VW Golf 1.9LTDI Cam failure

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Aug 22, 2011
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Hi guys,

I bought a Golf MK 4 (Engine code ARL)about a month ago, and sadly did not pick up the pop sound from a valve.

Last week I got oil pressure alarms randomly appearing, spoke with a good VW TDI guy who said it could be sludge build up in the oil pan or possible a defect pressure switch.

He suggested I ran some oil/ engine cleaner in it which made the alarm dissapear, which I think indicates it was a sludge problem.

Above issues made me look thru the stack of receipts which followed the car and found lots of castrol long life oil receipts, and I suspect this could be the root of the problem.

I also own a Passat with basically same engine (less hp smaller turbo etc.) which has 365.000kms on it with no problems at all, I always ran 15.000km OCI and only approved VW 505.01 oil (MOstly Motul X-Clean 8100)

I'm looking to find the absolute best oil for this engine, which seems to be something that handles soot good and protects the cam well.

I have been looking here, googling and what not, but not convinced of anything.
Here in Denmark it's not so easy to get UOA's or I would be doing that to find out.

I have been considering just continuing with the Motul 8100 50501 approved (has the most approvals of the oils I can find)

Or try Redline which is significantly more expensive but alledged has a very high film strength and cleaning abilities..

Anyone got any input on what is the best to use in my case is much appreciated.
 
Originally Posted By: rekre
Here in Denmark it's not so easy to get UOA's or I would be doing that to find out.



Nonsence there are plenty of people in th UK including myself who get the free kits from Blackstone Labs, yes they send them post free to Europe and send them back to the US for circa 5 euro air mail. It probably costs people in the states say 2.5 euro to send them in country.

I get the results within a week.

eddie
 
I am not familiar with the engine code. Do you know if it is a PD motor or the prior VE motor? PD motors have the unit injectors located under the valvecover, while the VE motor has the traditional rotary pump, with a steel line going from the pump to each injector (all outside of the valvecover).

From what I understand, cam wear on a VE motor is kinda rare; cam followers can go after 150kmiles (or vastly more). But the earlier PD motors (BEW and especially BRM) in North America were plagued with camshaft failures. Although VW stated that their 505.01 motor spec was to be followed, it appears that some ate cams even with that oil usage, and some used non-505.01 and did not damage cams. And probably a fair number died due to wrong oil but never posted on the internet.

Anyhow, camshaft replace on the PD's is kinda expensive. Good luck.

As to oil, I thought you guys had access to all sorts of good oils over there? On my 1.9L BEW (PD motor), I've used mostly Quartz Ineo (or is it Total now? I kinda blindly order it from the same vendor). I used to use Motul but pretty much stick with Quartz. 505.01 or 507. Seems to have given decent life thus far.
 
Originally Posted By: rekre
I bought a Golf MK 4 (Engine code ARL)about a month ago, and sadly did not pick up the pop sound from a valve.
...
I also own a Passat with basically same engine (less hp smaller turbo etc.) which has 365.000kms on it with no problems at all, I always ran 15.000km OCI and only approved VW 505.01 oil (MOstly Motul X-Clean 8100)

I'm looking to find the absolute best oil for this engine, which seems to be something that handles soot good and protects the cam well.
...


My experience has been that abandoning 505.01 is by far one of the best things you can do for a PD cam. You want a 5w40+ (the majority of 505.01 oils are 5w30 now!) with plenty of ZDDP, moly/boron/antimony and the largest HTHS value you can lay your hands on.

FWIW, I did one 30k km OCI with Schaffer 9000 5w40 & Lubro Moly MoS2 and got back my lowest wear rates ever on my PD100 BEW.

Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck, Shell Rotella T6, Amsoil DEO & Schaeffer 9000 are all excellent choices for PD cam-friendly oils in North America; surely you should be able to find some analogues to these in Denmark.

Originally Posted By: EddieCairns
It probably costs people in the states say 2.5 euro to send them in country.

€1 for postage last sample I sent in.

Originally Posted By: supton
I am not familiar with the engine code. Do you know if it is a PD motor or the prior VE motor?

ARL is a PD150.
 
Originally Posted By: EddieCairns
Originally Posted By: rekre
Here in Denmark it's not so easy to get UOA's or I would be doing that to find out.



Nonsence there are plenty of people in th UK including myself who get the free kits from Blackstone Labs, yes they send them post free to Europe and send them back to the US for circa 5 euro air mail. It probably costs people in the states say 2.5 euro to send them in country.

I get the results within a week.

eddie


I did not know this, thanks!!

Yes it's a PD engine, 150HP version.

We mostly have Castrol or valvoline here in DK some ELF aswell, I usually buy from ebay or opioils tho.
 
Originally Posted By: shDK
Tænk at sku møde en landsmand her :).



Det er en lille verden
wink.gif
 
My company has a 2004 Passat with almost 200,000 miles on it and it runs like new.

Over on this site they talk about this issue and have a write-up on how to diagnose it and fix it. Hope this helps:

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/multi/camshaft-inspection-replace-vw-tdi.htm

Or might be the balance shaft/oil pump issue common in these cars.

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/1000q/b5/oil-pump-failure-passat-tdi.htm

As for oil, I believe that our company car has been seeing Motul or Mobil 1 Turbo oil throughout its life (likely not available in Denmark). So, Motul is fine.
 
Yeah I have been over those guides, I got a friend whos mechanic and I will leave replacing the cam to him.

My model luckily don't have the troublesome oil pump.

I usually order oil from UK or germany anyway, and lots is available, but among HDEO oils the only one I could find was the Amsoil DEO from a UK dealer.

Having searched alot on the TDI forums some seems to have good results with ELF SOLARIS LLX 5W-30
But thats thin for my liking although FE seems low when they use it.

Going straight for good HTHS value Redline 5w40 comes in nice at 4.4.

I will be changing oil soon because the oil pan is getting replaced, but I'm still unsure what to get :x
 
Hej från sverige--
Any farm dealer or truck stopp will carry
15w-40 hdeo for trucks and farme equipment.
Hdeo aint hard to get if you look at the right spot.
problem may arise when you find it in 20-25 liter cans..
bite the bullet and realize that you have 3 or so of oil changes at hand.
By the way im not impressed with "long life oils/ long oci´s"
we have seeen plenty of troubles with these in sweden stay at 1000-1500 km´s per change and it will work.
 
Originally Posted By: ac_tc

By the way im not impressed with "long life oils/ long oci´s"
we have seeen plenty of troubles with these in sweden stay at 1000-1500 km´s per change and it will work.


Didn´t you wanted to say 10000-15000km?!

Nowadays (in my PD100) I´m using M1 5W-30 ESP Formula, and the only thing that didn´t looked ok in the last (and only, for now) UOA was the TBN value (was under 1.0 after only 15000km).
Next time I will try an oil with a bigger base value for TBN and with more anti wear additives to see the results (maybe the Liqui Moly 4600).

There are some good 505.01 approved oils available here in Europe, such as Mobil 1; Liqui Moly; BP; Motul; Castrol; ELF; TOTAL; ENI; etc., so it´s almost a matter of personal preference.

Regards.
 
Well now the cam is replaced, along with turbo and oil pan!

Take a look at the old oil pan, lotsa build up in it..

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I changed filter and filled it up with Redline 5W40

Hopefully that will work better than castrol LL
 
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