Why do you think there’s an issue with the engine?
Oil radiator installation. Possible troubleshooting solutions?
- Thread starter Alvaro.G
- Start date
If the bores have wear to the extend it's an issue, I guess it would be drinking oil too?
I don’t know there aren’t, so I want to know as much about this engine as possible before we head off to south of Spain (through France) next year.
If there are gremlins lurking, I want to know about them and correct them, before we leave.
It’s just turned over to 119,000 miles, the injectors have done some work, at best they’ll want cleaning, maybe replacing.
Oil consumption… non to very little.
Last year when we set off from Bilbao to Lourdes ( ferry was late and the site closed at 9) heavily loaded with the pedal nailed to the floor, it’s used some oil, I think about 1.5L, but that’s to be expected, most of the drive was well into three figures, we usually get 400mi to a tank, we just got to site when the fuel light come on.
I’ll do an oil dip today once everything is put away, see how she fared.
If there are gremlins lurking, I want to know about them and correct them, before we leave.
It’s just turned over to 119,000 miles, the injectors have done some work, at best they’ll want cleaning, maybe replacing.
Oil consumption… non to very little.
Last year when we set off from Bilbao to Lourdes ( ferry was late and the site closed at 9) heavily loaded with the pedal nailed to the floor, it’s used some oil, I think about 1.5L, but that’s to be expected, most of the drive was well into three figures, we usually get 400mi to a tank, we just got to site when the fuel light come on.
I’ll do an oil dip today once everything is put away, see how she fared.
119K miles should not be a concern as IMO that’s not high milage.
There’s a point where pulling machinery apart creates more problems than it cures.
Oil analysis is by far the cheapest, quickest, least invasive and most reliable method of spotting engine wear or inefficient combustion. 20 min’s max’.
I’d be asking someone without a financial incentive in the matter.Fair point, I’ll start with that
I was told by an engine builder that 100K is about the life of an injector.
I’ve had the van from new and it has never exceeded 10,000miles without a service.
It spent 90% of its like on motorways at full working temperature and fairly low load.
It’s had a few hard and fast runs in its time, but it was always warmed up and down properly.
119k isn’t that high a mileage, but it appears to be past best as it’s a CXEB engine.
Injectors will be coming out to check the bores, while the nice cooler assembly is off, the glow plugs will also be coming out too.
The engine builder has never worked on any of my engines, I simply can’t afford his time, he’s an old friend who builds engines for Le Mans.
It spent 90% of its like on motorways at full working temperature and fairly low load.
It’s had a few hard and fast runs in its time, but it was always warmed up and down properly.
119k isn’t that high a mileage, but it appears to be past best as it’s a CXEB engine.
Injectors will be coming out to check the bores, while the nice cooler assembly is off, the glow plugs will also be coming out too.
The engine builder has never worked on any of my engines, I simply can’t afford his time, he’s an old friend who builds engines for Le Mans.
So, after 3 weeks of driving through europe with the caravan i reluctantly say that the van's performance with all the upgrades really was underwhelming.
Now i know its a heavy beast and the CFCA (although remapped) isnt the best or most powerfull VAG engine out there but man did my van have trouble gettin up the hills in Germany and Croatia.
Ambient temps were between 25 and sometimes 35 degrees C and with a full load in the back (300kg) and towing a 1500kg caravan, the oil would sometimes still reach 125 degrees (with oil cooler) celcius, also the watertemperature occasionally went up to 100 degrees with speeds from 80 km/h to 110 km/h.
I have refilled the oil 2 times with in total 3 liters of 0W30 castrol over 3750 km
The conclusion for me is either to make the engine bulletproof and add an extra 50 Hp (atleast) or to buy a V class 300 D 4 matic...both will cost a lot of extra money i'm afraid.
Any good advice is appreciated.
Now i know its a heavy beast and the CFCA (although remapped) isnt the best or most powerfull VAG engine out there but man did my van have trouble gettin up the hills in Germany and Croatia.
Ambient temps were between 25 and sometimes 35 degrees C and with a full load in the back (300kg) and towing a 1500kg caravan, the oil would sometimes still reach 125 degrees (with oil cooler) celcius, also the watertemperature occasionally went up to 100 degrees with speeds from 80 km/h to 110 km/h.
I have refilled the oil 2 times with in total 3 liters of 0W30 castrol over 3750 km
The conclusion for me is either to make the engine bulletproof and add an extra 50 Hp (atleast) or to buy a V class 300 D 4 matic...both will cost a lot of extra money i'm afraid.
Any good advice is appreciated.
You’re squeezing blood from a stone, it’s going to go pop. Buy the correct towing vehicle or reduce the load.
