Why do some 2.0PD oil drives fail and others don’t?

MB Services specialise in supplying and fitting replacement engines. Our vast experience means we can reliably explain why it is that some 2.0PD oil pump drives fail while others remain completely sound.

It is generally the case that the 2.0 PD engines that are present in the Skoda Octavia, Audi A3 and the Volkswagen Golf don’t seem to have a problem with their chain driven oil pump.

The problematic engine in question, that we frequently perform replacements for, is the VAG 2.0 PD diesel engine. This is the engine present in more refined engine sets in vehicles such as the Volkswagen Passat, Audi A4 and the Skoda Superb.

2.0tdi engine problemsThe important difference between the two engines is that VAG 2.0 PD diesel engines contain a balancer shaft whereas standard 2.0 PD engines do not.

The cause of 2.0TDI engine problems

This is where the problem lies. The drive from the slave balancer shaft to the oil pump does not engage properly with the grooves in the slave shaft. There is a piece of 6 AF hex bar and this does not have the required depth to be consistent with these grooves. The underpinning issue is that there is a shortcoming in the amount of concentricity into the drive socket at which the 6 AF hex bar fits.

The balance shaft causes vibrations which leads to an eventual destruction of the oil pump that couples the 6 AF hex bar. There is a notable engineering fault where the drive socket at this joint is off centre. In our experience we have found that they can be off centre by up to 0.1mm, which may seem a minuscule amount but in terms of engineering this is a major fault.

Unfortunately, you will face this problem at some point if you have a 2.0TDi with balancer shafts. With a regular 2.0TDi without balancer shafts you shouldn’t have an issue but the VAG 2.0PD is sadly inevitably going to encounter this defect.

How to solve your 2.0 TDI engine issues for Skoda, VW and Audi with MB Services

skoda octavia 2.0 tdi engine problemsAt MB Services we stock a range of VW and Audi specialist parts and supply and fit replacement balancer units. By placing the balancer shafts at dead centre we will amend this issue and can ensure no repeat failure. We have supplied replacement balancer units that our clients have used for over 100,000 miles.

If you fit the latest replacement balancer shaft and pump assembly that we supply at MB Services it should cure the problem for life. We can make the hex longer and centre it properly to avoid you having any further issues with the balancer shaft.