BRM oil consumption=ring replacement??

DirtyD23

Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Location
Kalamazoo, MI
TDI
2006 Jetta BRM 5 Speed
I am getting ready to upgrade my turbo and injectors but while I am working on the vehicle I figured I would try and do all the preventative maintenance I could.

Build thread: http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=388206

Right now I am trying to decide whether to replace the rings and/or rebuild the head. I have quite a bit of oil consumption-.85qts/1000 miles. The car's condition mechanically seems decent for a mostly stock car at 170k besides a hissing EGR cooler. No discernable drivability issues, slight hesitation, but that seems to have gotten worse as the EGR cooler deteriorated so I'm thinking its related. It only smokes under WOT (black) and initial start up for a few seconds (white/grey). I get decent mileage considering I drive pretty aggressively. (regular 4k shifts) 39 in town and I see 47 on the highway doing about 75.


The oil consumption I haven't been able to figure out. Dealer performed a leak down and compression test. Leak down was less than 5% on all cyl but compression was 26-30 bar (377-435psi) which seems low to me for a broken in TDI. IC pipe had a decent amount of oil in it. Dealer recommended I change the rings but I don't want to get that involved until I rule out everything else.

OCI is 10K with a filter change at 5k. I use T6 or Mobile1 TDT

I've done a little research here and come up with a few things
-PCV-although the dealer said that the PCV system is working fine.
-rings- whether bad or just sticking
-turbo- obviously getting replaced


I have an endoscope but haven't pulled the GPs to look inside at the bores.



So should I look into replacing the rings and/or rebuilding the head?
Id rather not tear into the engine that far if I don't have to, but id like to be able to drive it worry free for many years as it is a great Fun/economic DD and my 4x4 isn't as cheap or fun to drive.

Also, any other items that I should address as far as reliability going forward due to the age/mileage or the added power. Obviously hoses, vacuum lines, clean EGR and intake. IC was rinsed out due to oil.
 

bbexotics

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2012
Location
albuquerque
TDI
2004 Passat,2006 Jetta, 2003 Jetta wagon, 2017 Cayman S
Got to be turbo,170k is nothing,unless engine overheated,but I bet culprit is turbo
 

justintime_3

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Location
Bloomington,IL
TDI
2000 tdi Jetta, 2006 tdi jetta PKG 2
Did you ever figure out what was causing this. I have an 06 brm that burns a quart every 500 miles. No pooling in the intercooler no excessive smoke except after I idle for a long period of time. Just redid the head. I am at a loss
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
Could internal leaks in the tandem pump cause it to suck in oil? Were does the tandem pump vacuum pump pressure side discharge to?
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The pressure side discharges into the engine. That is what I mean when I say a vacuum leak on the outside will cause oil consumption to increase, because it will just push more pressure into the engine, causing more breather scavenging.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
So much for my theory. If the vacuum pump did leak and suck in oil, it would just discharge it back into the valve cover.

A plugged up PVC system will cause high oil consumption as well. The kimchi Kruiser's PVC system was completely clogged up and was using 1 1/2 quarts of oil every 500 miles. Even though it was self changing the oil about every 3 weeks, the oil was always black. (gasser engine)
 

justintime_3

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2011
Location
Bloomington,IL
TDI
2000 tdi Jetta, 2006 tdi jetta PKG 2
So after head rebuild I have excessive blow by in the valve cover. So I built a pvc ccv mod to see if it would catch anything. Hoping maybe that it was blowing oil through the ccv but it didn't catch a drop. Didn't even change the clear hoses. So that theory is out the window. I looked all over for a vacuum leak but no luck. I did a compression test and all were 320 with the exception of #1 was at 310. So low on compression I guess. Think I am just going to keep adding a quart very oil change until she is done running.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Take it from someone who has owned a Honda past 300k miles, a Toyota past 350k miles, and a Mazda past 400k miles, checking and topping up oil is not all that big of a deal. Just stay on top of it, and never let it run low. So long as the car starts and runs OK and gets the job done, I'd not lose any sleep over it. And since it is a diesel, it will not have spark plugs to worry about oil fouling. My Mazda towards the end was like a 2-stroke dirt bike. There were many mornings it would drop a cylinder, usually #2, and I'd have to pull the spark plug wire off and hold it about an inch away from the cap to force a hotter spark, which would be enough to make that cylinder hit again, and hold it there for about 20 to 30 seconds while it cleaned itself off... then once I could plug it back into the cap and it would continue to hit, I'd shut the hood and off I'd go. :D

You may also find that if you keep loose track of your Jetta's oil consumption, you can probably just nix oil changes altogether, and just replace the filter every 10-15k miles.
 

turbocharged798

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2009
Location
Ellenville, NY
TDI
99.5 black ALH Jetta;09 Gasser Jetta
My MK5 5 cylinder is getting to that point at 220K, #3 cylinder is burning oil at a pretty good rate for some reason. PO abused it pretty bad so its not exactly surprising. That and the vacuum pump pissing oil everywhere answered the question why there were four extra quarts of oil in the trunk when I got it. :rolleyes:

Was going to pull the head and see what was going on but the complexity of the timing chain system made me say screw it.
 

Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
EDIT: I'm confused on which engine you have You didn't indicate the year, make, model or engine code of the car except it is a MK5, 5 cylinder? A MK5 would be an Audi were an A5 would be a VW.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
My MK5 5 cylinder is getting to that point at 220K, #3 cylinder is burning oil at a pretty good rate for some reason. PO abused it pretty bad so its not exactly surprising. That and the vacuum pump pissing oil everywhere answered the question why there were four extra quarts of oil in the trunk when I got it. :rolleyes:

Was going to pull the head and see what was going on but the complexity of the timing chain system made me say screw it.

Assuming you mean an A5 car, the vacuum pump leak is common and not that hard to replace. If it is an automatic, you need to take the pump out in pieces, as the "book" method is to pull the transmission :eek: which is probably why hardly anyone fixes them... but that is totally unnecessary. I do a lot of these. They do NOT come with a gasket, FYI. Available in Pierburg brand in the aftermarket. Easy job.

The other common oil leak spot is a broken valve cover, specifically the breather part on the front of it... the big round chunk with "Hengst" on it. The valve cover gasket itself can harden and leak too. New valve covers come complete with bolts and gasket. Easy job. Do lots of those too.

You can often undo some of the effects of long time wrong oil use, crappy filter use, and wrong interval and/or allowing the engine to constantly run low (something the A5 5 cyl cars get subjected to a LOT) by running the BG engine restorer treatment on them. That stuff works great.

Depending on what version it is, they are a decent enough engine I guess. The early 150hp versions (3 digit engine code) are prone to timing chain problems but not nearly as bad as the VR6 engines. The later 170hp versions (4 digit engine codes) have improved chain drives and variable displacement oil pumps. With proper care, they seem to hold up pretty well.
 

gopher

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 10, 2005
BRM oil consumption

the owner states he uses T6 oil or Mobile 1 TDT and changes oil every 10,000 miles and oil filter every 5000 miles. I am not familiar with these oils- if they are not compliant with the 505.01 VW requirement, the owners manual states that severe engine damage can result. Also the oil change interval seems too long.
 

turbobrick240

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 18, 2014
Location
maine
TDI
2011 vw golf tdi(gone to greener pastures), 2001 ford f250 powerstroke
Those are great oils and 10k miles is the correct interval. The 5k mile filter change interval is not needed or really helpful though. A worn out turbo is the most likely cause of the op's oil consumption.
 
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