Help engine problem

Tigergauss · Aug 30, 2022

Our 2014 Cali is drinking oil. Drove back from France and had to fill it 4 times. No leak, no smoke and no idea why. Does anyone know either a garage near Nottingham who would have a proper look at it (the one we tried didn’t want to start taking the engine apart) or how much a new engine would be. Ta

Stu@rt · Aug 30, 2022

Tigergauss said:
Our 2014 Cali is drinking oil. Drove back from France and had to fill it 4 times. No leak, no smoke and no idea why. Does anyone know either a garage near Nottingham who would have a proper look at it (the one we tried didn’t want to start taking the engine apart) or how much a new engine would be. Ta

I'm not able to advise you, but I am sure there will be others with experience of your engine if you share the details. Might be an idea to update your vehicle details on your profile and share the engine specifics in the thread. I am sure there will be some good advice along shortly once others can see what engine you have.

dspuk · Aug 30, 2022

If there is no leak anywhere it is almost certainly worn engine parts and at 8 years old (high miles?) sounds likely. If there is no blue smoke, it could still be worn parts just not in gulps big enough to show. Unfortunately, any garage will need to do a full strip down and replacement of worn seals and rings to fix, which could get costly.

pjm-84 · Aug 30, 2022

Compression test would be the first port of call

B J G · Aug 30, 2022

Search found this

Volkswagen Van Service Nottingham

Motus Commercials Nottingham, an official Volkswagen Van Service Centre

www.motuscommercials.co.uk

Perfectos · Aug 30, 2022

Can you provide some detail on the engine type, 150, 180 bi turbo, 199 etc you’re profile says looking to buy.

mileage etc

have you had the van long ?

when was the oil last changed ?

new engine, you don’t want to know The cost.

give us as much detail as possible and you will get some targeted answers.

Multi1100 · Aug 30, 2022

Most probably worn piston rings, like @pjm-84 already mentioned, first thing to have done is a engine compression test.

sidepod · Aug 31, 2022

Check the water expansion tank for evidence of oil in the water. Could be a head gasket gone.

soulstyledevon · Aug 31, 2022

Which engine…?

I’m going for the Bi-Turbo, anyone?

Tigergauss · Aug 31, 2022

Perfectos said:
Can you provide some detail on the engine type, 150, 180 bi turbo, 199 etc you’re profile says looking to buy.

mileage etc

have you had the van long ?

when was the oil last changed ?

new engine, you don’t want to know The cost.

give us as much detail as possible and you will get some targeted answers.

It’s a 2014 2 litre TDI. We’ve had it for 4 years without any trouble. Had an oil change just before we went to France and it’s done 68,000 miles.

Perfectos · Aug 31, 2022

Tigergauss said:
It’s a 2014 2 litre TDI. We’ve had it for 4 years without any trouble. Had an oil change just before we went to France and it’s done 68,000 miles.

All of the Diesel Cali engines are 2.0 litre, do you know which engine / output it is e.g 140, 180 etc.

have a look on your V5 if not sure or look at your road tax (online gov site) both will tell you.

have you checked that the oil filter is not leaking into the undertrays ?

you say you had to fill it 4 times :
presumably that was top the oil up from bottom of dipstic, not fill 7 litres every time ?

my guess if it had an oil change just before going to France that something is not tight and is losing oil (from the oil filter)

Tigergauss · Aug 31, 2022

Thanks for all the responses. Output is 180….yes we had to top the oil up from the bottom of the dipstick. The warning light comes on after about 100 miles.

Perfectos · Aug 31, 2022

Tigergauss said:
Thanks for all the responses. Output is 180….yes we had to top the oil up from the bottom of the dipstick. The warning light comes on after about 100 miles.

before you do anything

Check your oil filter housing is not leaking, suddenly using that much oil there will be oil in the under trays and over the engine.
(Particularly after an oil change, this is where I would start)

simply get underneath undo 4 bolts holding the under tray (engine cover) you can then see if there is an oil leak ?

