VW Touran Engine Blown Up

Tiggytico

If anyone else has a conrod problem with a BXE engine,please, please, please can they report and complain to the following: VOSA, SEAT/VW/Skoda/AUDI as appropriate andthen also contact Watchdog. VOSA took mycomplaint seriously, but unfortunately there have been no other reports to themof such a failure and my prints out from websites such as this are “unsolicited”and therefore they are unable to take them into consideration. Thank you.

This is my story:

I am the owner of a SEATToledo and on 1st July, it broke down whilst driving on my localbypass. The AA recovery service diagnosed a conrod through the engine block andtowed it to a local AA approved service repair centre.

Whilst talking to familyand colleagues (mainly Engineers) about this unfortunate incident, they havebeen very shocked and surprised that a car which is only 4 years old shouldhave such a problem. I am upset that this has happened being as I bought thecar last year for nearly £7K, thinking that I was buying a quality car that Iwould be able to use for my commute to work. The car has FSH up to the purchasedate and has since been regularly serviced by my father, who is a qualifiedengineering fitter. My father has been maintaining vehicles all of hisprofessional working life and has spent the last 35 years as the WorkshopManager for XXX, maintaining a fleet of HGV’s. All I’m trying to point out bythat background information is that my car hasn’t been serviced by someone whodoesn’t know what they are doing and just “tinkers” with vehicles in theirspare time! I’m sure that you can appreciate that when you have a professionalin the family, it doesn’t make sense to continue having my car serviced by anexpensive main dealer.

I had assumed that maybethis incident, whilst unfortunate, was perhaps “one of these things”, but onresearching the internet, I understand that this is a common fault with thistype of engine. Please find attached a significant quantity of forum reportsfrom others who have experienced the same problem. Some have been fortunateenough to have the manufacturer give a “goodwill” payment; others have not.

Whilst I understand thatthe SEAT warranty is only 3 years and I am now out of that period, I believethat this fault causes the car to be “unfit for purpose “under the definitionof the Sale of Goods Act. I understand that owning a car which is 4 years oldcarries a risk, but I believe that SEAT should be acknowledging this as adefect in their manufacturing and should be resolving the issue for me. Youwill understand that I find this financially devastating.

The customer service I havereceived from both the SEAT Head Office and the SEAT dealership has been superb– I cannot fault either for politeness, helpfulness and responsiveness, howeverit is the decision made by SEAT Head Office to not resolve this issue for me attheir cost which I am aggrieved about. They had agreed to a “goodwill gesture” of50% if the dealership would match this. The dealership wouldn’t and to behonest I don’t blame them; I didn’t purchase the car from them in the firstplace (purchased from XXX), therefore it is not really their concern. As thedealership wouldn’t offer a goodwill payment, SEAT Head Office will also notoffer me anything. Incidentally XXX aren't interested in helping me either as Ipurchased the car 15 months ago.

The SEAT dealership stripped down the engine and reported the following:Carriedout investigation into engine damage. unable to start vehicle to lack of oilwithin engine. Carried out gff and checked for any relevant TPI's all ok.Carried out visual check, found hole in engine to oil cooler, new enginerequired. Stripped engine and found hardly any oil left in the engine this hascaused the conrod to go through the engine.

The above simply isn’ttrue. Having previously owned a car which drank oil, I religiously check theoil level in my car - once a fortnight. I had checked the oil on 28th Maybefore making a trip to Great Yarmouth (4.5 hr drive) and again on the 1st Junebefore leaving for Birmingham airport as part of my normal holiday routine. (1hour drive) It was parked at Birmingham airport for a fortnight, so I did notcheck it again before the engine seized - in the year I've owned the car, it'snever been heavy on oil-infact I really can't remember if I've even had to topit up. I don't believe that my car was suffering an oil loss for two reasons -the first being that we've just had (in June 2012) a new block paved drivewaybuilt and if the car was leaking oil, I would have been well aware and upsetabout it. I can also categorically confirm that no oil warning light came on(even though I don't rely on this to tell me that I need to top up the oil).



The engine seized whilstdriving down the bypass in XXX and managed to get it into "Homebase"car park so it was safely out of the way (approx 1/4 mile). My dad told me offfor this, but the AA man said that I couldn't have done anymore damage bydriving it, as the engine was as bad as it gets anyway. Both the car and theroad were covered in oil (you can still see the trail of oil stain on the roadnow). So it's no wonder that there is NOW hardly only oil left. But that's thereason -the conrod threw causing the hole which caused the oil leak. Not thatthere was no oil which caused the conrod to throw.



In addition to the variousinformation I’ve found regarding others having the same problem with thisengine code – BXE, I’ve also enclosed photographic evidence that there is nosign on the engine bearings of the engine seizing. If the engine had of seizeddue to lack of oil there would be scoring/damage to the bearings.



A catastrophic enginefailure such as this is dangerous. Luckily we were driving on a relativelyquiet piece of road, albeit with my two young children (aged 1 and 2) in theback seat. If I have been driving down the motorway when this occurred, thiscould have led to a fatal accident.



In summary, I believe thatthere is a manufacturing defect with the conrods on engine code BXE and Ibelieve that the financial cost of putting this right should be met by SEAT. Ialso believe that from a safety perspective a recall on these engines should beconsidered.



I have just had the carrepaired at my own cost (£2,400) by purchasing an engine from a salvaged carand it's been fitted by SEAT. I've asked them to save me the conrods out of myold engine incase there is any need for me to get them independently tested.



