High Oil consumption

[pr1m4te]

Hello everyone.

Around a year ago I bought my 2017 California T6 Coast 150 (about 150.000 kilometers at the time) from a car workshop in Germany.
The car had almost complete VW history of check-ups and nothing seemed wrong with it.
However, during the first long trip, it was pretty clear the engine consumed too much oil (sorry if I don't use the correct words, not really an expert here).

After a first stop at a local VW dealer in Italy, they asked me to measure it precisely, and I ended up doing one more trip where I carefully documented how my car was consuming about 1 liter of Castrol 5w30 oil around every 1000km.

That said, I went back to the same VW dealer, they did a check and confirmed there is no leak of sort, and told me this is a know although rare engine defect, and the only way to solve it is trough changing the entire engine, therefore they handed me a quote of around 13.000 Euro to do the work.

Talking with the workshop who sold me the car, they said they were completely unaware of this issue, and that they wouldn't provide any warranty since I had my VAT ID included in the receipt (for tax reasons) and they don't provide warranty to businesses (?).

Now, my questions to you gentlemen are:

• Has anything like this happened before and is the 13k work really the only solution?
• Does anyone have any experience with German dealers and whether their call about not providing a warranty make sense to them? I'm own a company, I'm just a freelancer.
• The workshop told me that technically nothing horrible happens if I don't fix this and I only have to put the oil when needed. Any thoughts on this?
• I've heard using a thicker oil (5w40?) or some additive/cleaner (this one I got suggested: https://www.mathy.de/pkw/mathy-c-motor-innenreiniger) might help. What do you think?

 

[temporarysecretary]

This type of problem is more often seen in the biturbo models.

The oil consumption test VW do I believe is 1l per 1k miles so you are failing that.

The test for confirmation would be a compression test of the 4 cylinders. Typically the engine loses compression due to low resistance piston rings and begins to pass oil. If the compression is good then it may be a faulty turbo which could save the engine.

Contrary to what the garage says you cant really just ignore it as that oil then enters the DPF emissions system, causing more regeneration, less MPG and more back pressure which in turn will blow the turbo.

Unfortunately every individual element of these engines comes with a 4 figure bill. Which quickly add to make a 5 figure bill.

There is an extensive thread here relating to biturbo oil consumption

- 204ps Bi-Turbo CXEB T6 Engine & Turbo problems -

- 204ps Bi-Turbo CXEB T6 Engine & Turbo problems - Looks like im the latest patient of the CEXB engine issues. (possibly the 2016-2018 range as there is a mention that the CXEB Block etc was revised in 2019) (the CXEC 199ps Bi-Turbo was released 2019> and revised ) in sort it looks like its...

www.t6forum.com

 

[larrylamb]

Is your engine 150kw , 204hp biturbo? If so then it is a known serious issue. You would have a case for the dealer you bought it from to sort out but if it's a year then probably too late.
Lots of info on vw forum groups such as this https://www.t6forum.com/threads/2017-204-oil-consumption-issues-resolved.35505/

 

[larrylamb]

This type of problem is more often seen in the biturbo models.

The oil consumption test VW do I believe is 1l per 1k miles so you are failing that.

The test for confirmation would be a compression test of the 4 cylinders. Typically the engine loses compression due to low resistance piston rings and begins to pass oil. If the compression is good then it may be a faulty turbo which could save the engine.

Contrary to what the garage says you cant really just ignore it as that oil then enters the DPF emissions system, causing more regeneration, less MPG and more back pressure which in turn will blow the turbo.

Unfortunately every individual element of these engines comes with a 4 figure bill. Which quickly add to make a 5 figure bill.

There is an extensive thread here relating to biturbo oil consumption

- 204ps Bi-Turbo CXEB T6 Engine & Turbo problems -

- 204ps Bi-Turbo CXEB T6 Engine & Turbo problems - Looks like im the latest patient of the CEXB engine issues. (possibly the 2016-2018 range as there is a mention that the CXEB Block etc was revised in 2019) (the CXEC 199ps Bi-Turbo was released 2019> and revised ) in sort it looks like its...

www.t6forum.com

I think it probably is a biturbo as European markets class it as 150kw (204hp)

 

[Alexlex85]

IF the 13k euro is not an option , sell it to a dealership and buy another one.

 

[Alexlex85]

For reference, I had to replace mine with a brand-new CFCA engine because of excessive oil consumption. Mine is a T5.1 Cali

That is how it was sold to me by Moorlake Ltd campervan dealership. They lied and once threatened to court only contributed £2,000 towards the repair.

The bare engine cost £5,000 and came with injectors, EGR and glow plugs. I then spent another £1,000 on consumables, a timing kit, preventative replacement work, a clutch master cylinder, coolant pipes, water pump etc..

I completed the engine swap at home with a friend over a two-week period.

The EGR was deleted from new, and I sold the supplied EGR unit for a further £1,000. I changed the filter after the first 100 miles, carried out a running-in service at 1,000 miles, and have since serviced the oil and filter every 7,000–8,000 miles.

So, yes, it can be done more cheaply if you are able to carry out the work yourself.

I would not entertain the idea of refurbishing your existing engine. It can cost almost as much as buying a new one. These engines run at high compression, the tolerances are critical, and many rebuilders appear more concerned with getting the engine through the six-month warranty period than ensuring long-term reliability.