**Official 24V 3.6L Engine (oil pump bolt) failure thread**

[MDAce15]

At the dealer now for 60K service and I inquired how much it would cost to change out the bolt before it fails. The Service Advisor quoted it at about 14 hours. The labor rate at this dealership is $115 per hour so the rough cost is $1,610. Jeez...

[Scuba2001]

I'm a technician at a local dealer here in Texas, and we currently have a 2006 Touareg with 56,xxx miles on it in the shop with the oil pump bolt being the suspected part of failure. Vehicle came in with cam range/performance faults. Technician working on the vehicle returns from school this week and should finish inspecting for damage.

On another note though, I'm curious to know if those getting quotes to fix this issue out of warranty, is it being done in, or out of the vehicle (for Passat owners)? I can't forsee it taking 14 hours to R&I the transmission and subframe while keeping the engine suspended in the bay while this is being performed.

Just curious!

[owdee200]

Is there a list of VIN #'s to be worried about somewhere? A range of suspect vehicles? Looking at a 2007 3.6 right now..

[nater]

You need to be worried about 06/07 vehicles (including the one you're looking at).

[mattnucci]

add me to the list.............

production date 10/06
failure date 10/26/12
85,000 miles on motor

at dealer now..........wish me luck

[nater]

add me to the list.............

production date 10/06
failure date 10/26/12
85,000 miles on motor

at dealer now..........wish me luck

Keep us posted on what dealer and how corporate (incl local Vw rep) treated you.

[mattnucci]

They are covering parts to fix it ( the motor was still good, i was able to drive it to the dealer) and i have to pay labor. So i'll be out about $1500 or so. This was partially due to the dealer going to bat for me with VW as they knew it was a "known" issue. The regional guy just happened to be there the day i brought the car in and was extremely nice to be and said he would look into the issue.

All in all i am extremely happy with VWofA and their service. Could be why i own the 07 Passat Lux wagon, a 09 Rabbit and an 02 Audi A4. I have always been treated well by both Audi and VW dealerships in my area!!

[mattnucci]

Some pics of the damage:

Here you can see the bolt actually not attached as they took the transmission out.


If you look on the top left of the cover you can see where the loose bolt scratched into the cover


Why it costs so much, everything must come out:


Some of the parts they replaced (there were a ton more):


Starting to go back together with new parts:


The vehicle in question:

[nater]

How you were able to get to the dealer is beyond me... Must've been the cover that kept that bolt in for just enough time)

[mattnucci]

How you were able to get to the dealer is beyond me... Must've been the cover that kept that bolt in for just enough time)

I have a very good working relationship with the dealer as me and my wife and our entire car group buy and get our cars serviced there. The dealer was willing to go to bat for me to VWofA to get it covered. Most dealerships won't because it is not worth their time. That is the difference between a good dealership and a dealership that just wants your money.

Most dealerships have an allowable amount of stuff they are allowed to write off every month, for instance if you have a bad parking sensor and the car is just out of warranty they will most likely replace it for you and eat the cost. In this instance it was above and beyond that and they were willing to make a case for it to corporate based on research they did showing this is a semi-common problem with the early versions of this motor and the fact that i am a good customer of theirs.

[nater]

What I meant was I was amazed to see that you DROVE the car to the dealer like that (and made it). Not surprised about the repair.

[VR6-GT42RS]

any of you guys in this thread ho has a failed engine for sale..pm me..thanks

[mattnucci]

Got the car back last night and it runs like a champ!! Classic VW in Mentor, Oh did an amazing job! Very happy to have my wagon back.

[twiceunlucky]

mattnucci,
Absolutely no disrespect meant, just curious about your comments. First, kudos to your dealer for going to bat for you, mine did the same but VWoA said too bad. Interested though,given that WVoA acknowledges this is a known issue, that they knew you were sitting on a ticking time bomb and did nothing to prevent a certain eventual disaster, why do you feel such loyalty toward them? I ask because I am the opposite, expect them to say we blew it, let's fix it before you are stranded...
Cheers,
TWU

[mattnucci]

mattnucci,
Absolutely no disrespect meant, just curious about your comments. First, kudos to your dealer for going to bat for you, mine did the same but VWoA said too bad. Interested though,given that WVoA acknowledges this is a known issue, that they knew you were sitting on a ticking time bomb and did nothing to prevent a certain eventual disaster, why do you feel such loyalty toward them? I ask because I am the opposite, expect them to say we blew it, let's fix it before you are stranded...
Cheers,
TWU

No disrespect taken, more than happy to tell why.

