06 TDI engine issues

[oprn]

I know that the 2006 TDI engines have been problematic with bad cams for one thing. I have a chance to buy an '06 Wagon. The body style on the sedan changed for '06 but the wagon stayed the same. Rumors have it that they came from different assembly plants.

Is it possible that the Wagon still had the older engine also as well as the older body style that was more trouble free?

This guy wants an arm and a left testicle for this car which is in awesome condition but I don't want to pay top dollar for the typical '06 troublesome engine.

[TDCTDI]

They're all the same. The PD TDI does what I call "the trifecta" usually starting around 140,000. The camshaft/lifter failure, the EGR cooler failure & the dual mass flywheel failure. At least 50% of the PD cars have two of these fail simultaneously (typically the cam & flywheel, I guess the imbalance causes excessive vibrations.) & 70% have all three replaced by 170,000.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[oprn]

Thanks for that reply!

I will leave that car for someone else to "discover" then. Too bad as it is getting hard to find wagons in decent shape.

We had 2 '04 TDIs that didn't have those issues. What year did these problems start and what year did VW overcome the problems?

[TDCTDI]

'04.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[oprn]

I had heard that '99 to '03 were the best years so I will keep my eye open for one from then. How were they in recent years?

[janerick3]

'04, 5-speed GLS wagon--great for the first 13 years and 180k miles-averaged 39mpg. Other than minor nuisances (burned-out seat heaters, a leaky heater core and a sunroof that won't stay closed), the only major problem was a blown turbo at 118k, caused by a pinched oil line from the factory.

Then the lifters wore through.. Had a cam kit installed--still have the fault codes from hell: 18074, 16885, 17668.

Debating whether to replace the #1 injector, or to let the car go (I'm hearing the money pit warnings). My son gets his license in a couple of years and I like having the full suite of air bags.

Everything else has held up really well for 14 years and it would take very little to make it a daily driver show car.
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Thanks,
Jan K.

[oprn]

Our '04 Jettas had 470K and 340K on them with zero engine issues apart from a glow plug replacement. Now we have an '02 with 270K on it, had a new turbo by the previous owner, now we had to replace 2 injectors, glow plugs and it is using oil.

Maybe it depends on how it was treated more than what year it is?

[janerick3]

There was a mid-model year 2004 change in the PD engines, where VW changed to a hardened cam follower. Unfortunately, mine was a Dec 2003 build, so it got the soft followers...

Part of the problem was in VWs design. After the cam kit was installed, the mechanic showed me the followers. The #4 followers had minimal wear, while the #1 followers were worn through.

I've heard the later PDs hold up better, but only if the oil is changed religiously AND the spec 505.01 oil is used. My gut feeling is some dealers and owners (not the independent shops) skimped on oil because of the difference in cost early on and you're seeing the results today in shortened engine life.

For what it's worth, my TDI is Wolfsburg-built, with a PD engine assembled in Poland.
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Thanks,
Jan K.