I’ve since parted companywith the car as I need a safe car to drive – I cannot take the risk of owning adangerous car, but I still aggrieved at the injustice.

epninety

Tiggytico wrote: »

I’ve since parted companywith the car as I need a safe car to drive – I cannot take the risk of owning adangerous car, but I still aggrieved at the injustice.

Out of curiosity, did you make the new keeper aware that you believe the car to be dangerous?

Little_Bo-peep

Hi

My 4 year old VW Golf broke down last weekend and it appears the con rod has fallen out and knocked a great big hole in my engine! We're currently trying to argue it out with VW but as we don't use a VW dealer for servicing, etc. I presume we don't have a leg to stand on! our only hope is an engine recall, but doubt this will ever happen or even if it does it won't be in time for us! anyone got any suggestions? When we originally phoned VW they told us we had to take it to our nearest VW garage so they could strip the engine and find the cause of the problem. Does this mean that they will pay for this or will we have to pay hundreds of pounds just to be told we will not get any money? anyone know how this works? if we have to get a new engine fitted then we certainly can't afford these extra costs on top & feel it's unfair as they said we had to take it there when our own garage had already done this! any help much appreciated.

Krustybug

Hi all. We own a 2007, 57 plate, VW Touran 1.9 tdi, last Friday it threw its number 2 Con-rod through the engine block. There had been no warning signs, ie knocking or warning lamps on, prior to the detonation. I was alarmed to see the engine fail in such a catastrophic manor.

After taking it to the local VW agent, and being told the engine was a write off and we were looking at a bill of approximately £4k I contacted VW UK customer service. A customer service rep from VW UK stated that, the car was over 5 years old and had covered 99k miles so it had been fit for purpose and further suggested that the failure was acceptable. Following that call we contacted VW in Germany, now waiting for their response.

We have only ever had it serviced at the VW main agent, every time within the service times and with the correct oil. It had only been serviced 4 months ago.

It would appear that there might be a faulty batch of engines/Con-rods, which VW will not obviously want to admit to. The Con-rod failures seems to only affect the BXE 1.9tdi (105bhp) engine, and from what I have found on the internet the failures seem to affect 57/08 plate VAG group cars.

I am considering starting to compile a list of VW cars with blown engines to then present to VW, VOSA safety branch and watchdog.

If you have experienced this issue or are involved with dealing with these engines any information would be great. I would need ideally the engine number, or at least the VIN number. VW in Germany cannot identify them from the registration number alone. If we can show that there may have been a batch/engine build run problem then it will be hard for VW to ignore.

lotstodo_2

I have had the same problem at 86000 miles. VW are in denial. I have reported to Vosa and watchdog, I have already contacted VW and Xray (Watchdog Wales) and agree that everyone should do the same.

cb1979

You would not expect a conrod to fail at all in any modern engine unless it has run out of oil,especially a low powered, low reving diesel engine
People think of VW being German made but they source their parts from all over the world
It is possible the failed conrods are from a large batch made within a short period of time

Tiggytico

epninety wrote: »

Out of curiosity, did you make the new keeper aware that you believe the car to be dangerous?

It went to the dealership; so another "out of pocket expense" as I could have sold it for a lot more it I'd done so privately..., but I couldn't - I've moaned about it sooo much in public that I couldn't risk any comeback.

mike_the_bike_2

Where can I find out approx how many VW group cars fitted with BXE 1.9PD units were sold in the UK with 07/08 plates?

I'm trying to work out the % failure rate of these units with con rods shooting through the crank cases.

lotstodo_2

VW have totally washed their hands of it. I am about to start with the Dealership and ask how their mechanics can say that it is normal for this to happen. I have contacted VOSA and completed the Defect report form, I suggest everyone who has experienced the problem does the same as they will follow it up, whether or not they have fixed the problem or sold the car. By the way my engine number is WVGZZZ1TZ8W041437, It would be good to get a list of the engine numbers together it may give a clearer picture. I have started writing a questionaire for VW any suggestions for questions to be included so far

Please complete the questions below in relation to Volkswagen Group vehicles:

1 How many vehicles have you been notified of with engine failure due to the con rod?

2 What engines i.e. size/date of manufacture/registration year, have these vehicles been?

3 What was the mileage on the vehicles?

4 What may cause such a failure?

5 Were there any changes in the production of these engines just prior to 2007/8? E.g. change in metal supplier?/transferred to new factory?

6 Were any faults noted with the cleaning or machinery used in the production of these engines during this time?

7 What is Volkswagen’s expectation of the longevity of their engines?



We need to keep on to VW I can't afford not to.

Thanks

lotstodo_2

Little_Bo-peep wrote: »

Hi

My 4 year old VW Golf broke down last weekend and it appears the con rod has fallen out and knocked a great big hole in my engine! We're currently trying to argue it out with VW but as we don't use a VW dealer for servicing, etc. I presume we don't have a leg to stand on! our only hope is an engine recall, but doubt this will ever happen or even if it does it won't be in time for us! anyone got any suggestions? When we originally phoned VW they told us we had to take it to our nearest VW garage so they could strip the engine and find the cause of the problem. Does this mean that they will pay for this or will we have to pay hundreds of pounds just to be told we will not get any money? anyone know how this works? if we have to get a new engine fitted then we certainly can't afford these extra costs on top & feel it's unfair as they said we had to take it there when our own garage had already done this! any help much appreciated.

Report the car to VOSA, please, they are already aware of others.