BiTdi 180 Problems: Looking for help

[Beard]

Hi

Let's get this first point off my chest right away: I do not, unfortunately, own a California.

What I do have the mixed misfortune of owning though is a 2011 BiTdi 180 Caravelle, bought in mid September 2017. Mixed because I and my clan love it, but it drinks oil like it's been swallowing aluminium particles from a dodgy EGR cooler for a while. And I'm pretty sure some of you lucky Cali owners are in that same place mechanically.

What I'm trying to do is get a snowball on the go that results in a formal recall of these affected engines so VW do the right thing (I realise the effect that such a statement will have had on some of you, but I keep waking up optimistic). I think the path to achieving that includes: a) an independent engineer report that will carry weight with the powers that be; and b) an organised, systematic collation of known problems and actions taken, vehicle by vehicle, to support the report and gives us the best chance of success.

So I'm wondering if there's anyone out there in Cali land that's amazingly well organised, tenacious, has time on their hands (e.g. a retired project manager) and who fancies being a key part of this challenge.

Answers on a postcard please, or at least a response with a pic of your Cali to give me something to aspire to.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[MattBW]

My Dad runs a diesel remanufacture company and often does reports for faulty engines. Although the majority of his work now is trucks and fire sprinkler systems, he has done quite a few VW vehicles in his time.

I have no idea what it would cost but I suspect it would depend upon the work involved and whether the engine could be examined in the van or would need to be removed.

His engineering reports are usually lengthy and include lots of photos and descriptions of wear etc.

http://www.enginepower.org.uk

 

[Jay586]

There's a FB group already, unless you're part of it? There's another thread on here where it's discussed at length, I think, too.

 

[AlanC]

Hi Steve,

I have seen your posts on the Facebook group.

There was a poll conducted on this forum sometime ago about the 180bhp engine issues and I was surprised to see from the response, that few members were experiencing them. I put this down to the lower mileage that the average campervan does over it's lifetime in comparison to a working vehicle or family one used everyday.

So apart from those few owners, most of who will be on the Facebook group, I think there will be only a small response to your request.

I only know of one other Cali owner who has had an new base engine installed and that was the last one I know of that had a generous 'good will' contribution from VWUK

I gave up my battle with VWUK back in December last year and paid for a new base engine fitted by a dealer. After 8k miles all seems OK at the moment. Long may it be so.

I wish you luck with your search.

Alan

 

[Beard]

My Dad runs a diesel remanufacture company and often does reports for faulty engines. Although the majority of his work now is trucks and fire sprinkler systems, he has done quite a few VW vehicles in his time.

I have no idea what it would cost but I suspect it would depend upon the work involved and whether the engine could be examined in the van or would need to be removed.

His engineering reports are usually lengthy and include lots of photos and descriptions of wear etc.

http://www.enginepower.org.uk

Thanks Matt. I'll take a look.

 

[Beard]

There's a FB group already, unless you're part of it? There's another thread on here where it's discussed at length, I think, too.

Yeah, I joined that FB group fairly recently. Bit surprised there's not much more than a lot of people saying they have the problem and their various approaches to dealing with it, hence the desire to try to get some kind of group action going.

 

[Beard]

Hi Steve,

I have seen your posts on the Facebook group.

There was a poll conducted on this forum sometime ago about the 180bhp engine issues and I was surprised to see from the response, that few members were experiencing them. I put this down to the lower mileage that the average campervan does over it's lifetime in comparison to a working vehicle or family one used everyday.

So apart from those few owners, most of who will be on the Facebook group, I think there will be only a small response to your request.

I only know of one other Cali owner who has had an new base engine installed and that was the last one I know of that had a generous 'good will' contribution from VWUK

I gave up my battle with VWUK back in December last year and paid for a new base engine fitted by a dealer. After 8k miles all seems OK at the moment. Long may it be so.

I wish you luck with your search.

Alan

Thanks Alan. I can understand giving up the battle; it certainly looks a pretty steep hill, but then mine's got 4motion so that should help. I'll try a few avenues and see if I / someone with a whole load more clout than I can force the magic recall that should have happened before I even bought mine.

 

[WelshGas]

https://honestaboutcars.com/tag/cfca/

 

[Beard]

https://honestaboutcars.com/tag/cfca/

Thanks WelshGas. I've read that already, and a thousand other pages besides; that was one of the most depressing reads. There's a phrase, "the problems are serious" I think, that filled me with the opposite of joy.

What I was hoping to do when I found out what a bad decision I'd made was jump on the group action bandwagon hurtling in VW's direction, but, amazingly, there doesn't appear to be one. So what I'm trying to do now is get one rolling but, like most of the people who have this problem, time is a challenge.

So I'm not necessarily looking for more info about the problem, although everything helps; I'm trying to find someone with time and the right skill set who can help drive this bandwagon and pull together the real life occurrences to support a formal, group level challenge with a view to getting a) a recall, and b) compensation for those who've forked out lots of money they shouldn't have had to.

