BXE engine failure - replacement options

[edward011778]

Hi!

My 2007 Golf TDI has just put a rod through the block at circa 120,000 miles. Engine is/was a BXE and and this appears to be a rather well-known fault. From what I can work out it looks like there were maybe four other 1.9TDI engine variants fitted to the MK5 Golf. So my question is, which engine code should I source as a replacement, i.e. is there a better option than sticking another BXE in and hoping it doesn't do the same thing?

Sorry if this is a commonly asked question and the info is here already, a quick search hasn't made me much the wiser & I'm not really clued up on VAG stuff of this generation.

Thanks...

[Crasher]

These engines are fine if they get 10k oil changes and at roughly 100k, new con rod bearings.... no customer of mine has ever suffered this failure when following this regime.

[silestanix]

These engines are fine if they get 10k oil changes and at roughly 100k, new con rod bearings.... no customer of mine has ever suffered this failure when following this regime.

Crasher, I'm just about to post up in the new to forum section as I've bought a pretty clean golf TDi with 78k and fsh... And unfortunately it has the BXE engine so now I'm having kittens. It had an oil service before I bought it however I plan to have it serviced on my own terms by my friend at his garage, using Castrol 5w30 507-00 and decent filters.

However no reading through so many threads like this I'm considering biting the bullet and getting them to change the conrod bearings as a matter of course. Would that be a good idea? I'd rather spend the extra few hundred then a grand+ on a new engine etc.

Cheers.

Harry.

[Crasher]

A grand on a new engine.... you would be lucky to get a decent used one for that and an exchange bottom end from VW is £2768 alone. Anyway, yes I would strongly recomedn the bearings were changed,I prefer to use Mahle if available but the KS 775 546 00 are the correct "sputter" type as well. The bolts must be genuine 045 105 425 at £6.47 each. It would be interesting to see a picture of them when they are done and see if the upper ones are worn like this which is fairly typical

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40922209993_e5c2925f2d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/25ma2jH)

[Gazwould]

Absolutely essential .

Here's one from last week .

https://i.imgur.com/4iW30etr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YK6bV4o.jpg


The mechanics weren't in the know as simply put another second hand BXE in :(

[Crasher]

And as the newest BXE is 12 years old, what are the chances of it being a good one? The hole on 3 is puzzling as the rod is still on and it is obvious 1 that has thrown its toys out of the pram

[silestanix]

A grand on a new engine.... you would be lucky to get a decent used one for that and an exchange bottom end from VW is £2768 alone. Anyway, yes I would strongly recomedn the bearings were changed,I prefer to use Mahle if available but the KS 775 546 00 are the correct "sputter" type as well. The bolts must be genuine 045 105 425 at £6.47 each. It would be interesting to see a picture of them when they are done and see if the upper ones are worn like this which is fairly typical

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/40922209993_e5c2925f2d_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/25ma2jH)

Will do, it's booked in Thursday morning but I am tempted to just leave it there tomorrow morning before work as I'm sick of driving on egg shells for the last few days. It's got me so worried that I haven't eaten properly & my sugar levels suffering as a consequence. Least it's ok for another 20-30k, I plan on selling in October anyway as I will have a higher budget by them.

I will ask the garage to retain the old shells so I can post pictures up.

Thanks for the replies.

Harry.

[Crasher]

At the mileage your has done and if you drive it carefully then I think you will be OK. I don't think it is any coincidence that Caddy vans are the worst for failing with the fact the engine is gutless and they get thrashed within an inch of their life, do yon't make a hole like that at low revs.

[silestanix]

At the mileage your has done and if you drive it carefully then I think you will be OK. I don't think it is any coincidence that Caddy vans are the worst for failing with the fact the engine is gutless and they get thrashed within an inch of their life, do yon't make a hole like that at low revs.

Definitely inclined to agree bud. My golf was a family owned motor kept in the same family, and with me I usually leave a car for a minute upon cold start regardless of weather and season conditions so the oil has a chance to build pressure and circulate everywhere, journals, bearings, turbo etc. After that it's a gentle sub 1500rpm drive until I reach the M11, by which time the temp is 65°c and oil temp around 50°c, then I drive to/from work, 60-65mph cruising, idle for a minute before shut off.

I only ever use mobil, shell or castrol & Mann filters, and I change oil early, instead of 10k it'll be every 7k.

When I dropped it off 30 mins ago the mechanic checked my car over & said it was in very good condition, he popped the bonnet and listened to the engine with the plastic cover off, from up top and below the car and said it's very healthy but he understands why I'm going to get the bearings shells etc done. He's going to keep all the old parts for me as requested. He said they'll be using much better parts by mahle and stronger bolts.

I just hope for a hassle free experience after this as it's a very good motor besides this issue.

[Crasher]

When I checked the listing the other day the Mahle application was showing as still being in preparation.

[silestanix]

When I checked the listing the other day the Mahle application was showing as still being in preparation.

