Dead on highway - oil

ajjw0828 · May 23, 2019

So driving home, stuck in traffic going like 5mph and go to accelerate just a bit and pop, hear something. Then I see low oil pressure stop. Literally construction all around me, but was a able to pull off at exit just ahead while in limo mode. Turn it off and then back on and hear a pop noise every few seconds intermittently. Turn it off and look and see 8” round puddle of oil directly below the front of the engine. Can’t see down far enough or up underneath, waiting now for a tow. Any ideas what it could be? Thought oil pump chain but why would oil be external? Seems like that would be contained? It’s a BHW 2.0 tdi Passat sedan 2005. Any tips are greatly appreciated. Can’t wait to get this puppy jacked up and see what wrong. Hopi g it just like a blown line or something hit doubt its that easy.

d0u8l3m · May 23, 2019

The BSM probably went, and when you attempted to restart it you did more damage.

ajjw0828 · May 23, 2019

afarfalla said:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...CFAC2D19DB0AEE0CE2B1CFAC2D19DB0AEE0&FORM=VIRE

Haha, I hope I don’t have to resort to that. Really love this Passat, but I guess I should prepare for the worst. Just got it home and jacked up. Lot of oil around the oil pan but not really higher than that, from what I can tell as of right now.

Brian's96TDIPASSAT · May 23, 2019

Sounds like the balance shaft chain and guide broke sending parts through the front cover. Stop trying to run it or you'll ruin the crank or possible to break the timing belt and you'll have bent valves and have to remove the head as well

ajjw0828 · May 23, 2019

Brian's96TDIPASSAT said:
Sounds like the balance shaft chain and guide broke sending parts through the front cover. Stop trying to run it or you'll ruin the crank or possible to break the timing belt and you'll have bent valves and have to remove the head as well

Thank you for the feedback. I had it towed back and took a look. The timing belt and everything around that looked fine. It didn't seem like any oil was coming through that front plate where the timing belt and water pump are. It looks like there is a lot of oil residue on the turbo side of the motor (passenger side) and virtually no oil marks on the drivers side. I'm wondering where I should go from here. Part of me wants to pull the bumper and start getting ready to look into doing a delete. But also, I've heard of the PCV clogging and the turbo creating pressure in the crankcase causing the oil pan gasket to blow. Does that sound possible?

Lotawood · May 23, 2019

I got a BSM chain failure, BHW Passat from a relative. The timing belt didn't have oil on it.
I think the hole poked in the crank front cover threw oil on the passenger side of the engine compartment, in the turbo direction.
But you won't know until you dig into it.
It sure sounds like an oil pump chain breakage.
Good luck.

imo000 · May 24, 2019

ajjw0828 said:
Thank you for the feedback. I had it towed back and took a look. The timing belt and everything around that looked fine. It didn't seem like any oil was coming through that front plate where the timing belt and water pump are. It looks like there is a lot of oil residue on the turbo side of the motor (passenger side) and virtually no oil marks on the drivers side. I'm wondering where I should go from here. Part of me wants to pull the bumper and start getting ready to look into doing a delete. But also, I've heard of the PCV clogging and the turbo creating pressure in the crankcase causing the oil pan gasket to blow. Does that sound possible?

Sounds to me that you have a hole in the side of the block. The next steps are easy. Lift up that corner, secure it safely and then look where the oil came from. Depending on what you find will determine your next steps.

ajjw0828 · May 24, 2019

imo000 said:
Sounds to me that you have a hole in the side of the block. The next steps are easy. Lift up that corner, secure it safely and then look where the oil came from. Depending on what you find will determine your next steps.

I agree. I’m going to spray it all down and see what’s happening. Love this car. Roomy, comfortable. No rust as it was an Arizona car. Plus just had the transmission rebuilt 20,000 miles ago. Plan on fixing this. If I can’t find the leak I guess I will just start pulling the front bumper and working my way to the engine. Then possibly just pull the engine, out it on a mount and start checking for damage. Guess we will see. I figure even if I have to put 1,000 bucks in parts in tonit, I can do all the labor. Plus I have another vehicle, that I can drive in the meantime.

ajjw0828 · May 25, 2019

So I removed the front carrier from the car, and power washed the engine to try and get the baked on oil off. Cleaned up pretty good. Ordering the tools to secure the crank and cam shafts. In the BSM removal pdf, it says to remove the "front torque limit stop" from the engine. Anyone able to provide some more insight in to what this is?

peiphil · May 25, 2019

No I put the gear setup in mine ordered two new engine mounts as well as a new snub one as well never used that one

imo000 · May 27, 2019

ajjw0828 said:
So I removed the front carrier from the car, and power washed the engine to try and get the baked on oil off. Cleaned up pretty good. Ordering the tools to secure the crank and cam shafts. In the BSM removal pdf, it says to remove the "front torque limit stop" from the engine. Anyone able to provide some more insight in to what this is?