If it is as I suspect, be careful removing the under tray, oil will be in the tray and will spill out when the tray is removed (cover the ground)

or take it back to where you had the oil change done ?

did the garage not do this when you took it in (and “ they didn’t want to take the engine apart”), sounds like absolute nonsense not to carry out a basic check that would take ten minutes to do by them)

Ozzy Pete · Aug 31, 2022

I would have thought that by filling it up 4 times that’s probably 3-4 litres the whole of the bottom of the van would be completely coated in oil. Also it would have left puddles every time you stopped. It’s almost certainly something else.

Perfectos · Aug 31, 2022

Ozzy Pete said:
I would have thought that by filling it up 4 times that’s probably 3-4 litres the whole of the bottom of the van would be completely coated in oil. Also it would have left puddles every time you stopped. It’s almost certainly something else.

#1 rule of diagnosis: check the basic things first to discount them Fully.
#2 check things that have recently been fiddled with
#3 don’t discount the easy wins first (in favour of looking for bigger problems)

The OP started having problems immediately after an oil change (no previous issues in 68k mikes)
very suspicious and a very easy check

I’m not saying there may be something else at play, but you check the basics first

2into1 · Aug 31, 2022

We all seem to be dodging the obvious most likely cause. A 180 cfca drinking oil? You need to read the Facebook group https://m.facebook.com/groups/122196238114704/
Once you've checked it's not a major leak, next step will be to see what egr/cooler you have. then compression tests and oil analysis. Contrary to popular opinion here, the problem didn't stop in 2012.

pjm-84 · Aug 31, 2022

If its not on the floor than it can only be consuming it.

sbmcd · Sep 3, 2022

We have a 2014 180 bi turbo with 115,00 miles on it and it uses very little oil between oil changes (every 12,000) only top it up once with circa 0.5 litres.

So mileage should not be an issue at all, something is clearly not right.

B J G · Sep 3, 2022

sbmcd said:
We have a 2014 180 bi turbo with 115,00 miles on it and it uses very little oil between oil changes (every 12,000) only top it up once with circa 0.5 litres.

So mileage should not be an issue at all, something is clearly not right.

Reading of a few 180 failures seems to indicate that failure is pretty rapid/sudden with no specific mileage pattern.

Jaxdee · Sep 3, 2022

I have exactly the same issue. I have a 2014 California SE TDi 4 that I bought just over 12 months ago with 37,000 on the clock. I have done around 10,000 miles since and am constantly have to put oil in it. I took it to VW Birmingham who recommended an oil consumption test .. they drain all the oil out, weigh oil going back in, fit new filter, I drive 600 miles, take the vehicle back, they drain oil out again, weigh it and calculate how much has been used. Outcome = 'yes it's using too much oil' there is no evidence of any leakage and plenty of people have followed me on journeys and confirmed I'm not emitting any smoke from burning oil. VW recommendation .. needs a new engine + 47,000 miles!!!

I do have a warranty in place .. not a VW warranty, but warranty company are saying this is a know VW fault and I have to take it up with them?

2into1 · Sep 3, 2022

Jaxdee said:
I have exactly the same issue. I have a 2014 California

Another warning to those who keep posting that this is a 2010/11 issue.

The outlook is poor I'm afraid. It is a known issue, and vw won't help I suspect. I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully the dealer might contribute? The cfca Facebook group and retro reus are your friends.

happyjames013 · Sep 3, 2022

Jaxdee said:
I have exactly the same issue. I have a 2014 California SE TDi 4 that I bought just over 12 months ago with 37,000 on the clock. I have done around 10,000 miles since and am constantly have to put oil in it. I took it to VW Birmingham who recommended an oil consumption test .. they drain all the oil out, weigh oil going back in, fit new filter, I drive 600 miles, take the vehicle back, they drain oil out again, weigh it and calculate how much has been used. Outcome = 'yes it's using too much oil' there is no evidence of any leakage and plenty of people have followed me on journeys and confirmed I'm not emitting any smoke from burning oil. VW recommendation .. needs a new engine + 47,000 miles!!!