Ah ok, I don't know then bud, he did say the new ones are a better design and stronger? That's when he mentioned mahle so... I know that it'll be fixed by Thursday afternoon. I'll keep you updated though if I find out more details.

[silestanix]

All done, DSG serviced for good measure.

Pics below, they look very much past it, smell like burnt oil & metal as opposed to the fresh looking ones which have no odour at all. Definitely been too hot, just glad I got them changed when I did.

https://i.imgur.com/UQWOtUj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Y5mq1eY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YHvvU42.jpg

[Crasher]

Yes, good call. Everyone should do this.

[Jon44w]

At least if the worst happens a replacement is BXE engine is readily available from £360 just checking Ebay there now. Id be far more worried if I was driving a 1.4 tdi BMS or 1.9tdi BLS to name but a few which will sting you around £1000 and are harder to source.

[silestanix]

At least if the worst happens a replacement is BXE engine is readily available from £360 just checking Ebay there now. Id be far more worried if I was driving a 1.4 tdi BMS or 1.9tdi BLS to name but a few which will sting you around £1000 and are harder to source.

Damn, they susceptible to these issues too? Shame on VW man.

[Jon44w]

Its not just VW. Everyone has their issues such as Vauxhalls A20DTH engine, have you seen the amount of Insignias scrapped because of some rubber seal that hardens in them. Crazy. BMW have a horror show of an engine, N47, which has the timing chain at the back and fails all the time.

[Crasher]

Thank you Jon, a balanced common sense reply based on personal experience, all too rare on all forums.

[Gazwould]

These engines are fine if they get 10k oil changes and at roughly 100k, new con rod bearings.... no customer of mine has ever suffered this failure when following this regime.



However some think it will never happen to them !


"24th oil change today at 237,000 miles (381k km)



Still no issues to report :)"


https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/attachments/5e18e995-48cb-4983-94fe-e4721ae377d3-jpeg.184725/




https://dw8stlw9qt0iz.cloudfront.net/8helUHVPvP20LeKbM_SlMzQnfMw=/2000x2000/filters:format(jpeg):quality(75)/curiosity-data.s3.amazonaws.com/images/content/thumbnail/standard/0cea5417-e0f8-405c-f3f1-08216346cbe7.png

[Crasher]

Great oil, I have 510 litres in stock.

Have you done your rod bearings yet? If you haven’t would be interesting to see what they look like.

[Gazwould]

Your drinking problem Steve has gone to another level :beerchug:

Turns out he has a BLS , I bloody hate people who don't even know what engine code they have , lol .

[DieselMonster]

Quantum oil is great I use that or TripleX PD oil for my 1.9. Is getting the filter from dealership the best choice? I just go ahead with Mann filters.

[Gazwould]

Quantum is Fuchs and Triple QX is Tetrosyl .

Mann is VAG OEM and Hengst also top draw.

[DieselMonster]

So which ones better between Fuchs and Tetrosyl? I'd imagine as long as its the correct spec and changed regularly it shouldn't make a difference.

[Gazwould]

That is correct , a spec is a spec .

I've used both Quantum LL3 and Asda 504.00 507.00
( Tetrosyl ) .

[tditaff]

For the PD engines the VW spec is 505.01 for 10k mile changes unless you're on the long life maintenance schedule.
My preference and the consensus seems to be that regular 10k mile changes are the way to go for engine longevity.
Hengst are the best filters, I recall finding a site that disected various brands of filters and their design and construction are superior.

[Gazwould]

I agree about the Hengst , but not the 505.01 oil .

Use the 507.00 LongLife III regardless because it's higher quality .

[tditaff]

My car doesn't have a DPF so I can use either, I choose 5W40 505.01
For DPF equipped cars then I believe 507.00 is the correct spec.

[Crasher]

The problem is with a flat tappet cam engine none of the emissions compliant oils are good at protecting wiping surfaces and need a good additive to help protect the cam and lifters but one that does not poison the catalyst.

[Gazwould]

Lol , I though we sorted this one out .

As we know the PD has flat tappets and narrow camshaft lobes subjected to high loadings thanks to the PD unit injector wider camshaft lobe taking up room .

So the PD needs a good anti wear oil for longevity .

The 5W40 505.01 is a group 3 oil basestock ( actually a severely hydrocracked mineral oil allowed by a court case to be called a synthetic ) with a good dose of ZDDP .

Trouble is with a good dose of ZDDP causes high ash issues for dpf , so in 507.00 this is reduced but the oil basestocks are juiced up to include true lab synthetics , groups 4 and top group 5 .

Now 5 can also hold more detergents which also reflects in 507.00's higher additive package concentration and also group 5 being a 10-20% content in ester racing marketed oils such as Millers Nanodrive CFS NT+ .

The result is an even higher anti wear oil specification than 505.01 + other improved oil performance perameters .

