A bit of advice for the high milers amongst us.....

[S11EPS]

Hey all  

A quick story which some of you may find useful......

Last weekend I was helping my friend bring his 129k mile Oak Green MkII 16v out of hibernation in time for the Newark jaunt on Sunday.

After a new battery and some fiddling it burst in too life and settled in to a sweet idle, seemingly problem free. We dropped in some fresh fuel and took it for a gentle run to check for any problems. We got no further then 300 yeards down the road before the oil light and buzzer came on.

Needless to say we pulled over quick, shut the engine off and checked the oil. It was sitting peachy on the dipstick, and was golden yellow (had a Mobil One change 200 miles pre-hibernation).

Cautiously we re-started, no oil light or buzzer, so we drove very carfully back to where the car was stored, only for it to come on again as we pulled up. Same procedure, engine off checked oil etc etc, all fine.

This carried on backwards and forwards before we both twigged that the buzzer/light coming on was also linked to an intermittent top end rattle. This was obviously a lack of oil getting to the top end, which not only was triggering a low pressure warning, but was also causing a state of oil starvation.

So we decided that the best sourse of action was to do another oil change, but also change the pump. Cue a hurried phonecall to our friend stuart of Eurocar parts in leeds, who sorted out the filter, pump and sump gasket for a few pennies over ?50.

Tonight we drained the oil, dropped the sump and changed the pump - and oh my God, was he lucky. I think the pump probably had 200 miles left in it before it gave up the ghost completely! The Oil pick-up was blocked with swarf (most of which was shreaded oil-pump gears rather than engine) and the bottom of the sump had, in places, 1/16 of an inch of swarf sat on the bottom.

After getting it all back together and suitably primed we fired it up and the difference was amazing. Not only has that rattle disappeared, but the temperature is lower and the car now runs smoother an faster (no doubt all down to much improved oil flow around the engine).

So, after all that, I will come to the moral of my story! If your car is getting to 15 years old and over 100,000 miles do yourselves and the car a favour - change the oil pump next time you do an oil change.

No only because the cost is negligable, but you will safeguard your engine for another 100k. Oil pumps are one of those components that are not easy to check, and if the pump does go full stop, you'll have no time to diagnose it before your engine goes pop.

[golfvr6]

Oil pumps will probably last a lot longer than 100k, the main problem is people neglect oil changes, this will mean death for the engine.
My advice would be, if the tappets rattle when the engine is warm and the engine has done a fair few miles, get the oil pressure checked. Its not expensive and will give you piece of mind.
ALWAYS change the oil regurlarly.
 

[star65]

I'm glad you said that, GolfVR6.  I've only just learned to change the oil and filter myself.  Was advised to do that every 5K, so will be doing from now on.

But my tappets rattle for a couple of seconds on start-up, then stop.  Is that the sign of impending doom, or is it just until the oil gets whacked around the system?

Hope it's not serious.  BTW, have 112K on the clock.

[golfvr6]

Its quite normal for the tappets to be noisey when the engine is first started from cold, or even until the engine has reached operating temperature.
This is because it takes time for the oil pressure to pump up the tappets.
In general the longer the tappets take to go quiet, the more worn they are.
If the tappets or cam is noisey when the engine has reached operating temperature, then get the oil pressure checked immediately.
High mileage isn't always a problem, bad or no servicing is.

[richandhazel]

I'm glad you said that, GolfVR6.  I've only just learned to change the oil and filter myself.  Was advised to do that every 5K, so will be doing from now on.

But my tappets rattle for a couple of seconds on start-up, then stop.  Is that the sign of impending doom, or is it just until the oil gets whacked around the system?

Hope it's not serious.  BTW, have 112K on the clock.

Make sure you have a genuine VAG oil filter fitted. It has a non return valve in it. The cheaper filters don't have the NRV and that can contribute to it taking longer for the oil to reach the head.

[JMallows]

I'm told by VW that to stop the noisy tappets use oil which is more "sticky" Basically when the engine is off oil drains back down into the sump, but this oil stays where it was or something, stopping the noise. I thinnk that tappets make noise regardless of age, but like the other person said, get worse with age... Somedays my car seems to "tick" for a while, but normally the tapping stops in about two seconds.

[star65]

Yes - I went to Vag dealer and bought VW filter and Synta? Silver oil fot it.

Is it necessary to change gearbox oil, too?

[golfvr6]

I would change the gearbox oil