So where did all of a sudden all that oil come from?

ajjw0828 · May 28, 2019

QuickTD said:
They mean the snub mount socket on the front of the oil pan. It must be removed to access the front pan bolts.

Thank you fro the response. I'm still not quite sure what the snub nose mount is. Is it that foam piece that connects to the engine below the harmonic balancer?

I've linked a couple photos for reference.

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131250&title=2&cat=567

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131249&title=1&cat=567

ajjw0828 · May 28, 2019

imo000 said:
So where did all of a sudden all that oil come from?

I still haven't figured that out. Now that I have powerwashed the engine, I've considered pouring oil in and seeing if it leaks anywhere. Not sure tho, if that will work or not but prolly going to try. I'm thinking I will prolly need to pull the harmonic balancer then the rest of the timing chain covers. I've ordered the locking kit for the timing belt, and am waiting on that before messing more with the timing belt. Does the harmonic balancer just come off from the 4 allen bolts? That shouldn't affect the timing belt or anything as long as the belt is attached right? May pull the balancer tonight and then those plastic covers over the lower part of the timing belt to see if maybe that housing is cracked or something. Alos, I see a lot of information on replacing the BSM with another or geared but haven't seen any info on the recommended method of deleting it. Is there a thread anywhere covering that?

ajjw0828 · May 30, 2019

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131273&title=cover&cat=567
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131274&title=cover&cat=567

Well, took the harmonic balancer off and a couple other parts and saw there is a crack in the cover. Looks like the chain broke and cracked it. Now just going to order a cover, seal, sway bar bushings, engine mounts, timing belt kit and BSM delete kit. Plus the cam and crank locks. Going to make my own crank holder to loosen the crank bolt. Seems like I've seen quite a few posts showing that and seems like a cheap alternative to some others on websites. Can anyone think of anything I'm missing? Also is the BRM delete better than the ALH delete? Why two options? Is it worth paying the extra 50 bucks for the BRM delete kit? Thanks!!

afarfalla · May 30, 2019

we have gone from an oil leak to a snub mount and a broken chain, can some one let him know what he is in for, I believe he is clueless.

d0u8l3m · May 31, 2019

ajjw0828 said:
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131273&title=cover&cat=567
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131274&title=cover&cat=567

Well, took the harmonic balancer off and a couple other parts and saw there is a crack in the cover. Looks like the chain broke and cracked it. Now just going to order a cover, seal, sway bar bushings, engine mounts, timing belt kit and BSM delete kit. Plus the cam and crank locks. Going to make my own crank holder to loosen the crank bolt. Seems like I've seen quite a few posts showing that and seems like a cheap alternative to some others on websites. Can anyone think of anything I'm missing? Also is the BRM delete better than the ALH delete? Why two options? Is it worth paying the extra 50 bucks for the BRM delete kit? Thanks!!

Dude you cant just throw a new timing belt / delete the BSM and send it. Your engine is probably filled with metal shavings. At a minimum you need to take the head off and inspect the valves and pistons for any contact/scoring imo. Also make sure you inspect your cam and lifters as well as they could be damaged. Then clean all the internals as best you can.

You might be able to get away with using an inspection camera without removing the head to inspect, but I would be too worried about being able to flush out any possible metal contaminates.

If you're lucky and don't have any internal damage then you can proceed with the delete etc, but until then don't throw money into an engine that might be screwed.

In that event, get the delete kit from idparts as it already comes with the BRM sprocket which gives you some more oil pressure.

You're definitely looking at quite a bit of work, if it survived.

dogdots · May 31, 2019

Turbos last about 3 city blocks once the oil pump stops pumping on a BHW. By the time you saw low oil pressure warning it was probably too late. You need to check your cam bearings, cam lobes, and I would check rod and main bearings while it was apart.

All of the fasteners for the head, cam, rods, etc. are one time use stretch bolts so don't try to reuse them.

Your cheaper alternative may be finding a clapped out B5.5 TDI with a bad trans locally and delete the BSM and replace timing belt system on that engine then swap into your car.

imo000 · May 31, 2019

afarfalla said:
we have gone from an oil leak to a snub mount and a broken chain, can some one let him know what he is in for, I believe he is clueless.

I think you are right.

1854sailor · May 31, 2019

dogdots said:
Turbos last about 3 city blocks once the oil pump stops pumping on a BHW. By the time you saw low oil pressure warning it was probably too late. You need to check your cam bearings, cam lobes, and I would check rod and main bearings while it was apart.

All of the fasteners for the head, cam, rods, etc. are one time use stretch bolts so don't try to reuse them.

