VAG 2.0 TDi Engines - Problems?

Gumbo

Guys, my cousin is looking at a Passat 2.0 TDi DSG.
The 140bhp version., circa 2006 models.

Problem is, i have heard many bad stories about the 2.0 engine being trouble, is there any truth to this?

Yep, especially the earlier ones. Oil pump would be the biggest worry imo, the injectors are potential trouble on so many modern diesels it's not really fair to slag the VAG over them.

galwaytt

RoverJames wrote: »

Yep, especially the earlier ones. Oil pump would be the biggest worry imo, the injectors are potential trouble on so many modern diesels it's not really fair to slag the VAG over them.

Afraid so.. . Injectors, wiring looms, is fond of oil, dmf, warning lights for everything.
Make sure you have breakdown cover.

Not VWs finest hour.

Don't want to tempt fate, but our 9-3 diesel has been a much better car. 160k kms, nothing needed yet.

Gumbo

cheers guys, considering he is thinking of retiring the trusty Camry he has had since new in 2002 for this (Full Time Taxi Driver), i think he may have to re-consider.

Plenty of the 1.9s about

-Corkie-

kceire wrote: »

cheers guys, considering he is thinking of retiring the trusty Camry he has had since new in 2002 for this (Full Time Taxi Driver), i think he may have to re-consider.

There is a fairly large thread here about the injectors alone..

bazz26

RoverJames wrote: »

Plenty of the 1.9s about

Not with the DSG box however.

George Dalton

galwaytt wrote: »

Afraid so.. . Injectors, wiring looms, is fond of oil, dmf, warning lights for everything.
Make sure you have breakdown cover.

Not VWs finest hour.

Don't want to tempt fate, but our 9-3 diesel has been a much better car. 160k kms, nothing needed yet.

Hardly the most scientific basis for deciding the 9-3 is better

A customer of mine has a 06 9-3 diesel with 186000kms on it as of last week. Since I first saw it at 145000km it has needed an EGR valve, an alternator, a dual mass flywheel and an intake manifold throttle flap. Now I'm not saying that is average or that they are a bad car just making the point that you can't make a judgement without having more experience of the cars.

Equally I did a service on a 05 2.0 TDI Passat yesterday with 240,000km on it and the engine has never been touched. The DMF was done to be fair but there is no getting away from that with any modern diesel. Again I'm not saying that every 2.0 will be this reliable in fact I know they won't be. But from reading on the internet you would think that they were the worst car on the road, and believe me they are far from that.

galwaytt

George Dalton wrote: »

Hardly the most scientific basis for deciding the 9-3 is better

A customer of mine has a 06 9-3 diesel with 186000kms on it as of last week. Since I first saw it at 145000km it has needed an EGR valve, an alternator, a dual mass flywheel and an intake manifold throttle flap. Now I'm not saying that is average or that they are a bad car just making the point that you can't make a judgement without having more experience of the cars.

Equally I did a service on a 05 2.0 TDI Passat yesterday with 240,000km on it and the engine has never been touched. The DMF was done to be fair but there is no getting away from that with any modern diesel. Again I'm not saying that every 2.0 will be this reliable in fact I know they won't be. But from reading on the internet you would think that they were the worst car on the road, and believe me they are far from that.

It's a perfect basis when I have to use the Passat for work and can't trust it, it's been recovered 3 or 4 times, and dealer's can't fix it (no fault found was the latest one, according to their computer, so they wouldn't do anything........a few days later it dies again - this time 200kms from home). If I want to go anywhere, and want to get back, I bring the Saab. That's the best measure there is.

The way you say the Passat is not the worst, is a tacit admission that it's nowhere near being the best. QED.

All of the parts you've replaced on the Saab I'd say are reasonable. Injectors and wire looms sitting down, is not.

George Dalton

I can understand why you feel that way about the Passat when you have obviously had a bad experience with yours. But my original point still stands. One troublesome car doesn't mean they are all bad. Equally one trouble free Saab doesn't make them all that good. That is all I was trying to say above.

Incidentally, on the injector issue, if you buy a 140bhp car with Bosch injectors you will very rarely have injector problems. It is only the Siemens piezo type injectors that give the trouble. The Bosch solenoid type injectors are very reliable.

The biggest problem with these engines in my opinion is the oil pump and balance shaft drive problems. I would advise having this checked out on any car you buy. For the sake of oil, a filter and a couple of hours labour to drop the sump and check the drive system it is well worth it. As with everything prevention is better than cure. If you spot an issue early it could save you thousands.

cadaliac

George Dalton wrote: »

....

The biggest problem with these engines in my opinion is the oil pump and balance shaft drive problems. I would advise having this checked out on any car you buy. For the sake of oil, a filter and a couple of hours labour to drop the sump and check the drive system it is well worth it. As with everything prevention is better than cure. If you spot an issue early it could save you thousands.

Realistically - who is going to do this when buying a car?
Nobody.
The oil pump is weak. This can lead to other drastic failures on the engine including Turbo oil starvation/failure.
They are best avoided unless you can be guaranteed that all of your suggested work has been carried out (with success) and they happen to have the "correct" injectors that don’t fail.
In other words OP - tell your friend to avoid. I know I would.

George Dalton

The situation is not black and white. There is no way of saying for definite that Car A will give you trouble or for that matter Car B will be trouble free. Every car has its weak points. If you are aware of these weak points at least you can take steps to prevent them happening and minimise the risk.

If the OP avoids a 2.0TDI because of this well known issue then who is to say he may not end up buying another car with an equally serious but less well publicised issue and end up getting hit with an equally big repair bill?

cadaliac

George Dalton wrote: »

The situation is not black and white. There is no way of saying for definite that Car A will give you trouble or for that matter Car B will be trouble free. Every car has its weak points. If you are aware of these weak points at least you can take steps to prevent them happening and minimise the risk.

If the OP avoids a 2.0TDI because of this well known issue then who is to say he may not end up buying another car with an equally serious but less well publicised issue and end up getting hit with an equally big repair bill?

Agreed. This is the case and also another fact to think about is that the VW Passats are an extremely popular car here in Ireland and hence each issue is widespread - meaning the high volume of Passats on the roads will lead to a higher percentage of issues being published on boards like these.
However, I have firsthand experience of VW "reliability" and I will never again buy a VW. But that's just me.

George Dalton

Well that is understandable in your case of course. The thing is that no matter what car you mention if you do enough google searching you will find someone who has had a nightmare with one.

richardsheil

Does it depend if the 2.0 Tdi is the earlier PD type or the later Common Rail George?

JJJJNR

143k miles no issues on my 05 2.0TDi SEAT Altea.. Has had nothing but regular servicing.

George Dalton

richardsheil wrote: »

Does it depend if the 2.0 Tdi is the earlier PD type or the later Common Rail George?

The well documented injector issue doesn't affect the CR engines. The oil pump issue seems to be largely sorted with them as well though not completely.

richardsheil

Great, mine's a Sep 08 CR. Should be ok I think.