With that oil consumption I think it’s safe to say your engine is already gone. It probably stumbles on as the engine management compensates like crazy trying to meet its targets as good as (still) possible till it self-destructs. Likely sooner than later.
You’re obviously looking at a new engine or better (imo) a rebuid by a specialist with beter pistons & rings that are available for some BiTurbo engines.
I’d also be vey cautious with remaps (in the future). Adding power = adding heat, there is no way around it. As these engines are already thermally vulnerable, remaps don’t exactly help reliability. My 2c.
You’re obviously looking at a new engine or better (imo) a rebuid by a specialist with beter pistons & rings that are available for some BiTurbo engines.
I’d also be vey cautious with remaps (in the future). Adding power = adding heat, there is no way around it. As these engines are already thermally vulnerable, remaps don’t exactly help reliability. My 2c.
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That’s a shame to hear you’ve had so much trouble with yours.
My 204 has been so much better since fitting the external oil cooler, before I was towing up hills with a 2 ton caravan with tamps around 120 (max recorded was 135!!).
Since the cooler was fitted and the map tweaked to clip the top end power a little, it’s been great, towing up hills on my way back from Newquay last month ambient of 25, oil temps where pretty solid at 100 +/- 5
I have a 590mm wide 10 row cooler fitted on top of my low temp coolant radiator.
I’ll be fitting a badge less upper grill soon, this will give me an additional 3rd of airflow over the cooler and rads.
It appears that your engine may have issues in other areas, it might be time to get a compression test and turbo inspection carried out before bigger problems show themselves.
With that oil consumption, I think the writing may well be on the wall.
My 204 has been so much better since fitting the external oil cooler, before I was towing up hills with a 2 ton caravan with tamps around 120 (max recorded was 135!!).
Since the cooler was fitted and the map tweaked to clip the top end power a little, it’s been great, towing up hills on my way back from Newquay last month ambient of 25, oil temps where pretty solid at 100 +/- 5
I have a 590mm wide 10 row cooler fitted on top of my low temp coolant radiator.
I’ll be fitting a badge less upper grill soon, this will give me an additional 3rd of airflow over the cooler and rads.
It appears that your engine may have issues in other areas, it might be time to get a compression test and turbo inspection carried out before bigger problems show themselves.
With that oil consumption, I think the writing may well be on the wall.
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I will have the engine tested very soon, the remap has been done by JD engineering in the Netherlands which is a VERY reputable tuner (probably one of the best in Europe) and my engine has been rebuild 40k km ago by the official dealer for € 14k (i have the invoices).
Only thing that hasn't been fitted new are the turbochargers which i will do if they are on the way out (maybe fit hybrids after all if i keep the van), maybe looking to an uprated IC as well.
Furthermore I will swap the 0W30 oil out for 10W60 to reduce oil consumption.
Just performed a compressiontest with VCDS (FWIW) and the following values came on:
Cylinder 1 : 370.5 /min
Cylinder 2 : 369.0 /min
Cylinder 3 : 368.5 /min
Cylinder 4 : 369.5 /min
I assume these values are correct given the fact that the engine runs smooth so these should be normal.
We'll see what happens, i'm not trying to hyjack this thread.
Ah… JD, so you’re Dutch? Same here. They are very well known at least…
I’d definitely get the bores inspected with a camera. This much oil disappearing via the turbos alone would be exceptional. Increasing the oil viscosity is not the way to reduce oil consumption imo. These engines are designed to run on 0W30 (like many modern engines) and shouldn’t drink oil. This is an interesting vid on the topic btw.
Without wanting to state the obvious, there is a limit to what you can ask from a small 2.0 diesel in a big van towing big weights. They are not far of thermal limits to start with, hence the high oil temps on most BiTurbos (and many engine failures). I’d thread wise and carefully…
I am with you on this one, but regarding the oil a friend of mine was travelling with us on our trip and he happens to have the same setup as we do except he has a T5.1.Ah… JD, so you’re Dutch? Same here. They are very well known at least…
I’d definitely get the bores inspected with a camera. This much oil disappearing via the turbos alone would be exceptional. Increasing the oil viscosity is not the way to reduce oil consumption imo. These engines are designed to run on 0W30 (like many modern engines) and shouldn’t drink oil. This is an interesting vid on the topic btw.
Without wanting to state the obvious, there is a limit to what you can ask from a small 2.0 diesel in a big van towing big weights. They are not far of thermal limits to start with, hence the high oil temps on most BiTurbos (and many engine failures). I’d thread wise and carefully…
His engine also rebuild and has around 50k km on it... he had the exact same problem as i did before therefore he switched to thicker oil (advice from his engine builder) and never had a problem with consumption again.
How exactly did you perform the test? Wherefrom are the values above - IDE-numbers?
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