I am a VW head. A true VW head. Anyone who owns a vw or 3 like i do and is an enthusiast of the product knows that owning one means at some point in time you will have issues with the car. We VW owners have the battered wife syndrome "it brakes down on me because it loves me" haha This aside, the rest of the time it is a well refined vehicle that is a ton of fun and comfort to drive.

This wagon is my daily driver. My toy is a 2002 Audi A4 with a list of mods on it longer than i can list and it has been constantly fixed over the years. But it is a toy and i don't mind that it brakes down because that gives me an excuse to get dirty and work on it.

That being said, my wife has a 09 Rabbit with a WARRANTY and i will never have her drive a VW without a warranty lol I guess it's just part of the VW car culture. You take the good with the bad because the cars are so bad ass when they run right.

[Scuba2001]

I put a new motor in a 2006 Passat right before I left my VW dealer I had worked for. Took 2 months for it to be approved for repairs. Mainly because of issues with VWoA not approving the repairs, then attempts through extended warranty, etc. Extended warranty later picked up the tab. $8900 for a new long block, plus labor.

[twiceunlucky]

Way better attitude than mine, seems to work, good luck with the vehicle. I have the A6 3.0 SC (it's not a T Audi!!!) love the vehicle too, but I'm a bit more fickle than you. Business is business. Cheers!

[Incrementalg]

I'm a technician at a local dealer here in Texas, and we currently have a 2006 Touareg with 56,xxx miles on it in the shop with the oil pump bolt being the suspected part of failure. Vehicle came in with cam range/performance faults. Technician working on the vehicle returns from school this week and should finish inspecting for damage.

On another note though, I'm curious to know if those getting quotes to fix this issue out of warranty, is it being done in, or out of the vehicle (for Passat owners)? I can't forsee it taking 14 hours to R&I the transmission and subframe while keeping the engine suspended in the bay while this is being performed.

Just curious!

Well, I don't know how long the actual work took on my car, but when mine failed I got a replacement engine. It arrived on a Thursday evening and the full swap was done by 3:00 that Friday.

[big_c02]

So, is there any list that shows a correlation of failures and production dates or manufacturing plants?

Is there a rule of thumb that if the engine has made it past xxx miles, it will be ok forever? Or have these things been known to be fine for 6 years and 100k miles, then all of a sudden back out.

[Scuba2001]

It's really just a matter of time. Last engine I did had 78k miles on it and was 6 years old. Either way you look at it, if it hasn't been replaced or anything at this point, it's a ticking time bomb.

[Incrementalg]

So, is there any list that shows a correlation of failures and production dates or manufacturing plants?

Is there a rule of thumb that if the engine has made it past xxx miles, it will be ok forever? Or have these things been known to be fine for 6 years and 100k miles, then all of a sudden back out.

There isn't a list that shows a correlation between dates or plants. Many of the previous owners have moved on, so the details on each car are hard to come by.
There doesn't appear to be any rule of thumb in terms of making it past a certain point of mileage or age. Someone in the B6 forum recently experienced a bolt failure and I beleive he was above 90k miles.
I was recently picking up my car from my indy (for maitenance) and he was breaking the bad news to a lady whose 2006 Taureg went from a super well maintained, perfectly running ride to German paperweight in an instant. The bolt suddenly broke after over 100k miles.

[ttrainrules]

My MIL Just came on, and here's the code I pulled. I have 86,000 on my Passat 3.6. Does everyone think it's the bolt that's throwing off my timing?

