2016 180PS Bi-TDi CFCA engine failure

venables

Member
Hi all
Just stripped down and rebuilt the engine on a 2016 T6 180 bi-turbo CFCA engine after it failed on the A557 heading for Widnes originally had the van recovered to VW van center Liverpool for repair as I thought it was just a failed injector.
After a couple of weeks, they said it had no compression on the number 4 cylinder and the heater plug tip had snapped off on the No 4 heater plug so gave them the go-ahead to remove the Cylinder head to diagnose the problem.
I was told the engine had been hydraulicked and no 4 cylinder was damaged so needed replacing at a cost of £ 12,000 I asked what the compression readings were for the other 3 cylinders and was shocked at how low they were this sent alarm bells ringing and I wanted to find out why the other 3 cylinders were so low given the vehicle had only covered 44,000 miles and had been serviced regularly.
So I collected the vehicle and started the process to find the reason for such an early failure as I am used to diesel engines doing 200,000 plus before needing major work or rebuild I do not have any ramps so set the van up on my trailer so I could remove the engine. Before starting the diagnostics and removal of the engine I got myself the workshop manual and VCDS and read the manual and learned how to use the VCDS diagnostics also followed all the threads I could about the issues with VW engines in particular the CFCA.
Before removing and disassembling the engine I had a quick look to see if anything was obvious apart from what I was told by VW the engine turned freely and I could clearly see the damage to no 4 cylinder in a gouge out of the cylinder wall causing the lack of compression as it was almost at the top of piston stroke and at the time of failure this would have caused the crankcase to pressurize forcing the engine oil out of the engine through the turbo seals and crankcase ventilator and into the inlet causing the plume of white smoke and loss of power I was just short of a junction so coasted off no bangs or crunches the engine still running with no power and lots of smoke.
The thing that caught my eye was that apart from the gouge in no 4 all the cylinders looked badly scored vertically with the top edge of the piston crownes worn this would account for the poor compression on the other cylinders if valves and head gaskets were sound on getting home and searching the internet for this I came across pictures of a CFCA engine with the same scoring to the bores and it suggested it was caused by EGR valve corrosion.
This is a long story with pictures and lots of evidence to shed some light on my problem but bear with me and I will post pictures when I work out how and continue the story to bring my findings to a close.
Would appreciate any comments
 
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Love this . . . .

Keep the info coming.
 
Unfortunately this is a known issue with this engine, EGR cooling fins degrading and breaking down and getting ingested by the engine

I personally think there was a misguided conception that this issue went with the T5.1 but this is not the first T6 CFCA i have heard about having the same issues
Again i personally think there is another misguided concept that newer EGR coolers with the 'D' revision part number were unaffected but i think that is proving untrue now, seems it was just more a case of them being newer and not mature enough to show failings (which they have now !)

Just in case you havent come across it there is a good FB group called VWCFCA which is full of good info
I notice they have revised the group name to include T6 !

 
Hi Pauly
Thanks for your comments have cut open the D revised cooler now and have gently removed all the carbon using high-pressure water only to reveal the extent of corrosion and will post pictures of this along with images of the engine bores and pistons soon.
 
So after not really paying attention to the 'old' 180 engine issues my 2016 180 has suddenly started using excessive oil I have had the van from 9 months old and never have I had to top the oil between services a couple of weeks ago the low oil level came on.

The van had been into VW end of April for a service and cambelt change and I thought perhaps they had not topped the oil level back up correctly so I put about 1ltr as I had to do it on a bit of a slope at the time I didn't fill it to the max went 3/4 between min /max I have checked it again today after a few hundred miles on the flat and its almost at min level, now whilst I am keeping my fingers crossed that topping on level ground this time and getting it right on the max level I will not see and further issues... van is driving fine no smoke from the exhaust of DPF regen issues.

I have had a look at the EGR/cooler rev and its a 'C' I have a gut feeling I'm seeing signs of this failing I'm going to keep an eye on the oil level the next week if it continues to use oil then not really sure what the best options would be?

I'm thinking it may be worth replacing the cooler anyway at least that way I can cut the old one open and see if its corroded or missing bits.
 
Hi Pauly
Thanks for your comments have cut open the D revised cooler now and have gently removed all the carbon using high-pressure water only to reveal the extent of corrosion and will post pictures of this along with images of the engine bores and pistons soon.
Do you have the photos @Coradia63
 
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So after not really paying attention to the 'old' 180 engine issues my 2016 180 has suddenly started using excessive oil I have had the van from 9 months old and never have I had to top the oil between services a couple of weeks ago the low oil level came on.

The van had been into VW end of April for a service and cambelt change and I thought perhaps they had not topped the oil level back up correctly so I put about 1ltr as I had to do it on a bit of a slope at the time I didn't fill it to the max went 3/4 between min /max I have checked it again today after a few hundred miles on the flat and its almost at min level, now whilst I am keeping my fingers crossed that topping on level ground this time and getting it right on the max level I will not see and further issues... van is driving fine no smoke from the exhaust of DPF regen issues.