I do have a warranty in place .. not a VW warranty, but warranty company are saying this is a know VW fault and I have to take it up with them?

Tigergauss said:
Our 2014 Cali is drinking oil. Drove back from France and had to fill it 4 times. No leak, no smoke and no idea why. Does anyone know either a garage near Nottingham who would have a proper look at it (the one we tried didn’t want to start taking the engine apart) or how much a new engine would be. Ta

This is a good summary of the problem. There is a good list of indicators, a description of the problem and VWs response to the issue (which, as vw owner of 9 VWs over 40 years, is very disappointing).

VW Transporter T5.1 / T6 excessive oil use for CFCA 2.0 180hp BiTDi engines - EGR Cooler failure - Hypermiler.co.uk

www.hypermiler.co.uk

sbmcd · Sep 3, 2022

B J G said:
Reading of a few 180 failures seems to indicate that failure is pretty rapid/sudden with no specific mileage pattern.

I can only hope my engine will not be one of the afflicted ones. Let's also hope that my 12 month or 12 k oil changing will have a beneficial effect.

From what I've read here I have seen no definitive answer to the reason / cause of the sudden failure?

Perfectos · Sep 3, 2022

Jaxdee said:
I have exactly the same issue. I have a 2014 California SE TDi 4 that I bought just over 12 months ago with 37,000 on the clock. I have done around 10,000 miles since and am constantly have to put oil in it. I took it to VW Birmingham who recommended an oil consumption test .. they drain all the oil out, weigh oil going back in, fit new filter, I drive 600 miles, take the vehicle back, they drain oil out again, weigh it and calculate how much has been used. Outcome = 'yes it's using too much oil' there is no evidence of any leakage and plenty of people have followed me on journeys and confirmed I'm not emitting any smoke from burning oil. VW recommendation .. needs a new engine + 47,000 miles!!!

I do have a warranty in place .. not a VW warranty, but warranty company are saying this is a know VW fault and I have to take it up with them?

Not according to VW, get them (Vw) to put it in writing and go back to the Warranty Co.

presumably there is no exclusion in your policy that they could use to wriggle out of a claim. I.e. they specifically exclude the 180 bi turbo engine from having and engine replacement?
if not, you have a good case to take the warranty company to small claims court.
How did you pay for your warranty?

Its a disgrace on all accounts

WelshGas · Sep 3, 2022

2into1 said:
Another warning to those who keep posting that this is a 2010/11 issue.

The outlook is poor I'm afraid. It is a known issue, and vw won't help I suspect. I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully the dealer might contribute? The cfca Facebook group and retro reus are your friends.

You really do need to read what has been said carefully. The 2010/2011 problem was accepted by VW, who published a TPI. In fact I believe you posted pages of the TPI on the Forum.
Subsequent problems are, according to some , related to self destruction of the EGR oil cooler in some vehicles. As not all are affected no one has yet come up with a hypothesis as to why only some EGRs are affected and not all if the EGR is the root cause.

Help engine problem

Tigergauss

Stu@rt

dspuk

Dave

pjm-84

B J G

Volkswagen Van Service Nottingham

Perfectos

Multi1100

sidepod

soulstyledevon

Kennycalifornia

Tigergauss

Perfectos

Tigergauss

Perfectos

Ozzy Pete

Perfectos

2into1

Née T4WFA. Now running 2006 LHD T5 SE 130 Manual

pjm-84

sbmcd

B J G

Jaxdee

2into1

Née T4WFA. Now running 2006 LHD T5 SE 130 Manual

happyjames013

VW Transporter T5.1 / T6 excessive oil use for CFCA 2.0 180hp BiTDi engines - EGR Cooler failure - Hypermiler.co.uk

sbmcd

Perfectos

WelshGas

Retired after 42 yrs and enjoying Life.

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