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MKVI GTI oil in cylinders

J

JBFL

New member
Hey guys. I've had this '13 GTI for less than a year. Picked it up at Carmax and of course did NOT get the extended warranty. Over the last year I've given it a tune up, upgraded the coil packs, replaced the diverter valve, replaced a coolant temp sensor and put an APR Stage 1 tune on it. A couple of months ago I had an oil warning light and realized it was burning about a quart of oil per 750 miles. So I replaced the PCV....which ended up being full of oil. Still burning oil. So I took it to a reputable shop ( a shop a lot of people buy parts online from) who did a compression test and leak down test. Compression was low in cylinder 2 and super high in cylinder 3. So they bore scoped the cylinders. Cylinder 2 piston was covered in carbon and cylinder 3 had standing oil on top of the piston. They say the rings are bad.....their diagnosis.....the engine is junk.

So the shop says you can't rebuild a MKVI engine...."the tolerances are too tight." "rebuilds don't last" And that they would have to install a complete motor....a used motor with who knows how many miles. They said it would be roughly $10k out the door. I was shocked. I paid for the testing and left.

I've never heard of a motor being so precise that you couldn't possibly rebuild it. I mean machine shops that build race motors....they're just eyeballing things and hoping for the best?! Yeah right. Somehow in the realm of engineering there's NASA closely followed by VW and mere mortals can never hope to come close to their expertise.

So I've been doing a lot of reading about engine swaps and it seems like up until last year people keep saying "just go buy a new motor for $1-2k. No big deal!" All the motors I see online are like $5k for a compatible engine with 120k+ miles.

I still owe way more on this car than the trade in value and it's my commuter. Whether or not I like it, I'm stuck with it. I damn sure can't afford to pay this shop 10 grand to put in another questionable engine.

What's a rough estimate for a rebuild? and where are these cheap engines at?

......also...can I just swap in an LS motor? KIDDING!
 
WalkerT

WalkerT

Go Kart Champion
What where the compression numbers? Was there an bore scoring on #2? Standing Oil on top is normally a cam cradle or valve seal for it to accumulate on the piston.
 
miomiller

miomiller

Ready to race!
I did a search on https://car-part.com/ for a CCTA engine and there is no shortage of results. One of the vendors lists remanufactured engines for $4,900. Granted, "remanufactured" could have any number of different meanings but it at least appears that there is no shortage of options for you to investigate further.
 
J

JBFL

New member
WalkerT said:
What where the compression numbers? Was there an bore scoring on #2? Standing Oil on top is normally a cam cradle or valve seal for it to accumulate on the piston.
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Actually I just read the technicians notes instead of going off what the guy at the desk said. Notes say compression good across all cylinders but #3. #3 was high. Leakdown good across all cylinders. Carbon in #2. Oil in #3. Believes oil rings are bad recommend replacing motor.
 
WalkerT

WalkerT

Go Kart Champion
JBFL said:
Actually I just read the technicians notes instead of going off what the guy at the desk said. Notes say compression good across all cylinders but #3. #3 was high. Leakdown good across all cylinders. Carbon in #2. Oil in #3. Believes oil rings are bad recommend replacing motor.
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So they should be around 180ish so what did he think was high? if you are good across all cylinders for leak down and compression and number three was up 5-10 then there is no reason to change the engine just for a seal leak on 3. If your oil consumption is a full quart every 1000 miles then trouble shoot the leak. If your engine was toast you would be bellowing smoke.
 
J

JBFL

New member
WalkerT said:
So they should be around 180ish so what did he think was high? if you are good across all cylinders for leak down and compression and number three was up 5-10 then there is no reason to change the engine just for a seal leak on 3. If your oil consumption is a full quart every 1000 miles then trouble shoot the leak. If your engine was toast you would be bellowing smoke.
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They just said cylinder 3 was over 200. No visible smoke. No visible leaks.

Now that I've gotten it back from the shop it's in limp mode with something like 12-14 error codes. I took it back to them to fix whatever they screwed up. They've just called me that my "fuse box is melted." I told them that's suspicious that I bring them a car with oil consumption and I get a car back that doesn't run.
 
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uglybastard

uglybastard

Autocross Champion
Find another shop
 
king1138

king1138

Go Kart Champion
It's normal for compression numbers to be elevated if there is standing oil in a cylinder. We actually do what's called a "wet" compression test where we put a few ounces of oil in a cylinder with low compression, if the numbers increase it indicates that the piston rings are shot. However, if the numbers are higher than normal, I suspect simply finding the cause of the standing oil will resolve the "high" compression numbers. The "wet" test basically just forces the rings to seal against the cylinder walls. Forcing increased sealing on a cylinder with good rings will of course raise the readings.

You definitely need a different shop.
 
J

JBFL

New member
The car is completely dead right now. I disconnected the battery in order to troubleshoot potential electrical issues causing the engine error codes. Reconnected the battery and the immobilizer is active and the car no longer recognizes the key fobs. SO! It's now been towed to a VW dealer to sort that issue.

But prior to that I pulled the throttle body intake hose. It had a significant amount of engine oil in it. So I'm thinking bad turbo?
 
J

JBFL

New member
Just to continue to document this in case someone else runs into similar issues.

The car is at a VW dealer and it is utterly and completely dead. The techs can't get any communication out of the car at all. Nothing. No signs of life except if you hit the keyfob enough times the hazards flash.
 
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