Chain Driven Oil Pump

[Major Clanger]

After reading the informative threads about failing oil pump drives (and the attendant monster bill) on BLB engines I thought I'd check to see which my car has. Sure enough it has a chain driven pump.

Just how common is this fault, and is it only a matter of time before mine snaps? Is there anything I can do to lessen the likelyhood of it happening short of changing to a gear driven pump?

Four days into the ownership and with a failed aircon compressor already, I'm worried I may have bought a lemon (albeit a lovely looking one!).

Anyone able to lessen my worries? :aargh4::D

[ayub97]

I have a blb too with 80k on clock. Not sure weather to sell it or chance it! But I've kept oil clean changed it every 12months... Getting concerned
It's this oil pump issue very common?

[philst]

Hi Guys .

Its probably not so much if but when.

The trick is to catch it before it goes wrong to keep the cost to a minimum.

Mine had just clicked over 100,000 miles .

I was lucky with mine it had been making a sickly sound for about a year before the oil light reared its ugly head. It all happened at next to no revs so no additional damage done. New balance oil pump unit , new sump pan required to fit new oil pump strainer plus gears and bolts sealant ,new cam belt kit and coolant was around £1800 fitted. If the car had been on a motorway i would think i could easily have added another grand for a turbo and other bits.

As much as my chain was very stretched it was the hexes in the balance shaft that the gear attaches too that had rounded ceasing to drive the pump and rotate the balance shafts. This showed its self a couple of days before the light came on, in creating a weird pulsing between 1200rpm and 2000rpm sent right through the transmission up the gear stick and straight into my hand.

If you love the car tackle the problem now whilst its realitively cheap and enjoy it.

I spent the year always wondering when or if it was going to happen and now its done i'm making the most of it driving lke its a hire car

As far as being common thats a difficult one as they would have sold thousands of these cars with this engine so say 200 people complain on here thats a small perportion and you'll never know how many pass through dealers under warranty.

Hope this helps

Cheers

[nitro80]

majorclanger, Just get the work done as soon as you hear the rattle. The chain will give you plenty of warning before it lets go. Be aware of it but if you can't hear it don't worry about it.



New balance oil pump unit , new sump pan required to fit new oil pump strainer plus gears and bolts sealant ,new cam belt kit and coolant was around £1800 fitted.

Cheers

Crikey I paid half that :eek:

[philst]

I hear you and yes I did look at them too ..

But rather fancied having the later gear driven pump unit, that's the price of having it converted to gear driven to escape the old chain design i guess.

Of course the new one requires a host of additional parts and additional work ( thanks Audi ).

I did have a quote from Audi and that was £3000 to £5000 ouch.

So I'm happy

:beerchug:

[nitro80]

Oh i see. Well that's good as long as your happy with it. The whole oil pump debacle is an ordeal isn't it? I had a few sleepless nights before I got it fixed. So happy with my car now though. It runs really sweet now :-)