all octy 1 owners please read this !

[furry]

S06A115251 is the part number

This is the reason some of you may remember why I limped off of coombe at last years action day.

This effects all of the vw 20v engines but us more noticeable on the turbo's due to the extra oil needed to feed the turbo.

DO NOT under any circumstances clean out the strainer and refit ad it will come back.

Also when replace sump sealant only use a thin layer as too much causes the excess to forced into the sump and blocks the strainer.

The replacement is very easy.

Jack car up

Drain oil

UnPlug oil level sensor

Remove all the 10mm sump bolts around the outside of the sump

There are 3 bolts on the gearbox end that can be tricky

If you have a wobbly 10mm socket or extension then this is ideal.

Give the sump a few light Taps with a rubber mallet or summit similar as the sump is Ali DON'T hit it with a regular hammer

You will the see the strainer pointing down at you.

Unbolt the 2 10mm retaining bolts and pull out.

To refit reverse the above.

Should take no more than an hour to do.

Make sure you use a aluminium sealant which is available from all good auto factors.

One blocked strainer!!

New and old strainer

[DanBoy]

So what oil is best to use when doing a service?? as mine is due an oil change and I bet the garage I bought it from put the cheapest stuff in rather than the correct oil.

[mbames]

Here'a a good link that even says there was a 2005 consumer report that listed Audi and VW still get the problem no matter how much the oil is changed....

So, the only answer is change your oil regularly

That seems like conflicting information in one post!

[dubDEAN]

wow gonna do this just to be sure i guess :S

[tendoshingan]

That seems like conflicting information in one post!

Well not really, it's just that over a long space of time, they mention that changing regular won't stop the build up of sludge as the engine itself is prone to this problem.

By changing oil regularly though you will prevent the build up occurring quicker and hopefully allow you to check just once a year as opposed to once every 2 years.

I will still be inspecting my oil pick up at least once a year or more given the time.

[Volvomeg]

I work for volvo and they to suffer from same problem, but it usually due to poor service history and cheap oil, i had a 2.0 turbo s40 i bought with 66 on clock ran it for 4 years changing oil ever 6k, when i did headgasket at 136k when i stripped engine it looked like new inside, alot to be said for changing oil and filter regular

[jdo]

Many thanks to the OP and everyone else's replies.

Just wanted to ask something that has puzzled me after I asked my mechanic about replacing the oil pick up as recommended here. The mechanic is not a Skoda or VW specialist but is a very, very experienced time served mechanic who is highly respected and has worked on many cars with this engine. When I mentioned I would probably have this done at my next oil change he said he wouldn't bother. His grounds for this was that the car has always had the correct spec high quality oil, and that once you take the sump off these engines you struggle to seal them again properly as there is always oil running down from somewhere as you try to seal them on refitting. It is this second point that puzzles me!

I have no mechanical experience at all, so rely on his knowledge (which has served me faultlessly over many years), but at the same time, the knowledge of people on here is phenomenal and has already helped me enormously. Is there anything in his concerns about sealing the sump?

[Guest westallc]

and you say he is a top mechanic????

dont take sump of because you cant reseal it properly lol was he drunk when you asked him???

as he is respected and knows his stuff listen to him but ask him one thing from me. When the engine fails or the turbo fails due to blocked pickup will he pay for the repair due to him giving you rubbish advise???

[jdo]

I was as equally surprised as you!

Yes, he is a very good mechanic, which is why I was so puzzled by his opinion. The only explanation I can think of is that with my limited mechanical knowledge I somehow explained what I was talking about wrong -but it's not that complex so I shouldn't have caused any confusion!!

[VRS Mike]

some people have suggested that one of the main reasons for them getting blocked is when the sump is replaced and too much sealant has been used, this can result in excess sealant blocking the strainer. The problems with the VRS is that many of them have had their sumps replaced due to them being very low so 3/4 owners down the line are clueless as to whether this has been done. The VW master tech who services my car said it wasn't something that many customers ask to be replaced. I was thinking about this issue on my drive up north today and thought possibly about adding an oil pressure gauge for piece of mind??

