Disaster; ideas/suggestions please guys

[Phil Diment 0]

:cry:

Things just couldn't get any worse.

I've just been told by the AA that my VR needs an engine rebuild due to piston ring wear (on a 57,000 mile car!) probably caused by lots of short journeys.

I've noticed since I bought the car some 9 months ago, from a main stealer with full VAG service history and a so called warranty which; as it turns out only covers what is called "sudden mechanical failure" and then only up to £1000; that it's used a bit of oil and increasing consumption over time to around 400 miles per litre. This is despite having a "full head rebuild" with oil seals etc at 55547 miles in June 2003.

I've begun to notice a puff of blue smoke and hesitation when pulling away after a long downhill slope which to me means oil stem seals/plugs oilling up but the AA say is piston/bore wear necessitating a rebuild.

The engine remains very smooth even on tickover; with no noticeable power loss as far as I can tell. No other faults and love the car otherwise

So what should I do? Any ideas of the cost of a rebuilt lump? And where can I get one from? The car was up for sale but I wouldn't want to sell it in this condition.

I think the stealer will probably say something along the lines of "we'll fit a reconditioned engine for you sir but the wear is normal in a car of this age" so you pay; or some bullxxxx like that. Can't see them accepting responsibility or am I being too pessimistic?

Thanks in advance;

Phil

[Kevin Bacon 5]

57K is extremely low for such wear, gutted for you :(

 

As a rough guide, Stealth charge about £2800 for a full engine, fitted. Sounds expensive, and it is, but rest assured it will be a good unit. Every negative has a positive and you could turn this into an oppurtunity to go 3.0 or 3.1 8)

 

You need a leak down and compression test done on the engine to confirm the bore conditions. Cylinders 1 and 6 are known for letting go first and is probably where your oil is going.

 

I don't think you'll get much out of VW but you could try complaining to VW HQ that 57K is shockingly poor engine life and hope they give you a 'good will' payment.....

 

K

[corradovr6sc 0]

Mine used to smoke a bit going downhill and that was with a new head and immaculate bores. It's something to do with the crankcase breathing oil vapour through the inlet manifold when the engine isn't under load, always on the downslope. But if it's using oil.....

 

Best to get a compression test to confirm. You could get a second-hand 2.9 engine or s/h 2.8 block and overbore it to 2.9 and reuse your pistons. Try negotiating with the stealers first, maybe you could bet them to pay for the parts whilst you pay the labour if they won't honour the warranty.

[corradovr6sc 0]

Is it worth pulling 1 and 6 to check for oily plugs?

[exturbo2003 0]

Is it worth pulling 1 and 6 to check for oily plugs?

yep best after a down hill run when its worse

[anubis 0]

I had some terrible service experiences at my local stealers when I had my G60, and they didn't want to know. I wrote a monster of a complaint letter off to VW UK, and within a couple of weeks I had the Manager of the stealership ring me up and apologise, and take the car back to fix the problems for free. It was pretty obvious that he'd been leant on from on high, so it may well be worth investing in a stamp and composing an enraged letter to see what happens. Nothing to lose from trying :?:

[Phil Diment 0]

Update:

I've just pulled all the plugs out as suggested - No's 1 & 6 were extremely oily, although the centre electrode was grey/white in colour it was surrounded by thick black crusty/oily deposits. The other cylinders were dryer but all seemed to show some oil deposits with the centre electrode being the same.

From this does it support the idea of ring/bore wear; especially on No's 1 & 6 ? I've got a compression test due next week so I guess this will confirm things or not.

Thanks for all the advice.

:cry:

[dazzyvr6 0]

i was told not to always go by a compesssion test,as the oil scraper ring might be shagged but the other rings might be ok thus giving a good compression..or was he talking through his butt :? :lol:

[Red=Fast 0]

check the compression yourself, i dont know what shop you are talking about...but is their word reliable? or are they just trying to get more money from you than you really need to pay? im not that familiar with the vr6, but that seems like VERY low mileage to require a rebuild. if everything seems to work fine on your car, keep it and run with it until there is something noticable (loss of power etc) or you could just spend the money now and get the rebuild or a new engine. its really up to you.

[Ad's 16v 0]

If i were you i'd start with the letter to VW HQ before indulging in any major works as 57k is far to short a life for an engine, especially a VW.

Just my Two pence.

[Guest]

Workin in a dealer on the service side m8, i think you definitely have a case to take to them with regards to the blue smoke out of the rear of your car because, if the major engine work has been receipted, and was carried out by the previous owner, and you have proof of the rebuild, then all parts covered on that job carry their own 'P & A' warranty, i.e. Parts & Accessories warranty for 12 months. This should also cover labour aswell, because in order to deem a product to have failed, they have to prove it has failed for their own warranty department so they get paid for it. Chances are, they will have to strip your engine down anyway to diagnose the problem.

 

Any parts that you suspect have failed on this job causing your engine to 'smoke' should be raised ASAP, and you should book your car in with the service manager and make it clear that you shouldnt pay for the VW garage's disgnosis of the problem with your car, as it is has been purchased so recently from them.

 

You should then back this up with VW customer care, who will help your case, because if the dealer fails to co-operate, it serves as a reflection on their dealers, and they get a bad enough reputation without situations like this . Like anubis said , once they have a call from VW HQ, service managers and the like, start to crap themselves and they will bend over backwards to help you m8 :D

 

Good Luck!

[Phil Diment 0]

Many thanks for all the advice; I'll be seeing the dealer tomorrow and will keep you updated.

:|

Cheers,

Phil.

[Phil Diment 0]

Update :mad:

Valve guides according to the dealer; normal wear and tear therefore not covered by warranty. The "full head rebuild" they did immediately before I bought the car was only oil stem seals replacement even though it says "full cylinder head rebuild" on the invoice.

Discussion with Customer Care at VW: They want more evidence namely a cylinder head stripdown to confirm what the problem is before consider/rejecting my claim.

Further discussion with dealer: They will strip it down at £60 per hour times 7 hours plus VAT plus parts; but they feel it will only confirm what their technician knows: it's valve guides; waranty will not pay. Therefore I pay; with car in bits if I don't

Catch 22 but i feel an angry letter to VW coming on.

Cheers guys....