wear at higher mileage and cause trouble too.
Having all the maintenance items up to date gives me some good piece of mind when I pick up a new vehicle too.
In reply to Nitroracer (Forum Supporter) :
Are you referring to the cam chain on the opposite side? IIRC its a chain with a tensioner, no guide to speak of?
Edit - I see what your referring to now. IDK but yeah that may not be a bad thing to look at. Though if I go that far I may as well replace the intake cam.
I am 98% I have those same wheels in my garage for my GTI., they were the track wheels before I went and got a track car. Slippery slope and whatnot. Mk5's look good in white but they always look better with the proper number of doors (2). 
Keep an eye on your oil consumption, some of these cars can be really thirsty.
In reply to Error404 :
Thanks! Vision Cross, which is a Discount Tire wheel? IDK. Cheap enough and good quality. I am hapy with them for sure. Yeah thanks for that tip. I was aware of it. Im goin to do an oil change soon with Rotella 5W40 and see what happens. Thanks!
Well boys. I'm gonna have to go in. I pulled the HPFP to replace it and this is what I saw.
The one on the bottom shows the plunger where it's straight up worn off. Nearly to the point of it breaking off at the tip. The new one was a stronger plunger and much more pronounced. Good news right?
Nope. Pulled the follower to check for wear as it's been in maybe a 1000 miles? Already nearly worn out! Holy crap!
Didn't take a pic because I got sick. Sooooooo looks like I have to dog in an replace the intake cam after all..........damnit Hans.
In reply to bonylad :
That's a bummer. And a solid reminder that I need to check my follower sooner than later.
In reply to 10001110101 :
Yes you do!
That's a real bummer! Good excuse to get in and deal with carbon buildup on the valves, though. Any bits in the oil when you drain it?
Sorry dude, but what you're experiencing is right along the lines of what caused me to move on from my GTI recently, even though it was the 'much improved' TSI vs. your FSI. Ugg. Good riddence.
Error404 said:
That's a real bummer! Good excuse to get in and deal with carbon buildup on the valves, though. Any bits in the oil when you drain it?
Actually......IDK. I will probably add an oil change.....fingers crossed!
I'll have to find a pic but I did find the missing piece of the old plunger off the HPFP. Looks like it scarred up the inside of the cam cover. But no other issues that I can see. Should be fine?
Waiting on parts from ECS to get this done!
Yeah, the cover should be fine. Make sure to replace those little oil rings inside and get an OEM gasket for replacing the cover. The aftermarket gaskets sometime are hit or miss and cause annoying leaks from the cover.
In reply to bonylad :
The intake cam lobe really doesn't look bad. If at all possible, have someone keep pressure on the poly drive bit when breaking it loose to do the cam chain. I peed myself a little when mine broke loose, I thought I shattered the bit.
Well. I am prayin to the car gods.........Im worried for the following reasons.
1. As the prior follower had worn the hell out, I never found any large bits....where did it all go? Somebody has been in this engine before - loose or missing clamps. Wrong bolts - etc. I still havent found anything........leads me to 2.
2. As mentioned I have found no large metal bits, other than the tip of the plunger off the old HPFP........ As quickly as the new follower ate itself up....where did the metal go?
3. I have read that the debris gets caught up in screens and all that.........I have also read that it can score the cams, specifically the cam journals. I have good reason to worry. Because if thats the case and its significant (read more than emory cloth - and catches the nail) its gonna need a cylinder head.........
I really hope and pray it isnt. I owe some money on this car and I cant really deal with this now. OH LORD....PLEASE let it be fine PLEASE LORD let it be simple!
/Life
So if I can opine again.
First, the plunger on your HPFP would've only fallen into the timing cover, not the actual head, so it couldnt do any damage to the cam lobes, valve train, or make its way down to the crnakcase. It' likely got chewed up inside the timing cover by the timing chain, cam lobe, or timing gear.
Second, your intake cam is perfectly fine. Replacing the cam would be throwing money away.
Lastly, if you are worried about anything in the oil or caught up in the oil pump screen - which I wouldnt be worried about based on what you have described, you can drip your oil pan very easily given the orientation of your engine and make sure the oil pick up screen is clear. Personally, I wouldnt worry about it as I think you run the risk of creating more issues by not properly re-sealing the pan than any risk of a clogged oil pick up tube.
If you are really worried, do a mechanical check of oil pressure and if presure is good, put that engine to good use.
In reply to FatMongo :
The cam is jacked up the pictures may not correctly show it but when I get the new one I will compare it and it literally ate up a brand new follower in about 1000 miles I'm talking about wore solid grooves in it so the intake cam is not fine. Pics may not show it. You know your way Around the engine I'm trying to find a picture to compare but the lube there's more defined on a good cam versus mine they truly I think the pictures are not doing it justice it literally has grooves you can catch with your finger nail in them ate ate a brand new follower up in 1000 miles or less I'm talking about through the black coding into the metal and cut grooves
I'm more worried about the cam bearings underneath the cam girdle. Metal shavings and possible damages. Although your optimism is encouraging I will hope for the best I will report back
