3 cam pics 3 VWs 3 different oil/OCIs

[TiGeo]

All 1.8L EA888.3 VW GTDI engines out of MK7 generation Golf wagons (Alltrack or Sportwagen).

Contestant #1 105k 5k changes unknown oil. Middle lobe in pic looks bad? Not sure of all the info here.

Contestant #2 105k 3k changes w/Liquimoly + Ceratec. Scored - surprised here. This one is tuned/larger OE turbo.

Contestant #3 120K 5-10K changes w/HPL (for last ~50K mi - before that, LM mainly and Ceratec/MoS2 at times), track use where oil is at 270 deg+. High-flow air filter. First change at ~7K mi. Looks great. >2x stock power.

 

[ltslimjim]

“Oil is just oil”

Despite regular oil changes for all, HPL in your vehicle hasn’t flinched even with the track days and continued use.

 

[slo town]

Contestant # 2 looks HORRIBLE.

Scott

 

[scrllock]

I'd be curious to see what the actual journals look like. If the lobe is scored the journals are probably horrific.

 

[Zee09]

Nice work and post....
All VWs are junk anyways

 

[altaylar]

Why is #2 in so much worse conditions?
It does not have a casting crack on the left bottom, right below the left Torx bolt, does it? Probably not, but just wanted to ask

 

[TiGeo]

I'd be curious to see what the actual journals look like. If the lobe is scored the journals are probably horrific.

Just seems crazy with 3k changes regardless of oil brand. This guy is super anal about his car.

 

[TiGeo]

Why is #2 in so much worse conditions?
It does not have a casting crack on the left bottom, right below the left Torx bolt, does it? Probably not, but just wanted to ask

I don't see it?

 

[altaylar]

I zoomed it as much as possible, and seems to have a dark verticle line. Can be just noise, but it seemed straight enough that I wanted to mention.

 

[IndyIan]

“Oil is just oil”

Despite regular oil changes for all, HPL in your vehicle hasn’t flinched even with the track days and continued use.

Well, with decent quality parts and good design, any oil that meets the specs should do!
This isn't a bleeding edge race engine, it should be a reliable lump that goes for decades with some regular maintenance.
Who made these cams for VW? Their QC seems to be not very good, as I think any of those oils should be fine if the cams were made properly.

As for the extra hp factor, I don't believe having higher peak cylinder pressures should cause significantly more pressure on the valvetrain at all, so except for some higher temperature oil, the valvetrain is basically just stressed the same as it would be with normal engine output?

 

[scrllock]

Well, with decent quality parts and good design, any oil that meets the specs should do!
This isn't a bleeding edge race engine, it should be a reliable lump that goes for decades with some regular maintenance.
Who made these cams for VW? Their QC seems to be not very good, as I think any of those oils should be fine if the cams were made properly.

As for the extra hp factor, I don't believe having higher peak cylinder pressures should cause significantly more pressure on the valvetrain at all, so except for some higher temperature oil, the valvetrain is basically just stressed the same as it would be with normal engine output?

The intake cams on this generation are more failure prone for whatever reason. My assumption is an oiling pathway issue, either more prone to oil pressure drops and/or the last stop on the filtration pipeline. We don't see clogged screens as often as the earlier generations, but there are screens on the oil control valves that live inside the cam phasers, and clogging there would contribute to a drop in oil pressure on that cam.
You see failures throughout the parts (VVT solenoids, the oil control valve at the timing end of the cam, and finally the cam phaser/journals/lobes). My assumption regarding the filtration pipeline is due to the way the VVT solenoids tend to stick when they go bad, that's gotta be debris getting into the solenoid causing it to not actuate properly.

You would see higher load on the exhaust cam lobes with more power, with more boost the exhaust valve must open against greater force during blowdown. As for valve springs, I don't think there's a direct correlation with power, but on a car with a larger turbo or driven on a track, you'd see significantly more time at higher rpm, which is likely the real contributor (besides oiling problems).

 

[TiGeo]

View attachment 333738
I zoomed it as much as possible, and seems to have a dark verticle line. Can be just noise, but it seemed straight enough that I wanted to mention.

This one isn't mine anyway HAHA I think it's just something/dirt/not a crack.

 

[TiGeo]

I can't stop thinking of the Castrol GTX commercial where the piston just seizes due to "thermal breakdown".

 

[TiGeo]

 

[McRightclick]

So much for the vaunted LiquiMoly

 

[TiGeo]

So much for the vaunted LiquiMoly

I used it for over half of mine's life...

 

[ripcord]

Interesting, but an n of three is very much anicdotal. To my mind, it's hard to place any fault on the oil without a lot more evidence. Google says that there were recalls for defective camshafts on some years of the EA888?

 

[TiGeo]

Interesting, but an n of three is very much anicdotal. To my mind, it's hard to place any fault on the oil without a lot more evidence. Google says that there were recalls for defective camshafts on some years of the EA888?

It's always n=not a lot here on BITOG...just some info to share is all. Not aware of any defective cams on the gen 3 888.

 

[stanlee]

“Oil is just oil”

Despite regular oil changes for all, HPL in your vehicle hasn’t flinched even with the track days and continued use.

There is ZERO information given to correlate anything. Tracked car, tuned upgraded turbo car and mystery car with mystery oil who’s cam looks just fine (nevermind the HPL one used the same oil as the scored one for 70k miles, maybe the HPL did a repair ). We get it, God has blessed BITOG with the anointed oils of any HPL, Mobil 1 ESP 0w30/Mobil 1 FS 0w40, Valvoline Restore and Protect and cast out Castrol 0w30, Redline and all non euro Pennzoil GTLs.

 

[ltslimjim]

There is ZERO information given to correlate anything. Tracked car, tuned upgraded turbo car and mystery car with mystery oil who’s cam looks just fine (nevermind the HPL one used the same oil as the scored one for 70k miles, maybe the HPL did a repair ). We get it, God has blessed BITOG with the anointed oils of any HPL, Mobil 1 ESP 0w30/Mobil 1 FS 0w40, Valvoline Restore and Protect and cast out Castrol 0w30, Redline and all non euro Pennzoil GTLs.

Excuse my snarky reply to the OP, I only chose to highlight the HPL engine due to it looking the best of the 3.

Obviously, we have an incomplete picture so there’s no reason to pass any sort of “judgment” or direct comparison on the other 2 engines based on oil alone. It was meant more as a but still…

That said, the engine using HPL has results that aren’t lacking in this context. Regardless of reason why the other 2 look questionable or downright trashed, we see another engine that did well relative to what is seemingly or apparently a common problem prone area for said series engine and the cams.

At a minimum, we know the HPL did its job for what also seems to be the harshest conditions of the 3; unless we were (impossibly) able to define poor build quality on the other 2 cams were “conditions” seen to be fair. (Among a host of other potential differences)