VAG TDI 1.9 PD engine failures
Discussion
Sorry to dig up an older thread! In essence my 09/63K 1.9TDI octavia suffered catastrophic engine failure without warning 2.5k after a service at an independent (for more details see:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
but I've just been told by the (independent) garage there have been a load of failures in certain VAG group 1.9 TDI engines of certain engine codes.. and guess what, mine had the relevant engine code. Can't find much about it on line but what happened to mine basically happened to this guy.
http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=58538
New engine in mine (remanufactered, installed by an independent) is massively more refined than the old one was oddly enough!
Comment from my Dad (retired diesel engineer) on seeing the photos:
In my professional opinion, looking closely at your photos, it definitely looks as if the piston picked up on the bore and seized first. This could have been caused by the injector nozzle hosing fuel (if the needle was stuck open), causing the oil from the sides of the bore to be flused away and causing the piston to seize in the bore. Or it could have been due to some foreign matter getting into the bore - the only way to tell would be by looking inside the engine.
Once the piston had seized, the crankshaft turning motion would push the conn rod out through the block, snapping off the end of the conn rod - with the bits of conn rod/bearing/bearing cap either in the sump or cold-welded to other parts of the crankshaft!
All in all, the block is obviously completely written off and, if the crankshaft was affected by the bits of conn rod such as to cause the timing belt to break (quite likely), the valves would hit the pistons and the head would be a write off as well.
I'm glad the new engine seems to be working well. Don't let anyone put anything in the fuel system to "clean it up!" The clearances on the PD (unit injectors) are extremely small and sensitive to debris/wear and fuel additives can cause massive damage! VW in Peterborough told me that one of their customers had to have a complete new set of PDs at £3,000 when they used a fuel additive
Anybody else here had similar failures? VAG basically just don't want to know at the moment!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
but I've just been told by the (independent) garage there have been a load of failures in certain VAG group 1.9 TDI engines of certain engine codes.. and guess what, mine had the relevant engine code. Can't find much about it on line but what happened to mine basically happened to this guy.
http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=58538
New engine in mine (remanufactered, installed by an independent) is massively more refined than the old one was oddly enough!
Comment from my Dad (retired diesel engineer) on seeing the photos:
In my professional opinion, looking closely at your photos, it definitely looks as if the piston picked up on the bore and seized first. This could have been caused by the injector nozzle hosing fuel (if the needle was stuck open), causing the oil from the sides of the bore to be flused away and causing the piston to seize in the bore. Or it could have been due to some foreign matter getting into the bore - the only way to tell would be by looking inside the engine.
Once the piston had seized, the crankshaft turning motion would push the conn rod out through the block, snapping off the end of the conn rod - with the bits of conn rod/bearing/bearing cap either in the sump or cold-welded to other parts of the crankshaft!
All in all, the block is obviously completely written off and, if the crankshaft was affected by the bits of conn rod such as to cause the timing belt to break (quite likely), the valves would hit the pistons and the head would be a write off as well.
I'm glad the new engine seems to be working well. Don't let anyone put anything in the fuel system to "clean it up!" The clearances on the PD (unit injectors) are extremely small and sensitive to debris/wear and fuel additives can cause massive damage! VW in Peterborough told me that one of their customers had to have a complete new set of PDs at £3,000 when they used a fuel additive
Anybody else here had similar failures? VAG basically just don't want to know at the moment!
I think the 150 bhp pd models can/do have issues on certain engine codes - something to do with the cams being soft but could be wrong?
I have two friends who both experienced engine failures in the 150 and the 130 engines in the MKIV golf, 130 was turbo failure at 55k and the 150 basically self destructed.
I had the 110 PD unit and suffered injector problems at 70k (MK4 golf again) - thought the car was very poor overall.
I have two friends who both experienced engine failures in the 150 and the 130 engines in the MKIV golf, 130 was turbo failure at 55k and the 150 basically self destructed.
I had the 110 PD unit and suffered injector problems at 70k (MK4 golf again) - thought the car was very poor overall.
My PD130 suffered from the slow head gasket failure that is not uncommon on these apparently. If you are losing coolant and find it is boiling out of the header tank overflow, you almost certainly have HG failure. Do it sooner rather than later, as I overheated my injectors and that cost me £3000 in total..... 
Seems the engine failure is just with certain engine codes- BXE (like mine) being one of them. Examples being:
(from http://www.roadtestreports.co.uk/road-test-reports... to read so pasted here)
Sara, Lancashire
Volkswagen Touran 1.9 TDI S 105PS 2007
My family loves the car. It’s comfortable to drive and a big mummy taxi. It’s got ample space, for 2 kids, plus 2 prams and loads of shopping. My husband enjoys trying to get the best mpg out of the car. He drives like an old granny sometimes to get 53 and better. The only problem I’ve got, is that it’s going for its second engine. The car’s covered 98,000 miles since getting it from new in 2007. At 60,000 miles the engine gave out which VW replaced after a lot of hassle, but we paid labour. Now again, the engine given out with exactly the same problem... a hole in the engine block, which something inside it has caused.
