Oil Comsumption / Engine Problems with 2010/2011 Cali's

[SusiBus]

What was your battery problem?
Our experience may be able to help you. We suffered a long run of our battery going flat, after many visits to dealers it was finally diagnosed that because it is gone totally flat early in its life, and at that stage it should have been fully charged up, but wasn't, we'd just relied on the engine to recharge it, it never held a full charge after that and finally the battery had to be replaced.

 

[Gaila]

 

[AlanC]

We now have the oil problem!

The consumption shot up while we were in France. 650mls to 1.5Ltr.

When we got back I took the van to my local garage who I trust (not a VW dealer) and he spent some time pulling off the air intake (very clean), shining a light under the radiator bottle (all clear) and feeling around the exhaust (no oil film to be found). All appeared to be fine.

We decided to top up the oil and include some Force engine cleaner which I ran for 50 miles locally, no motorway or high revs. We then drained the oil and replaced it with 5W40 and a new filter.

This week I topped the oil up with 1.5 ltrs again having done 866 miles. An improvement but still poor.

In mitigation, my van has done 85k miles, very high for a 5 year old Cali I know, but it was a hire van in a former life. I am certain the company looked after it, but who knows what happened when it was wandering around Europe when on hire.

By the way the engine is a CFCA 180 DSG, Pendle mapped to 209BHP, but I do not race or rally it, and have spent many an hour recently cruising at 40 or 50 mph on the M3...!

There is a face book page about this issue you may like to look at.

VW T5.1 excessive oil use for CFCA engines.

Alan

 

[Borris]

An interesting way to highlight a complaint. Did it have any effect on VWs lack of willingness to help this owner resolve this issue?
Mind you, adopting this method of complaint with some cars and you wouldn't be able to see out of the windows for writing.

 

[Alan]

How bizarre is that ...
The same photo by 2 different people !
Oh I get it, it's been downloaded from the same source

 

[GrannyJen]

I have merged both threads ......

 

[AlanC]

The oil consumption is a real issue and manifests on the CFCA engine after about 50k miles.
Ours has done 85k now and we now have this problem.

Alan

 

[Alan]

So Alan....do you think models onwards 2010/11 can look forward to this problem?
Not sure if I read somewhere that it has been resolved on later models

Alan

 

[fred]

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/using-too-much-oil.10575/
@kazza

 

[MadMechanic]

From what I have read if your Cali is a 2010 to late 2011 there is a good chance you may have this problem as you reach higher mileage, and so far no goodwill from VW !!

 

[Kirk]

So if you have a 2010 or 2011 Cali you not only have the worry of the EGR going, we now have this

I

 

[WelshGas]

So Alan....do you think models onwards 2010/11 can look forward to this problem?
Not sure if I read somewhere that it has been resolved on later models

Alan

Apparently so.

 

[marshian70]

How does one tell if they have the 'affected' CFCA engine? My V5 has an engine no. on it but that starts CCH

 

[Alan]

Apparently so.

Back again....are you replying to my problem part of the question or the resolved part ?
Thanks WelshGas for your patience

Alan

 

[GrannyJen]

Where's the engine?

 

[WelshGas]

The engine type for the Diesel California since 2010 is the CFCA.
You would need the Manufacturing year of the engine.

 

[WelshGas]

Problem resolved post 2011 engines, so I was told.

 

[Suomi man]

One question: how do you realize you have the oil consumption problem? Does the oil light turn on or do you check the oil dipstick very often?
Cheers

 

[BerndRos]

If it's true that the issues were resolved post 2011 engines....this means that VW knew there was a problem at that time when the first of the facelifts such as mine from 2010 were still in warranty. So they knew that we would run into trouble likely after the warranty had expired and are now refusing to assist in putting this problem right.

This problem is clearly much more serious than the 'rusting roof' issues which they are sorting out.

If all this is so....shame on them...nothing but a bunch of crooks.

Group action required...?

 

[WelshGas]

Apparently, and I might be wrong, it wasn't every engine manufactured during that period that was affected, but an increased number. I think you would have to do some in-depth research. eg: Was there a Technical Note issued by VW regarding excess oil consumption in low mileage engines manufactured in 2010/2011.
I think you will have a fight on your hands but Legal knowledge could be of great assistance.

 

[AlanC]

So Alan....do you think models onwards 2010/11 can look forward to this problem?
Not sure if I read somewhere that it has been resolved on later models

Alan

Hi Alan,

I don't think I can comment on that. Certainly the CFCA engine, which is fitted to many 2010 vans, appears to be problematic.

Alan

 

[Alan]

BerndRos have you totally been denied of your claim from VW ?
I would have put money on you receiving some good will there !

Alan

 

[WelshGas]

You shouldn't depend on the Oil Warning light. Best practice is to check manually on a regular basis, depending on the mileage you cover. Normal Oil Usage would be about 1L every 10 - 15,000 miles, especially if you are on a Long Life Service Schedule.

The faulty engines can have oil consumption of 1L/300 miles. Maybe not a problem to an owner who only does a few thousand miles per year in the UK.

 

[BerndRos]

Well it must have come to their attention somehow or they would not have made modifications. I imagine that VW like others would have done high mileage engine tests on a test bed.

In fact the issue is likely far worse than my post above. At the time that they introduced the modified engines they would have known that days or weeks before they had sold vehicles with the suspect engine to unsuspecting buyers.

Owners on here have been concerned about residuals because of the roof rot issues but those issues were apparent to a potential buyer by visible inspection.

These engine issues are latent until the issue raises its ugly head and VW quote £7500 plus for a new base engine etc. I guess this means that ALL 2010/2011 vehicles with these engines are now unsaleable or only saleable with a £7500 reduction on the asking price.

What a scandal ?

 

[Californiaman]

Do we know what the problem is exactly? It sounds like the rings are sticking and allowing the oil to pass the rings and be burnt. I imagine a strip/rebuild of the pistons would be possible rather than a new engine?