Does anyone else think this thread should be sticky'd?

[leanne88vrs]

is this the oil level sensor i tried to say went on mine a month ago or is it something else?

[Bowders1]

Many thanks to the OP and everyone else's replies.

Just wanted to ask something that has puzzled me after I asked my mechanic about replacing the oil pick up as recommended here. The mechanic is not a Skoda or VW specialist but is a very, very experienced time served mechanic who is highly respected and has worked on many cars with this engine. When I mentioned I would probably have this done at my next oil change he said he wouldn't bother. His grounds for this was that the car has always had the correct spec high quality oil, and that once you take the sump off these engines you struggle to seal them again properly as there is always oil running down from somewhere as you try to seal them on refitting. It is this second point that puzzles me!

I have no mechanical experience at all, so rely on his knowledge (which has served me faultlessly over many years), but at the same time, the knowledge of people on here is phenomenal and has already helped me enormously. Is there anything in his concerns about sealing the sump?

This is all a interesting debate.

Clive(westalic) has reason to state what he state's from his finidings with various members cars he has seen and been kind enough to work on for Briskoda collegues.

Your mechanic has that opinion perhaps from his experience and so if a car has had a proven full service history of proper service interval with a the recomended quality oil then perhaps the replacement is not needed. as there maybe no reason the pick up pipe could get blocked.

The problem is this the cars we are driving are in some cases coming up for 10 years old and have covered many miles. There have probably had a number of owners in this time. Some of those owners may have strayed form the standard service intervals perhaps serviced the car themselves or not at all and or using none recomended oil which either one could lead to a incomplete servcing schedule and thus effect the pick up pipe.

Therfore there is a flaw in his general statement. Perhaps your car is well known to him and why his is stating that to you.

His second point is flawed also because of reason i make about the first point. i.e if you can't confirm service History then worrying about sealing the sump is less of a issue to the effects of a blocked pick up pipe.

I service my car with oil every 4000 mls well inside servce schedules and with top grade oil, but next service in a month I will still be changing my pick up pipe.

[Bowders1]

is this the oil level sensor i tried to say went on mine a month ago or is it something else?

No, not if you really mean oil sensor, as this thread is talking about the oil pick up pipe inside the sump. The sensor is on the outside

[Guest westallc]

also even with fsh you are expecting the garage or garages main dealer or backstreet to use the correct oil every time

i for one worked for a main dealer for many years and can safely say this is not always the case especially if they use tanks. contamination can happen and does happen

you only have to take the sump off and see what is left in the bottom baked to the side to see what could cause issues. i have seen this problem on cars with and without fsh

for peace of mind i know what i would be doing

[vrs180]

Thanks Clive for highlighting this issue

I dont intend to remove my sump any time soon and check the oil pick up strainer, due to the fact (my owned from new) 53 plate car has only done 23K and in that time I have done 10 oil and filter changes and always used genuine VAG filters with Mobil 1 SHC 0W-40 oil.

But this potential problem defo concerns me enough to now consider fitting a good quality, reliable oil pressure gauge.

I've just had a look at the Haynes manual and it gives the following oil pressure spec's (measured with the oil temp at 80 degrees C).

Engine @ Idle speed 2.0 bar

Engine @ 2000 rpm 3.0 to 4.5 bar

It would be great if one of the Briskoda site VAG tech's could confirm the Haynes oil pressure spec's are correct......... the 3.0 to 4.5 bar tolerance seems a little excessive ????

Bill.

[Bowders1]

Hi Folks, well i got round to replacing my pick up pipe on the weekend.

I was not expecting mine to be that bad as i have changed my oil every 4000 miles or less with good quality oil.

