£1300 on a new crank after it leaks oil... what?

est1984

People of the forum I'm looking for some advice from you.

Few of you may know that I last year bought a Scirocco, 2.0TDi it's my pride and joy I tell you. I travel around 500 miles a week, mainly motorway mileage, I have never really rev'd the !!!! out of it. Hardly go above the 4.000 rpm marker.

So anyway since I've had it, It's been in the garage for a few teething problems which I understand may/possibly come about as you change cars. Having a warranty gives you a peace of mind. So anyway issues have included faulty air conditioning (fitting of a faulting unit once after replacement immediately), faulty headlight unit and turbo boost sensor. Anyway I always go to VW to get it serviced, every 10,000 miles and make ensure it is in top nick to the best of my knowledge.

My car was approaching the 65,000 mile mark at the start of this year, so I decided to get my service done and at the same time had the cambelt changed. I was advised to have it changed at 70,000 so I thought lets just get it done early and it'll be good for the car. Along with this they advised me to have a crank seal change due to an oil leak, it was a few quid so I told them to change it for sure. Now this was slightly strange as before they had told me when it went in for its MOT in at the end of November it was leaking some oil and they had tightened a screw to stop it.

So anyway recently as I've been driving to work and it's been quite wet on the ground, I've noticed some strange stream of coloring on the floor next to my car, I didn't think to myself it was any oil. I did however take some pictures just in case it happened again then i know for sure it's coming from my car. Recently I had to take the company pool car home whilst leaving my car at work on a slight hill and in a secure car park, in the morning not only myself but most of my colleagues noticed something leaking from my car and I mean loads of it, there were traces of a stream down the slant. Definitely an oil leak coming from my car, booked it in but they couldn't see it until in about four or five days time.

I always keep a spare litre bottle of oil in my car due to the long miles I do, I never want to be in a position where my engine leaks oil and I haven't any to replace it, I know how serious it is to drive without the correct oil levels. I drove it to work knowing I should be okay as long as my oil levels are right. The day I had to drop it off I was going to work and I was probably only 4 - 5 miles away from work and my low level oil warning light came on, so I knew thank god I got enough oil, just get to work, during my break I'll check the levels and I'll fill it up, the oil level was below the minimum marker so I dumped the whole litre bottle in and I got to about half way and I decided to get another two just in case. Anyway I wanted to get the oil level all the way to the top, so I put in half of the bottle, checked the dipstick, and had room for another half, I dumped in the whole thing, check again and boy it looked like i shot the mark. I know I'm going on abit now so I'm going to shoot on abit. I called the RAC, he checked the levels and he said it was bang on the max marker, I have nothing to worry about. We also checked where the leak was coming from, and it was the crank seal again, took pictures of it too. Also noticed the acoustic sump barrier was zip tied onto the bottom of it, I wasn't happy about that - least of my problems I think.

That night I dropped it off and left it with security when it was closed as I always have done. Its been there ever since and I haven't brought it back as of this post. I told VW about it in the morning about the RAC coming down and we found the leak at the crank seal. During the day she rang me back and told me that they can't replace it until they get the part in to fix it so I'll have to wait another 5 days as it would have to be booked in again. Well I left the car there and another 5 days later they rang me up again and told me well they installed the seal, but there is still a leak in the car. The CRANKSHAFT isn't sitting on the crank seal properly, so they need to replace the crank itself. Yes, a full engine rebuild will be needed for that, new bearings, new bolts the lot - well I hope new bearings and bolts anyway. I'm annoyed but glad they rang me and told me its no problem , they've just got to get it authorized from VW and its 99.99999% sure that it'll be approvde and but it'll have to be booked in again for it to be worked on.

So the next day I'm told that it won't be done under warranty. Now my warranty expired on the 11 December 2012, and I bought the extended warranty on the 7th January. I had the service and the original crank seal replaced on the 11th. However my warranty doesn't come into efffect until after 30 days of payment, I'M !!!!ED but they have a recording, I've requested this.

One of my concerns is, that even if it was or wasn't under warranty, they should have checked the seal wasn't leaking again after the first time they fixed this. Has this originated from the screw that has been tightened, which was in November? Is the screw normally what secures the crank seal? I've been quoted £1300 for a new crank discounted from £2500 as I'm a good customer. I'm !!!!ed what are your guys thoughts on this if you've had it in you to read all of that above?

TradePro

Sorry to hear, but usual VW woes. I really don't understand why people continue to buy them, please be sure to make this your last one.

forgotmyname

Sure its not just a crap seal or fitted badly? Someone nicked it fitting it?

The nit was possibly the sump drain plug. They recommend you fit a new washer or new nut at each change sometimes. But they rarely do.

The issue is the oil light came on. This means the engine is damaging itself. Not enough pressure to protect itself.

Turbo diesel? SO the turbo bearings have probably also run dry. Even if briefly thats not good.

If you get the leak sorted, Get shot of it before the bigger bills come.

richard734

Dont dance or argue, go direct to teh UK CEO and get teh Directors complaints team involved - these guys have the power to make problems go away....
[EMAIL="robert.hazelwood@volkswagen.co.uk"]robert.hazelwood@volkswagen.co.uk[/EMAIL]
The biggest fear they have is ending up in teh media, being presented with evidence that they were aware and did nothing.

Joe_Horner

Personally I'd be worried that techs who failed to spot crank wear bad enough to prevent sealing while fitting a seal were competent to fit a seal properly in the first place.

Unless VW have invented something brand new for this engine (or gone back to old-style rope caulking!), the seal will be a rubber lip seal. In the sort of diameters used on cranks they generally have a tolerance of up to about 1/10mm or so on the shaft diameter provided there isn't a groove or pitting on the sealing area. A groove or pitting should be obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes and a finger nail. Checking for these is a fundamental part of replacing a seal and missing it leaves a very big question mark over their ability to fit without distorting or damaging the new seal.

If there is a groove (more likely than pitting) then, depending on the design, it can usually be salvaged by fitting the new seal very slightly (a couple of mm or so) "proud".

Alternatively, try to find a local engineering shop to fit a wear sleeve to your existing crank - it can usually be done with the engine fully assembled.

colino

Even in a modern engine, the crankshaft oil seal is a pretty simple, low-tech affair. If it needed changing at all, it was a faulty original part, the next did the same and they condemned the crank? Nonsense.
You would have to do some pretty serious gouging on the hardened crank to make it leak and if it was, of any sense materially oval, you would have needed a new engine by now.
What you really have is a blocked breather system and the oil is getting propelled through this weak link due to the excessive crankcase pressure.