000022 (Fault Code) - Bank 1:
CMP Sensor (G40) (DIN Component Identifier)
Engine Speed Sensor (G28) (DIN Component Identifier)
P0016 - 008 (OBD II Code) - Incorrect Correlation - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11101000
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 139119 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2013.03.06
Time: 11:30:55


Symptoms of a P0016 will or may include:

Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) illumination
The engine may run but with reduced performance
The engine may crank but not start
The engine may exhibit a rattle near the harmonic balancer indicating the tone ring is damaged
The engine may start and run, but poorly
CausesCauses may include:

Timing chain stretched, or timing belt skipped a tooth due to wear
Misalignment of timing belt/chain
Tone ring on crankshaft slipped/broken
Tone ring on camshaft slipped/broken
Bad crank sensor
Bad cam sensor
Damaged wiring to crank/cam sensor
Timing belt/chain tensioner damaged

[sk8too]

so is this ONLY a 06-07 issue? I just picked up a 2010 CC and am a little concerned about this problem. I've got a 2 year warranty, just wanted to get some info.

[nater]

so is this ONLY a 06-07 issue? I just picked up a 2010 CC and am a little concerned about this problem. I've got a 2 year warranty, just wanted to get some info.

You're well in the clear. No worries

[sk8too]

Hooray

[Incrementalg]

FWIW...i had the same code after my engine was replaced and it was the cam sensor gone bad (totally separate from my bolt failure) Replaced and good as new ever since.

[BDUBBIN]

I just had a CEL with the EPC come up on my dash while driving (not flashing), the car then went into limp mode, no power on accelration or high end gear shift, and then abruptly cut off. Now it will not start. I scanned the car (2007 Passat 3.6L wagon) and found the following codes:

000833 - Camshaft Position Sensor (G40)
P0341 - 004 - Implausible Signal
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100100
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 165395 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2013.04.14
Time: 18:05:01
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 2259 /min
Load: 32.1 %
Speed: 112.0 km/h
Temperature: 85.0°C
Temperature: 28.0°C
Absolute Pres.: 1000.0 mbar
Voltage: 13.589 V
000022 - Bank 1: CMP Sensor (G40) / Engine Speed Sensor (G28)
P0016 - 008 - Incorrect Correlation - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11101000
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 165410 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2013.04.14
Time: 18:28:39
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 2423 /min
Load: 32.1 %
Speed: 120.0 km/h
Temperature: 83.0°C
Temperature: 27.0°C
Absolute Pres.: 1010.0 mbar
Voltage: 13.970 V
000104 - MAP/MAF <-> Throttle Position Correlation
P0068 - 002 -
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100010
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 165494 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2013.04.14
Time: 19:15:59
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 2189 /min
Load: 53.3 %
Speed: 108.0 km/h
Temperature: 81.0°C
Temperature: 23.0°C
Absolute Pres.: 1010.0 mbar
Voltage: 13.843 V
Readiness: 0000 0000


I ordered a new cam sensor and hope that is the problem. Please let me know if the other codes relate to the P0341. I have owned the car for 1.5 years (bought used) and never had a problem. Car never idled rough or anything.

My search shows nothing combining these three codes.

Please help.

Or add me as we'll

[mattnucci]

the Cam positioning sensor code is the code that i had that made me take it to the dealer and they found that the bolt had backed out.

Be careful that it isn't more that just that.

The cam positioning code came on in mine because when the bolt came out it jumped teeth and broke the sensor.

[vert1]

Anyone know of one of these engines available anywhere?
I'm looking for just an engine block or a complete bottom end (short block)
By the sounds of this thread quite a few have been replaced by dealers?
Thanks guys.

[nater]

Salvage yards have complete motors... Just verify vin that its from an 08 car to avoid this issue. Otherwise be prepared to fix oil bolt on salvage motor. The short blocks may be much tougher to find though. Classifieds pop up here and there but be cautious as to who and why. Don't wanna end up with a bottom end from an unsuspecting or bad seller.

[vert1]

I hear ya howver I will be pulling it all apart to build a twin turbo MK2 so a bottom end from one of these problem engines would be ideal, just the block even better.
Anyone who knows of anything at all please contact me or reply here.

[ttrainrules]

Just had my B6 serviced for the oil pump bolt backing out. I'm pretty lucky that there wsa no damage to the engine other than some excessive grooving in the timing cover. The bill was close to $2000 for the service.