EGR Failure ongoing issues

[envio]

I have a 2018 T6 California which I have owned for approx 2 years. Last summer I started losing large amounts of coolant and it took quite a few months (and the van behaving poorly) before it was diagnosed as being a faulty EGR. This was fixed just before Christmas and everything seemed ok. Then early this year the engine started making a squeaking/chirping sound.It started off very quietly , but got progressively louder. It has been in and out of the garage so many times for diagnosis attempts. Finally, I have been told it's the 'rear main crank shaft bearing' (can't remember exact wording) because there seems to be little/no oil. I've been taking the van to my local dealer (non VW approved) and they are saying it's awful how this has happened on a van that's only done about 20k miles. They are able to fix it but have warned me it's going to be in the thousands.

I suspect the coolant has leaked into the engine during the EGR failure and reacted with the oil in the engine to cause this new issue. I've been told they don't know why there is a lack of oil there (a different garage fixed the EGR) and therefore can't say with any certainty that it won't happen again.

I'm absolutely at a loss as to what to do. I feel like VW will charge me even more for the same work and I'm very unlikely to get the work paid for, even given the age of the vehicle.

Any words of advice would be most welcome.

 

[DXX]

Interesting diagnosis. For them to be able to do this they must have stripped the engine???
If one bearing is starved of oil so will the others.
If their diagnosis is true I’d be surprised if just one main bearing is damaged. You may find it‘s cheaper to exchange a complete short engine block.

There is a possibility that the coolant emulsified the oil but that will be obvious to any mech’ that looks at the engine and you haven’t mentioned that.
An oil analysis will reveal any wear, especially on bearings, costs about £50 to do yourself.

 

[envio]

Interesting diagnosis. For them to be able to do this they must have stripped the engine???
If one bearing is starved of oil so will the others.
If their diagnosis is true I’d be surprised if just one main bearing is damaged. You may find it‘s cheaper to exchange a complete short engine block.

There is a possibility that the coolant emulsified the oil but that will be obvious to any mech’ that looks at the engine and you haven’t mentioned that.
An oil analysis will reveal any wear, especially on bearings, costs about £50 to do yourself.

Thanks for the info. I've just be down to speak to them again as I'm not the most experienced in car parts. The owner was good enough to draw me a diagram. They didn't say it was stripped, but they did say they were able to look in at the bearings and see that the bearing next to the oil filter was fine, but then as they got further away from the pump there was less oil in each one. One of their suggestions was to replace the oil pump and hope that fixed the issue, but that it's likely some of the components have been worn/damaged by the lack of oil. I've told them to go ahead and give that a go. Is it worth me keeping the van or would it be better to count my losses and part exchange it?

 

[Dellmassive]

So many questions here....

I don't know where to start.

Can you get a pic of the diagram the garage drew for you?

.

Low oil level.will bring on a light on the dash... Did you see one?


Low oil pressure will bring a different red light on the dash.... Did you see one?

Loosing coolant.... How long was it going on for?... How often did you check?

..

 

[Gavinda]

No, don't have anything else done until you've had a second opinion.

 

[DXX]

Thanks for the info. I've just be down to speak to them again as I'm not the most experienced in car parts. The owner was good enough to draw me a diagram. They didn't say it was stripped, but they did say they were able to look in at the bearings and see that the bearing next to the oil filter was fine, but then as they got further away from the pump there was less oil in each one. One of their suggestions was to replace the oil pump and hope that fixed the issue, but that it's likely some of the components have been worn/damaged by the lack of oil. I've told them to go ahead and give that a go. Is it worth me keeping the van or would it be better to count my losses and part exchange it?

Able to look in at the bearings??? Some sort of clairvoyant involved it seems.
Take it elsewhere and see if there is actually a problem. Main bearings don’t squeak when they fail, there would be a rumble probably followed by a catastrophic failure.

 

[Gavinda]

It's not unknown for certain professionals to take advantage of those who apear to lack a depth of knowledge in their particular field. Make sure your mechanic's not one of those people.

 

[envio]

If it helps, I have a video of the issue here:

Issue

The chirping has become significantly louder since this video was taken.

 

[DXX]

If it helps, I have a video of the issue here:

Issue

The chirping has become significantly louder since this video was taken.

Sounds like a belt or tensioner, definitely not a main bearing IMO. Has anybody inspected the auxiliary (ribbed belt) and timing belt mechanisms?

 

[envio]

Sounds like a belt or tensioner, definitely not a main bearing IMO. Has anybody inspected the auxiliary (ribbed belt) and timing belt mechanisms?

They say they have replaced the cam belt and water pump (I have seen a video online with an almost identicle noise related to that). Is this another belt I should be mentioning to them? I believe they mentioned checking a tensioner the first time they looked at it.

 

[DXX]

Have you taken the van elsewhere for a second opinion yet? When you do have the history of previous investigations with the dates and milage to hand. My advice is don’t mention the ‘main bearing failure’, don’t appear desperate and don’t let on that you don’t have much knowledge with car engines.
If the noise is getting worse and you continue to drive it without getting a diagnosis / repair you could end up with a large bill.

 

[Gavinda]

They say they have replaced the cam belt and water pump (I have seen a video online with an almost identicle noise related to that). Is this another belt I should be mentioning to them? I believe they mentioned checking a tensioner the first time they looked at it.

Why would you need to mention anything to them? They're the ones who should be able to diagnose and fix problems, if not I'd be going elsewhere.