Submitted: 13/02/2012 11:52:10
Respond to this review | Write a report on this vehicle
Bobby, Lancashire
Volkswagen Touran TDI S 105ps 2007
I’ve owned VW’s all my life and when it came to buying a family car, I only considered a VW. We bought a VW Touran TDI S 105PS on a 57 plate with 76000 miles on the clock and full VW service history. After owning the car for 36 days, the car broke down. The mechanic investigated and showed me what had happened - conrod smashed a hole into the engine block. I then investigated further and found that I wasn’t the only one to experience this; a common occurance on the BXE engine number, which mine was! I contacted VW, hoping for a small good faith gesture as the car was ALWAYS serviced by a VW dealer, but was told politely, "Not our problem". After approx 2 weeks, the car is being fitted with a used engine, thus devaluing the car even more. Not to mention I have no idea about the state of the turbo as it shares its oil with the engine, or any other mechanical items after the engine blew up! Overall, the seats were comfortable, the car drove good with ample feedback to the driver on road conditions and what the car was doing and space was fantastic. As for reliability and mechanics, I give the car a 0 rating as it has barely lasted half as long as the VW website boasts. VW, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I will NO LONGER be servicing any of my cars with your dealers as a full VW service history means NOTHING!
Responses to this review
I have a 2007 VW Golf V 1.9 TDI 105, with a BXE engine. One week ago, I had the same problem: engine block with a hole, due to a broken rod. The car is 113.000 km - Fernando Marques from Portugal
(From http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/new-a3-s3-sportback-8...
Very similar story!
So would strongly suggest anybody buying a VAG 1.9 PD car to check the engine code and walk away if it's a BXE or BLS! I also cannot believe there is not some sort of recall, but if it's a minority problem VAG just hope they go bang out of warranty and then tell the owners to s*d off!
(from http://www.roadtestreports.co.uk/road-test-reports... to read so pasted here)
Sara, Lancashire
Volkswagen Touran 1.9 TDI S 105PS 2007
My family loves the car. It’s comfortable to drive and a big mummy taxi. It’s got ample space, for 2 kids, plus 2 prams and loads of shopping. My husband enjoys trying to get the best mpg out of the car. He drives like an old granny sometimes to get 53 and better. The only problem I’ve got, is that it’s going for its second engine. The car’s covered 98,000 miles since getting it from new in 2007. At 60,000 miles the engine gave out which VW replaced after a lot of hassle, but we paid labour. Now again, the engine given out with exactly the same problem... a hole in the engine block, which something inside it has caused.
Submitted: 13/02/2012 11:52:10
Respond to this review | Write a report on this vehicle
Bobby, Lancashire
Volkswagen Touran TDI S 105ps 2007
I’ve owned VW’s all my life and when it came to buying a family car, I only considered a VW. We bought a VW Touran TDI S 105PS on a 57 plate with 76000 miles on the clock and full VW service history. After owning the car for 36 days, the car broke down. The mechanic investigated and showed me what had happened - conrod smashed a hole into the engine block. I then investigated further and found that I wasn’t the only one to experience this; a common occurance on the BXE engine number, which mine was! I contacted VW, hoping for a small good faith gesture as the car was ALWAYS serviced by a VW dealer, but was told politely, "Not our problem". After approx 2 weeks, the car is being fitted with a used engine, thus devaluing the car even more. Not to mention I have no idea about the state of the turbo as it shares its oil with the engine, or any other mechanical items after the engine blew up! Overall, the seats were comfortable, the car drove good with ample feedback to the driver on road conditions and what the car was doing and space was fantastic. As for reliability and mechanics, I give the car a 0 rating as it has barely lasted half as long as the VW website boasts. VW, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I will NO LONGER be servicing any of my cars with your dealers as a full VW service history means NOTHING!
Responses to this review
I have a 2007 VW Golf V 1.9 TDI 105, with a BXE engine. One week ago, I had the same problem: engine block with a hole, due to a broken rod. The car is 113.000 km - Fernando Marques from Portugal
(From http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/new-a3-s3-sportback-8...
Very similar story!
So would strongly suggest anybody buying a VAG 1.9 PD car to check the engine code and walk away if it's a BXE or BLS! I also cannot believe there is not some sort of recall, but if it's a minority problem VAG just hope they go bang out of warranty and then tell the owners to s*d off!
mclwanB said:
Seems the engine failure is just with certain engine codes- BXE (like mine) being one of them......................
So would strongly suggest anybody buying a VAG 1.9 PD car to check the engine code and walk away if it's a BXE or BLS! I also cannot believe there is not some sort of recall, but if it's a minority problem VAG just hope they go bang out of warranty and then tell the owners to s*d off!
Sounds about right, off the top of my head I'd read something on one of the Audi forums along the lines of The "good" 1.9tdi (plural sp) were AVF/AWX/AVB/AHU/AHH/AFN/AVG engine codes So would strongly suggest anybody buying a VAG 1.9 PD car to check the engine code and walk away if it's a BXE or BLS! I also cannot believe there is not some sort of recall, but if it's a minority problem VAG just hope they go bang out of warranty and then tell the owners to s*d off!
Please correct me if I'm wrong.......I'm not looking it up on my iPhone.
Sorry to hear of your problem
one question i have a skoda octavia 1.9 dti the battery was changed and it wont strat...some that problem was figured out..but then the the starter needed to be restroed and the same problem has occured...it turns over but won't start...anyone have any ideas? be happy to here som thoughts...
I had the same thing just over 5 weeks ago. Engine failure con rod. VW said nothing to do with us we are happy to wash our hands of a 5.5yr old car with 86k on the clock. Engine number WVGZZZ1TZ8W041437 it would be great to chase the engine numbers. I am fighting my case through VOSA who appear interested in protecting drivers so please let them know if you have or have had a car with the same problem.
mclwanB said:
Got talked into buying the car with replacement BXE engine by my Dad and a friendly garage, 30k and ok so far, better be or I won't be having another VAG product with an internal combustion engine...
If someone has a BXE engine fitted and it fails - does the replacement have to be a BXE code engine as well???.If the various engines are interchangeable - then perhaps the solution is to go for another better varient of the 1.9 tdi.
Does anyone know during what time period these apparently heap of s
t BXE engine was used.Sir Fergie
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