[tditaff]

Thanks for the refresher, I understand about the differences and after i've depleted my stock of 505.01 (got a great deal in Germany last year) i'll see what's available at that time.

[Crasher]

Lol , I though we sorted this one out.

You will NEVER put this one to bed.

[A6C5V6TDi]

All done, DSG serviced for good measure.

Pics below, they look very much past it, smell like burnt oil & metal as opposed to the fresh looking ones which have no odour at all. Definitely been too hot, just glad I got them changed when I did.

https://i.imgur.com/UQWOtUj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Y5mq1eY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YHvvU42.jpg


Wait, you had these for bearings in your low mileage 1.9 TDi in excellent condition? I would expect these to produce some kind engine knock or low oil pressure?
So, the code is BXE or BLS, I didn't understand this part.

[silestanix]

Wait, you had these for bearings in your low mileage 1.9 TDi in excellent condition? I would expect these to produce some kind engine knock or low oil pressure?
So, the code is BXE or BLS, I didn't understand this part.

I did indeed bud, the car was in perfect condition, no knocking, oil consumption or low oil pressure light... Nothing at all. I changed them as a precaution. A few weeks afterwards though the car didn't respond to any throttle input whilst I was on a busy dual carriageway and almost got me into a potentially dangerous accident. Dealer had it diagnosed as a bad accelerator pedal potentiometer sensor or something, but the garage cleared codes and couldn't replicate the fault. The dealer tried to shift blame to me saying when the VW Audi specialists in Harrow did the bearing work they'd messed up the timing as there was also a cam sensor fault. However this had been there since I'd purchased the car. After much arguing I'm considering legal action as consumer protection act protects me and I have all comms logged.

I lost trust in the car though, sold it the same morning I picked it up from the garage. Been driving 16 years, driven some thoroughly bad cars and never ever had any fear at all... That changed when the golf decided it didn't wanna respond to me pressing the throttle pedal.

I'd just had enough by then, my family ride with me in my car so I wasn't willing to put them in harms way.

[A6C5V6TDi]

I did indeed bud, the car was in perfect condition, no knocking, oil consumption or low oil pressure light... Nothing at all. I changed them as a precaution. A few weeks afterwards though the car didn't respond to any throttle input whilst I was on a busy dual carriageway and almost got me into a potentially dangerous accident. Dealer had it diagnosed as a bad accelerator pedal potentiometer sensor or something, but the garage cleared codes and couldn't replicate the fault. The dealer tried to shift blame to me saying when the VW Audi specialists in Harrow did the bearing work they'd messed up the timing as there was also a cam sensor fault. However this had been there since I'd purchased the car. After much arguing I'm considering legal action as consumer protection act protects me and I have all comms logged.

I lost trust in the car though, sold it the same morning I picked it up from the garage. Been driving 16 years, driven some thoroughly bad cars and never ever had any fear at all... That changed when the golf decided it didn't wanna respond to me pressing the throttle pedal.

I'd just had enough by then, my family ride with me in my car so I wasn't willing to put them in harms way.



I know exactly how you feel. I was experiencing the same thing when I was getting the 17965 overboost intermittent error on my MK4 TDi PD. Its bad because you don't know when its gonna happen. It took me ages to fix it, I finally fixed it when the thing started going to limp mode all the time, then an only then you could debug it and locate the problem, you can't fix something that happens once in a while.

Too bad you had to sell your Golf.

[Crasher]

I know exactly how you feel. I was experiencing the same thing when I was getting the 17965 overboost intermittent error on my MK4 TDi PD. Its bad because you don't know when its gonna happen. It took me ages to fix it,

Why did you have such trouble fixing it, there are only aq couple of possible reasons?

[A6C5V6TDi]

Why did you have such trouble fixing it, there are only aq couple of possible reasons?

It took some time before the vanes become very sticky and I could detect them as a root cause. The vanes were checked from day one, seemed perfectly fine, but I guess they were not. For a couple of years slightly sticky vanes combined with slightly faulty N75 caused a ton of headache.

[tditaff]

Out of interest, how much would a preventative conrod bearing change be on a BXE please?
Some time on my hands so thinking of things to be done...

[Crasher]

You can get a set of bearings for around £40, the bolts are about £45 only from VW and the sump goo is about £30 from VW for the proper type. Oil and filter and three hours ish to do.

[tditaff]

3 Hrs ish using a lift, probably a lot longer on axle stands I bet!
I need to rent a lift for a few days...

[Jon44w]

I’d be more inclined to get the work done if I had a BLS engine as they are very expensive second hand (£800 roughly)

BXEs on the other hand, should the worst happen, are easy to find at £300 give or take a few quid.

[Crasher]

probably a lot longer on axle stands I bet!

Yes, I do tend to take that for granted. I was putting new rings in an Audi 5 cylinder coupe yesterday and I was trying to do it with the car at a height where I could put a piston in then go below to fit the cap and after doing one I thought to hell with this and took it up and down each time... too old for lying on my back.