Yet the filter section was still slightly blocked and had some very small metal filings in there too.

verses my new one

both together

So it goes to show the pipe can still get crud in it with careful maintainence.

I took a few pics of the job so here goes if it helps.

Car up on ramps

Remove plastic engine undertray

Drain Oil and remove filter

Start removing sump bolts (can use a 8mm allen socket or a 10mm socket)

You will need a long 8mm allen socket or key with a ball end to get into the bolts next to gearbox.

Remove the 3 bolts from lower gearbox housing to sump (think 17mm)

Unplug the Oil level / sender plug.

Remove the flexible oil pipe to turbo ( 2 x 8mm allen bolts)

After all bolts removed tap sump with a rubber mallet to break seal.

Sump removed showing old pick up pipe (to remove pipe 2 x 8mm allen bolts)

retain rubber washer or replace with a new one

Suction pipe replaced and sump area cleaned ready for refitting.

Sump cleaned up

Sump sealed and ready to refit. torque to 11 lbf ft

results so far are very good. The engine feels smoother and slightly quieter top end. This could all be all in my mind, or the fact i replaced oil for new (5w 30 castrol edge)but end result i am happy and i think worth doing

[rk696]

Looking good.

I was under the car today and had a look at the bolts holding the sump on. They're no where near as difficult to get to as people make them out to be.

Did you have any sludge or anything in the sump?

p.s. Looks like the sump has had a few scrapes in its time lol

Edited 10 February, 2011 by rk696

[Bowders1]

Looking good.

I was under the car today and had a look at the bolts holding the sump on. They're no where near as difficult to get to as people make them out to be.

Did you have any sludge or anything in the sump?

p.s. Looks like the sump has had a few scrapes in its time lol

Agree bolts are not bad at all to remove, only the middle 2 at the gearbox end are fiddly but nowhere impossible to get at

I had no sludge at all, very clean sump in terms of no sludge or residue. I had black tarnishing on the side walls that i cleaned off but that was it.

Yes sump has taken a few knocks as car is very low. I was considering a short sump or may fit a sump guard

Edited 11 February, 2011 by Bowders1

[Guest westallc]

just goes to prove even the best and most well looked after cars have the problem

well done mark good write up as per normal

oil pressure guage is a very good call for only a few ££ it well worth it

[Schern]

Blocked strainers was a major problem on Saabs too. It was attributed to mineral based oil breaking down under extended service intervals. Saab switched the cars over to fully synthetic oil which seemed to address the problem so might be worth considering once you've got a nice new feed pipe fitted.

[Bowders1]

Blocked strainers was a major problem on Saabs too. It was attributed to mineral based oil breaking down under extended service intervals. Saab switched the cars over to fully synthetic oil which seemed to address the problem so might be worth considering once you've got a nice new feed pipe fitted.

I have been running fully syth last 4 years and done approx 10 oil changes over that time. Although can't prove owners before me did the same. But is was a police liason car so should of been looked after from a service point of view. And still the pick up pipe was not brilliant.

Edited 11 February, 2011 by Bowders1

[Damo]

Hi guys

Just got a 54 plate vRS and wanted to say how informative and useful this thread has been.

This will be the first thing I have done.

Although the pictures and explanations were exceptionally clear and well documented, I will probably let someone more confident with a spanner replace mine.

Pity your down in Hampshire Bowders, or I would have gladly paid you to do mine as you obviously know what your doing.

Once again many thanks to all, especially the OP for highlighting this potential problem.

Regards

Damo

[vrsmark]

damo,where are you in the country i just got the parts to do mine and could do yours at the same time if your interested.i live 10 miles north of oxford if that helps.

[Damo]

I'm in Sheffield mate, so still quite a way from you.

Thanks for the offer though, it would have been good to do them both.

Regards

Damo

[Guest westallc]

damo it really is so easy buddy looks harder than it is!!!

i would let my 10 year old bro do it its that easy