High mileage B6 Passats

[the surfer]

Just out of curiosity, how many on here own high mileage Passats? It would be good to know age and model as well, also engine code if you know it.

My reason for asking is that I own a September '05 Passat 2.0 TDI and I'm slightly concerned about the oil pump/balance shaft issues.... I would be interested to see how common this is, what age cars are mostly affected and at what mileage. I've been told pre 2006 cars are most prone but I've heard reports of many later cars suffering the same fate.

Engine: BKP 2.0 TDI (140)
Age: built June 2005 and registered September 2005 (55 reg)
Mileage: 50,000
Info: no issues yet, although oil consumption seems fairly high

I would very much appreciate everyone's help, in a similar format as above (in bold). This may help me to decide on what preventative measures to take, if any. Thanks.

Dan

[martin1810]

The only preventative measure is fit an oil pressure guage and watch it. Other than that you take off the sump and get the balancer shaft and oil pump drive inspected.

[the surfer]

The only preventative measure is fit an oil pressure guage and watch it. Other than that you take off the sump and get the balancer shaft and oil pump drive inspected.

Thanks for the reply. I realise that the options are limited in terms of prevention, the main issue being cost; replacement of the oil pump and balance shaft unit will cost in excess of £1000! Obviously I don't want to go ahead and rip it out if it's all in good working order! I guess the only way to find out is to remove the sump for inspection.... I don't really like to gamble on things like this but what's the likelihood of it going milkers up? That's kind of what I'm trying to get at here.

[angus]

I`m pretty sure your Passat was built well before the oil pump issue (caused by `bought-in` parts, cars built in Feb-July 2006 according to my dealer that replaced the engine in both mine and the identical sister car) became a problem, so I can`t see that affecting your vehicle.
Plus, when it goes, it goes (I speak from experience) an oil pressure gauge will only tell you what you would already have discovered, there is no decrease in pressure, just sudden total loss.

[Quatrelle]

Dan - have you asked your VW dealer to check if your car is up for any of these 'recalls' - they should know...

[the surfer]

I`m pretty sure your Passat was built well before the oil pump issue (caused by `bought-in` parts, cars built in Feb-July 2006 according to my dealer that replaced the engine in both mine and the identical sister car) became a problem, so I can`t see that affecting your vehicle.
Plus, when it goes, it goes (I speak from experience) an oil pressure gauge will only tell you what you would already have discovered, there is no decrease in pressure, just sudden total loss.

I've been reliably informed (by Crasher) that the balance shaft assembly was revised on all models built after September 2005 from a chain setup to a gear-driven setup. My Passat has the chain-driven balance shaft / oil pump setup.

This is all quite interesting as I've seen a lot of Audi 2.0 TDI (BLB) engines, pre 2006, with oil pump failures. These were also chain driven. The balance shaft was 'upgraded' in September 2005 to a gear-driven unit. Then it appears this 'improved' setup caused more failures (in your case) in 2006 MY cars.

It's kind of a Catch 22: a) if I ignore this issue and the oil pump fails I will face a new engine and turbo; or b) I get the balance shaft and oil pump replaced to the revised units at a cost of around £1500, purely as a preventative measure of something that might possibly never happen.

Dan - have you asked your VW dealer to check if your car is up for any of these 'recalls' - they should know...

I bought my Passat 12 weeks ago from a main VW dealer. The Passat was originally purchased by this dealer as a demo, then it was sold to a local chap who owned it from 2006 to when I bought it, and it has full service history, again, from the same dealer.

I took the car in a couple of weeks ago for something and the invoice stated that there were no recalls required.

But in response to your question, no, I haven't physically asked at the dealership if there are any recalls outstanding on my car. I guess it would flag-up on their system when the car goes in if there are any recalls required. Or is that not the case?

Thanks.

[Quatrelle]

I asked my French dealer last year if mine needed a new fuel pump, they looked on the computer and said no.

To be fair, they have called mine in for the balance shaft and a couple of other things, so I do trust them.....

[tr8]

Depends on what you call high milage, my 58plate now has 67K on it and all is fine, my previous 05 plate went back with 186K and had the fuel pump go at 90k and the oil pump at 140k.
The oil pump had not fully gone but i noticed a ticking from the right hand side when i started one morning while loading the car, took it straight to the dealer some 5 miles away, was in a loan car in less than 20 mins, they claimed if i had done my normall 2-300 daily miles it would have not made the day.
VW paid all the costs except for a 20k service that is was booked in for the following week and had the car for 4 days.
The ticking noise was simular to when you have a stone in the tyre, but the car was not moving

[the surfer]

Depends on what you call high milage, my 58plate now has 67K on it and all is fine, my previous 05 plate went back with 186K and had the fuel pump go at 90k and the oil pump at 140k.
The oil pump had not fully gone but i noticed a ticking from the right hand side when i started one morning while loading the car, took it straight to the dealer some 5 miles away, was in a loan car in less than 20 mins, they claimed if i had done my normall 2-300 daily miles it would have not made the day.
VW paid all the costs except for a 20k service that is was booked in for the following week and had the car for 4 days.
The ticking noise was simular to when you have a stone in the tyre, but the car was not moving

Thanks for this.

You were very lucky you got the oil pump sorted just in time! Was the repair covered under warranty or did VW offer goodwill?

I'm at 50k at the moment; reaching 140k will take me the best part of 10 years as I do 10k miles a year maximum! By that time I'll have either sold the car on or I'll be able to get it repaired for a fairer amount of money.

This is what makes me lean towards the 'fingers crossed and hope' approach.

[johnloaderuk]

My 55 plate 2.0TDI 140 Sport came up 140k today. I've had the usual fuel pump, everything else has been mainly fine.

Have occasional hand brake warnings, which have always sorted itself after turning the ignition off then on again, and a couple of headlight bulbs, creaking suspension bushes replaced, and other than that just the usual wear and tear, pads/discs etc.

Bear in mind, however, you'll usually get to hear of problem cars, there must be many more times that without problems (hopefully).

I was happy to reach 140k today - until I got home and read about the oil pump in the above thread.