Oil Pump on BSS Engine

[Carloski]

I guess by now we are all fed up of hearing about transfer shafts on oil pumps, but my main dealer who sold me the car 9 years ago refuses to enter into any sensible discussion.

 

All I am trying to find out is - Does my ' BSS 014180 ' code engine (built 26.02.08) have an oil pump that is likely to have a transfer shaft problem? 

 

The car has just clocked up 50,000 miles and I spend most of my retirement towing a caravan abroad and so if I ever have a problem with the oil pump / engine then the car will probably be a write off (£3k) plus another £2k to repatriate us and the caravan.  So it makes sense to consider a 'stitch in time' principle and change the oil pump.  The car owes me nothing, I am paying zero depreciation and so do not mind spending money on preventative medicine.  My uncaring main dealer tells me that he has never heard of any oil pump problems on any Skoda 2.0 tdi engines!  I said that the internet is full of such reports.  He asked me if I had ever had a headache and Googled the cause.  I said that I could not believe that I had heard him say that.  He then went on to tell me that since the car had not been serviced by a main dealer he could not help me because Skoda do not know if it has had the correct oil put in.  That is totally irrelevant since as far as I know I do not have any current problems with the vehicle, I just need information to plan for the future.  WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO CUSTOMER CARE AND REWARDING OF BRAND LOYALTY ??  Skoda's have disgraced themselves on this issue and disgraced their proud heritage.

 

Any information would be gratefully received.  Cheers Carl

[bigjohn]

 

 

The dealer has a sort of a point re oil which is nothing to do with the oil pump. The PD engines MUST use the correct oil otherwise the camshaft starts rapidly wearing and you don't know anything about it until it is too late and it starts knocking. It's to do with the PD pump/injector drive and anifoaming.

 

I am afraid the 2.0 pd 8v was an oddball and one of the first fitted with the ill fated balancer module which shared the oil pump drive. These can fail in a few ways because of the extra torsional stresses of driving the balancer module - one is the hex shaft eventually wears round (most common)and the other is the drive chain wears/fails.

Back in the day other makes of car used to have a similar issue with oil pump hex shafts as well - Car with the Ford Essex V6 and Pinto engines also failed with this.

 

Don't go anywhere near the main dealer with that age of car, have you got a nearby specialist who know what they are doing that could replace all these bits?  If I remember correctly it is about 60,000 miles that the trouble starts.

[Carloski]

Thanks Big John - No problem with the oil, I do my own servicing (that way I know it is done with correct oil) and I always use Castrol Edge and all filters are from a VAG dealer.  The point that I was making was that I was not asking about an actual problem, I was just enquiring if my car has the old balancer type shaft which has proved troublesome.  Also is mine a gear drive or a shaft drive?  The answer to these questions has no relevance to which oil I have used.  If the answer was that mine has a later oil pump of some sort then I do not need to take the matter any further.

 

I see that there are a couple of specialists near me in Sheffield who can supply/ fit a modified balancer shaft.  What I need to know now is, is that work really necessary?

 

Cheers C

 

 

 

 

[jimbof]

I'm pretty sure the dealerships have a "deny all knowledge" mandate from on high for this issue.  My father-in-law's MK2 2.0 PD rounded its hex shaft and surprise surprise it was the only car they'd ever seen this on.  Wow, we must be so lucky, let's go get that lotto ticket...

 

From what I understand all the MK1 2.0 PD units are affected. 

[Carloski]

Yes, thanks Jimbof, that confirms what I am finding.  Contrast this with my wife's previous Honda Jazz.  When it was over 6 years old it developed a gearbox problem.  It had never been serviced by a main dealer.  I took the car into Honda's dealership in Stockport and the guy told me that it might still be under warranty.  To say I was amazed is an understatement.  He fed the reg into their computer and sure enough the gearbox was still under warranty and the car was repaired with no charge whatsoever.  There was a known problem with that gearbox and I am not sure whether that was why they had extended the warranty on that item or if it was general.  We are now on our 3rd Jazz and I know where I will be getting my next car from.  Contrast this with Skoda and they will not even reveal to me if my Superb would be better if it had the oil pump replaced or not.  NB _ I am not seeking compensation, an apology or a repair, just information.  I don't remember them being reticent wen I was parting with my hard earned cash to buy the car.

 

 

[jimbof]

Frustrating isn't it.  I've sometimes found if you know enough about the issues in terms of part number you might get someone helpful in the parts dept who'll let you work out if your car was built with that part or not; though many of the dealerships treat public wanting to buy parts with utter contempt.  I'd used my local TPS until they recently started towing the company line and not serving public.