 

[RodCouncil]

I collected our Van from VW Stockholm after having some new tyres and earth shunt sorted and they know all about this issue with the 180's, he was very open that they have dealt with so many failures but wasn't definate that it was the EGR or substandard sleeving or even usage related. Seems that a problem exists but not a definitive root cause.

 

[Beard]

I collected our Van from VW Stockholm after having some new tyres and earth shunt sorted and they know all about this issue with the 180's, he was very open that they have dealt with so many failures but wasn't definate that it was the EGR or substandard sleeving or even usage related. Seems that a problem exists but not a definitive root cause.

And that's where the expert witness who's report will carry weight in the right places comes in. Thanks for that info.

 

[WelshGas]

And that's where the expert witness who's report will carry weight in the right places comes in. Thanks for that info.

There was a problem in 2010/2011 MY that was " apparently " corrected. Most commercial vehicles with the CFCA engine were sorted during warranty because of their milage. What you are seeing now is the " Non-Commercial " vehicles with the same engine which have been low milage, in comparison, approaching the trigger milage of about 60,000 +/- experiencing the problems. Probably small in number, overall, and hence VW's attitude. I do think they should be offering some goodwill towards those vehicles with a full VW service history.
I'm not totally convinced about the EGR theory but as you have said there isn't any independent assessment of the actual cause of this problem and I think VW are hoping it will just wither on the vine so to say.
Blanking off the EGR and DPF delete as some have done will mean VW will definitely NOT consider those vehicles at all, ever.

 

[Beard]

There was a problem in 2010/2011 MY that was " apparently " corrected. Most commercial vehicles with the CFCA engine were sorted during warranty because of their milage. What you are seeing now is the " Non-Commercial " vehicles with the same engine which have been low milage, in comparison, approaching the trigger milage of about 60,000 +/- experiencing the problems. Probably small in number, overall, and hence VW's attitude. I do think they should be offering some goodwill towards those vehicles with a full VW service history.
I'm not totally convinced about the EGR theory but as you have said there isn't any independent assessment of the actual cause of this problem and I think VW are hoping it will just wither on the vine so to say.
Blanking off the EGR and DPF delete as some have done will mean VW will definitely NOT consider those vehicles at all, ever.

EGR theory sounds good to me; I've not heard a stronger case for another cause (although my local dealer was talking about cheap supermarket fuel, particularly Sainsbury's, being an engine clogger).

I think there are some distinct camps:

1. Those that have the problem (whether they know it or not) and have done nothing so far.

2. Those that have had the problem and have been sorted by VW without paying a penny, lucky buggers.

3. Same as camp two but who have contributed along with some "good will" from VW / dealer.

4. Those that have forked out 100% of the costs to get new engines etc.

5. Those that have done some things, properly, like get a new EGR, but still have the high oil consumption / engine wear issue.

6. Those that have done blanking and deleting. I think anyone in camp 6, as you say, won't get any help, even though they'll have done it to get around the problem.

It's those that still need work doing or who've contributed that VW need to help, subject to service history etc. I think the small in number could be plus; maybe VW could come out of this looking like they care.

Personally, I surprisingly found a 2017 D suffix EGR in my 2011 vehicle, so I'm in camp 5 as I'm getting through some oil.

 

[RodCouncil]

I take it you have sifted through this thread?

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/oil-comsumption-engine-problems-with-2010-2011-calis.11145/

 

[Beard]

I take it you have sifted through this thread?

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/oil-comsumption-engine-problems-with-2010-2011-calis.11145/

Thanks. I think it was that thread that alerted me to the Facebook group.

 

[Henry Ted]

[QUOTE = "AlanC, post: 244532, członek: 6151"]
Hej Stefan,

Widziałem twoje posty na grupie na Facebooku.

Jakiś czas temu na tym forum przeprowadzono ankietę na temat problemów z silnikiem o mocy 180 KM i byłem zaskoczony, widząc w odpowiedzi, że niewielu członków ich doświadcza. Sprowadzam to do niższych przebiegów, jakie przeciętny samochód kempingowy robi przez cały okres użytkowania w porównaniu z pojazdem roboczym lub rodzinnym używanym codziennie.

Poza tymi kilkoma właścicielami, z których większość będzie na Facebooku, myślę, że na waszą prośbę będzie tylko niewielka odpowiedź.

Znam tylko jednego innego właściciela Cali, który ma zainstalowany nowy silnik podstawowy i był to ostatni, jaki znam, który miał hojny wkład „dobrej woli” od VWUK

W grudniu ubiegłego roku zrezygnowałem z walki z VWUK i zapłaciłem za nowy silnik podstawowy zamontowany przez dealera. Po przejechaniu 8 km mil wydaje się w tej chwili OK. Niech tak będzie.

Życzę powodzenia w poszukiwaniach.

Alan
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