Oil pump failure

[PajeroGolf]

Hi all
my neighbour was driving his A4 2.0 diesel S line 2007 when the oil pressure light came on. He stopped the car and got it recovered home.
it still starts and runs but the oil pressure light comes at 2000 rpm.
The local garage towed it away this morning and called later to say that they fitted an oil pressure gauge and found that the pressure was zero. This indicates that the oil pump has failed but would also need a balance shaft replacement too. The whole comes to about £2000.

I have no idea what a balance shaft is but why does it need changing when only the oil pump has failed. How can tell this without stripping anything from the engine to take a look. Are they taking advantage of him?

please advise.
thanx

PajeroGolf

[Rob69]

Hi
Search in the blog section of the website for a very informative post with photos about this failure by Crasher. search under common fault for 2.0tdi engine

[PajeroGolf]

Hi
Search in the blog section of the website for a very informative post with photos about this failure by Crasher. search under common fault for 2.0tdi engine

Hi Rob

Thanx for your prompt reply.

I did come across a post in the sticky about it but was very long and it talked about getting BBC Watchdog involved to get Audi to admit to a design fault. Do you know what became of that action plan. Was there a recall issued for this problem?

am I right in thinking that the root of the problem is the balance shaft chain and not the oil pump itself. Can he get away with just replacing the balance shaft or does the new design mean the whole lot needs changing?

All advice very much appreciated.
thanx

[Gazwould]

Is the balancer shaft oil pump gear or chain driven ?

If gear , its about £220 for updated longer key and remanufactured balancer shaft with deeper harder keyway from KMB Parts Direct.

Labour to fit from an indi £350 - £450 .

[Rob69]

Sorry - I've no personal experience or idea of watchdog involvement in this 2.0 litre problem as I've always stuck to the 1.9 tdi. From the discussions I've seen there seems to be no real short cuts or cheap fixes and it wasn't a recall.

[PajeroGolf]

Hi gazwould

No actual work been done on the car so we can't tell what type of mechanism is in there. I suppose sump needs to come off to see it?

Can anybody tell from the chassis number?

[PajeroGolf]

The chassis number is Wauzzz8e379210675 and the engine number Is BRD023854.

Any ideas experts?

[Gazwould]

Highly likely to be geared .

[PajeroGolf]

Is that based on the Engine code ?

[Gazwould]

Yes, rule of thumb early are chain, later are geared .