2 friends have had the same problem with their cars this week. 1 is a 1.9 130BHP 06 Superb WITH 210,000 miles, the other is a 1.9 O7 Octavia with only 135,000 miles, both Diesel engines.

They have both get a hole worn through a valve bucket and worn lobe on the camshaft, both been using correct VW505.01 oil.

Is this common at these sort of miles?

The Superb has cost him just under £400 to replace the camshaft, all 8 buckets, camshaft oil seal and gaskets, and done the job himself so no labour charge, took him over 10 hours to do.

Edited 19 March, 201214 yr by bryan350lc

The PD engine is extremely prone to camshaft and valve follower wear because the valve actuating cams are too narrow. Too much space was allocated to the unit injector cams and roller followers (which hardly ever wear) so valve cam wear is becoming a real problem now that these engines are ageing.

507.00 lubricating oil will give better protection to the cams and followers but this will always be a weakness that the earlier VE engines such as the ALH didn't have. Change the oil at least every 7k miles with a PD.

For some reason, the 150 PS PD engine is by far the worst for cam/follower wear.

rotodiesel.

I did think the cam lobes wernt very wide when I saw it, think since he has had the car he had done oil and filter changes at 8,000 mile intervals. Im looking at doing it every 5,000 miles now, although mine has been on longlife serves with VW507 for the first 4 years/120,000 miles of its life. We get Vauxhall oil for £70 for a case of 20Lts so only cost about £12 for 3.6Lts of oil plus a filter per change.

So can you use 507.00 in a PD130 engine?

I have been using Millers XFE-PD, but will their 507.00 oil give more protection?

What are the signs of camshaft wear?

What are the valve buckets?

My engine has now got 150K+ on it, all seems okay at the moment. Doesn't consume any more oil than the day it got it with 10K on the clock (approx quarter / half a litre every 10K miles). I do understand that a worn camshaft won't mean that the engine will be consuming oil, just that the oil has been doing its job in preventing engine wear.

My apologies for the myriad of questions but I'm a little worried as I plan to use the car for approx one more year which will take to around the 200K and then pass it on to my wife who clocks up about 2.5K each year so basically it will have gone into retirement! But she will then have it for around 5 or 6 years.

Thanks for your time.

Using 507.00 spec oil will consume a bit more than usual, but it will definitely protect your engine a lot more. I would recommend using the 507.00 and then top up as needed.

VW507 is recomended for the long life service interval for up to 20,000 miles, dont think its rearly needed for changes under 10,000 miles.