Your cheaper alternative may be finding a clapped out B5.5 TDI with a bad trans locally and delete the BSM and replace timing belt system on that engine then swap into your car.

ajjw0828 · Jun 1, 2019

d0u8l3m said:
Dude you cant just throw a new timing belt / delete the BSM and send it. Your engine is probably filled with metal shavings. At a minimum you need to take the head off and inspect the valves and pistons for any contact/scoring imo. Also make sure you inspect your cam and lifters as well as they could be damaged. Then clean all the internals as best you can.
You might be able to get away with using an inspection camera without removing the head to inspect, but I would be too worried about being able to flush out any possible metal contaminates.
If you're lucky and don't have any internal damage then you can proceed with the delete etc, but until then don't throw money into an engine that might be screwed.
In that event, get the delete kit from idparts as it already comes with the BRM sprocket which gives you some more oil pressure.
You're definitely looking at quite a bit of work, if it survived.

I appreciate the feedback. Guess I didn’t think I would have to tear it apart that much, but I see what you are saying. Guess I’ll pull it all apart and just see how it all looks and go from there.

ajjw0828 · Jun 1, 2019

dogdots said:
Turbos last about 3 city blocks once the oil pump stops pumping on a BHW. By the time you saw low oil pressure warning it was probably too late. You need to check your cam bearings, cam lobes, and I would check rod and main bearings while it was apart.

All of the fasteners for the head, cam, rods, etc. are one time use stretch bolts so don't try to reuse them.

Your cheaper alternative may be finding a clapped out B5.5 TDI with a bad trans locally and delete the BSM and replace timing belt system on that engine then swap into your car.

Thanks for the feedback. Anyways to know if the turbo is good without repairing the engine and starting it? Also, are the head, cam and rod fasteners the only stretch bolts in the engine and the rest re-usable as far as you are aware? Might have to go that route of a second hand engine, guess we will see what happens. I don’t mind putting in the work and money to fix this car.

ajjw0828 · Jul 15, 2019

Alright, been busy but just got the engine on a stand and tore it down. I popped of one crank bearing and it looks perfectly fine to me. Crank looks great too. I pulled the head and inspected the cylinder walls, those look good to me also, still have crosshatching in walls. Turbo is shot but that’s understandable. Going to clean everything up, prolly still pull a cam journal and inspect a bearing there as well but after that I’m deleting the BSM and putting it back together. Will change water pump and timing belt as well. Water pump with metal pump. I’ll try and upload some pics if I can. Was debating trying to go with a cheaper turbo or re manufactured but I think at this point I’m just going to spend the 900 for a Garrett and new turbo line.

ajjw0828 · Jul 15, 2019

imo000 · Jul 16, 2019

Ok but where did all the oil come from in the first place?

ajjw0828 · Jul 16, 2019

imo000 said:
Ok but where did all the oil come from in the first place?

http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=131274&title=cover&cat=567

Looks like the chain broke and cracked the cover on the front of the engine, which caused an oil loss. I've seen similar instances of this and looks like people had success with welding the cover vs. buying new.

Once I popped the oil pan off I could see that the screw that holds the spring on place which keeps the tensioner taught had backed out and fallen into the oil pan. I'm guessing this caused the tensioner to fail which led to slack in the chain leading to the broken chain.

Now that I've checked everything for wear I'm going to do the BSM Delete and start to rebuild it.

PickleRick · Jul 18, 2019

When i need aluminum or stainless welded i have a guy i outsource too. He gets lots of busted aluminum oil pans he welds up with great success from accidents and the occasional jack through the oil pan. Shouldn't be any more difficult of a weld job.

MustardCrick · Jul 24, 2019

While you are at it all. I'd recommend replacing the the turbo oil supply line(or return line, cant remember for sure, runs behind the engine to the turbo) with a braided steel line. Mine popped on the hwy and caused a spendy tow home. Couldn't find the leak...so put used oil in to test it and found the leak! Not saying this is your problem, but I would replace that while you're at it?

ajjw0828 · Aug 1, 2019

MustardCrick said:
While you are at it all. I'd recommend replacing the the turbo oil supply line(or return line, cant remember for sure, runs behind the engine to the turbo) with a braided steel line. Mine popped on the hwy and caused a spendy tow home. Couldn't find the leak...so put used oil in to test it and found the leak! Not saying this is your problem, but I would replace that while you're at it&#55357;&#56397;

It's crazy you just posted this. I was just getting on here to search and see if people have used the braided lines with success. I was thinking of just going with the oem metal one since the engines out and easy to route. However Kerma TDI sells the braided version and they seem like a reputable distributer, so was thinking of going with that. Where did you purchase yours and has it held up well?

ajjw0828 · Mar 28, 2022

Never updated this. Car running good. Thanks for everyone's helpful comments!

Scubanero · Mar 28, 2022

And in spite of being called clueless! Like water off a duck's back. Glad you are back in business.

Dead on highway - oil

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