I have had a look at the EGR/cooler rev and its a 'C' I have a gut feeling I'm seeing signs of this failing I'm going to keep an eye on the oil level the next week if it continues to use oil then not really sure what the best options would be?

I'm thinking it may be worth replacing the cooler anyway at least that way I can cut the old one open and see if its corroded or missing bits.
Before you go spending any money get a local garage to do a compression test and/or get an oil analysis done, both are relatively cheap (compared to replacing parts) and will give you conclusive answers
 
Hi Pauly
Thanks for your comments have cut open the D revised cooler now and have gently removed all the carbon using high-pressure water only to reveal the extent of corrosion and will post pictures of this along with images of the engine bores and pistons soon.
Hi @venables Any photos to share of your engine and egr issues?
 
Tafmet emulator kit is the way forward IMO.
 
Hi @venables Any photos to share of your engine and egr issues?

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Hi
Pictures of the corroded fins in the EGR cooler also pictures of the scored bores you can see from the images of the cooling fins that a significant amount of alloy is missing and this has entered the combustion chamber.
Any foreign body in there apart from air and atomized fuel in the right quantity will cause damage to the bores and pistons I found small pieces of melted alloy bonded to the pistons I think remains of the missing cooler fins.
 
I have a 180ps with a Rev D EGR, I don’t have any noticable oil consumption, DPF soot levels are very low and no noticeable reduction in power.
I have been monitoring with oil analysis and I took the decision to install a Tafmet kit. No issues, recommended to anybody with a 180ps.
 
I have a 180ps with a Rev D EGR, I don’t have any noticable oil consumption, DPF soot levels are very low and no noticeable reduction in power.
I have been monitoring with oil analysis and I took the decision to install a Tafmet kit. No issues, recommended to anybody with a 180ps.
Done the same with my 180...after reading about this ..hope I caught it early enough
 
I have a 180ps with a Rev D EGR, I don’t have any noticable oil consumption, DPF soot levels are very low and no noticeable reduction in power.
I have been monitoring with oil analysis and I took the decision to install a Tafmet kit. No issues, recommended to anybody with a 180ps.
Make sure you have blanked off the exhaust at both ends of EGR with blanks to stop cooling water entering the cylinders if the water jacket corrodes through the one in the picture was almost corroded through in about three places also if the EGR valve itself is not seated due to fault or carbon build-up you could still be passing exhaust gas into your engine even with the throttle wide open as by fitting the tafmet you have bypassed the engine management system detecting this
 
Pinched from the Cali forum @clarinetbcn @sidepod was good enough to post

A study which compares the resistance of EGR coolers made of stainless steel (140) and aluminum (180) to the to the corrosive effects of exhaust gas condensate. I'm now curious to know whether the EGR cooler of the 140, which has not had this issue, is duplex stainless steel. Very interesting that the coatings applied to aluminum EGR coolers were ineffective.

 
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Make sure you have blanked off the exhaust at both ends of EGR with blanks to stop cooling water entering the cylinders if the water jacket corrodes through the one in the picture was almost corroded through in about three places also if the EGR valve itself is not seated due to fault or carbon build-up you could still be passing exhaust gas into your engine even with the throttle wide open as by fitting the tafmet you have bypassed the engine management system detecting this
Yep, both sides done, it would be crazy not to.
 
Pinched from the Cali forum @clarinetbcn @sidepod was good enough to post

A study which compares the resistance of EGR coolers made of stainless steel (140) and aluminum (180) to the to the corrosive effects of exhaust gas condensate. I'm now curious to know whether the EGR cooler of the 140, which has not had this issue, is duplex stainless steel. Very interesting that the coatings applied to aluminum EGR coolers were ineffective.

I have not inspected an EGR cooler from a 140 ps engine but by the images, I would expect them to be made from alloy the design is totally different from the cooler used on the 180 bi-turbo engine so they may not corrode and contaminate the combustion chambers with debris.
When I see the images of most EGR units all blocked solid with carbon it tells me they are not working to reduce emissions but are probably increasing the pollution they were designed to reduce and costing us all money for extra fuel maintenance and reduced engine life.
 
Absolute madness putting corrosive gases through an aluminium alloy component, even if it is coated with PTFE.
 
I have a 180ps with a Rev D EGR, I don’t have any noticable oil consumption, DPF soot levels are very low and no noticeable reduction in power.
I have been monitoring with oil analysis and I took the decision to install a Tafmet kit. No issues, recommended to anybody with a 180ps.
My 180 had no oil consumption DPF issues or noticeable power reduction till it failed but driving it with the rebuilt engine I realized how much power it had lost with the worn-out cylinders it was a different animal and doing many more miles to the gallon as well
 
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