All right, we are back. Let’s start out where we left off. The oil pressure regulating system. So far we have learned about the different issues associated with it.

1.  Wear in the bore causing leakage
2.  Wear in the bore creating a ledge for the piston to get stuck upon
3.  Debris making the piston stick
4.  Clogged up oil suction pipe forcing the piston to open

So what can we do to fix or prevent this? We have a solution. The Wasa oil pressure fix. For many years we have fixed this problem for customers in Sweden, using a rather primitive solution. Not very scientific but absolutely good enough to get the cars up and running again. It was only when we started thinking about going worldwide with this, that we scrapped the old design and started working on a new one.
The goal this time around was to fix all of the above mentioned problems at once. And we did.

The new regulating valve uses materials that work together in a way to reduce the risk of debris getting stuck in it’s mating surfaces. The positioning of the ports are no longer forcing any angular forces to the piston and a clogged pickup won’t open the ports.

More about this nice little oil pressure fix can soon be read on the dedicated page. Meanwhile here is a link to the product page.

The oil pump itself

As you may recall I stated in an earlier part, that the oil pump itself seldom fails. This is true but while you’re down there it of course doesn’t hurt to check it. We have found that most damage tends to be found in the pump cover / lid. Although the pump can take a lot of damage before causing issues with the pressure, the lid can very easily be machined. Just to get that little extra peace of mind. The rotors of the pump often show signs of wear, especially after chain failures, but it rarely affects the oil pressure enough to be noticed. If you feel nervous about it you’re welcome to sen us pictures and we can help you assess the situation.

Coming up next

The previous part was a very long one. This compensates by being very short.

In the next part we will take a look at some bearing as well as learning something about piston cooling jets. Not only will we talk about oil pressure in that part, but we’ll also touch a subject well known to TFSI owners. The oil consumption. See you all then i hope!

Balance shaft module removal

At this point it is time to remove the complete balance shaft module, also containing the oil pump. This is a simple job which can be performed by anyone who got this far. The first thing you will want to do is securing the chain tensioner with a locking pin. In some cases the plastic will be brittle causing the loops to break. If it happens, don’t worry about it, the tensioner will still be working if you want to reuse it. Now remove the oil pump sprocket, using the correct torx drive bit. And that is all. You can now remove the bolts holding the module to the engine block and take it out.

The balance shaft module

Whenever mentioned in a context of failure prone components, thoughts immediately go to the sprocket driving the balance shafts. Even though this is a very common issue, it is far from the only one.

Now that we have our module removed from the Engine, let’s take a closer look at what we have. Starting with the exterior and then moving on to the interior parts.

The balance shaft sprocket – again

Even though this was checked and partly covered in the previous post, I recommend to double check it. Now you have better access to it and probably better lighting. Better safe than sorry, right? What you need to make sure of is that the sprocket is centered and not already cracked. Another thing to take a look at, is the position of the sprocket. When the weights of the shafts are positioned downwards, flat sides linear to each other. The mark on the sprocket must be aligned with the hole for the locking tool. If all this is OK, we move on to the next step. I myself, would recommend reinstalling the module with the OEM sprocket. But that is up to you to decide for yourselves.

The shafts and journals

This is also an issue known to most people, that needs to be checked when dealing with low oil pressure. In the rear end of the module you will see the ends of the balance shafts protruding. If these journals get worn out it will create play in the shafts resulting in loss of oil pressure. Now, we get a lot of calls from people who are unsure what would be excessive play. Truth to be told is that this issue is not all that common. In most cases you will know right away if it is too much. By design they obviously are in need of some space for the oil film. The same film will amplify the Visual effect of the overall journal play. This is what the worried people see when wiggling the shafts back and forth.

The oil pump

The next step requires you to remove the lid of the oil pump. This is done by unscrewing the five allen head bolts holding it.

We have seen claims on the internet, both in forums as well as on competitors websites, that the TFSI 2.0 oil pump is somehow undersized for its job. They could not be more wrong. A good example for this is a rather embarrassing story about a module fixed by us for a customer.

In this particular case we had installed our oil pressure regulating fix and sent the pump back. However we did a crucial mistake during the modification. The customer called us, after he had reinstalled the unit and fired up the car. He kindly let us know the engine now holds an oil pressure of 13,5 bar (!). As I said, very embarrassing. But hey, even at the fine company of Wasa Motor, we are only human. The important lesson to be learned here, is that the TFSI 2.0 oil pump is very much capable of delivering all the oil you’ll ever need.

With a pump this oversized, it is very rare to find the solution to fixing low oil pressure here. Still, it does not hurt to check while you are at it. What you are looking for here are really badly damaged inner and outer rotors. Also the lid may be damaged.

The oil pressure regulating system

For the first time in this blog series, we will now have a look into something all new. You will not find it anywhere else on the internet. Why you ask? Because looking at some of the newer designs from Audi, it seems they have not even figured it out themselves yet.

The TFSI 2.0 EA113 oil pump has an integrated regulating system which is designed rather careless, resulting in issues of holding the oil pressure. The issues may present themselves in a number of different ways, ranging from low oil pressure during specific circumstances to seemingly sporadic flashing pressure warnings.

In order to troubleshoot the issues brought on by a faulty regulating system, it is important to understand how it is operating and where the engineers went wrong.
To help you with this I have made a quick (somewhat accurate) 3D model of the components, to help better visualize the design.

 

The oil pressure regulating system of the 2.0 TFSI EA113 Engine

The red part is a cutout of the balance shaft and oil pump assembly.

As you can see in the picture above, the oil pressure is regulated by a spring loaded piston. At  the bottom is the intake port, connecting oil pump and pickup tube, whilst the upper port is the pressure side, from where the oil is being distributed on to the engine.

 

Low oil pump RPM

This image shows the regulating piston in its “resting” position. As you can see only the outlet side port is open, allowing maximum oil pressure produced by the pump, at the current RPM.

 

Higher oil pump RPM

This image shows the oil pump ports under a higher engine RPM, also causing the oil pump sending more, thus creating a higher pressure. When the pressure builds up to a certain point, it will force the piston downwards, connecting the ports and recirculating som of the oil to the inlet of the pump.

The problems with this system, start when you get an unwanted connection between the inlet and outlet port. Unfortunately this happens a lot due to the poor engineering within, the biggest mistake being that the ports are located on the same side of the piston bore. This causes bias to the piston and results in accelerated wear in the bore.

 

Visualization of a worn piston bore

The area highlighted in red is part that will typically be most affected by wear. On the opposite side a small gap between piston and bore can be seen.

The gap in the picture may not seem all that bad at first look. But considering a diametral wear of 0,35 millimeters, equals an area of 8 mm² for the oil to leak past the piston, it really is not that insignificant.

To make matters even worse, this is still not the main problem here. The real trouble is the ridge created just below where the port would normally close. Because of the suction from the oil pump, the piston will catch on that ridge and remain in the semi opened location. Now you have an 8 mm² leak as well as a slightly open port to worry about.
At this point the engines oil pressure guard is likely to take notice at idle.
When combining this with an overall-not-brand-new engine it will be even further accentuated.

So that is the first issue. But don’t worry, we will dive even further into it.

the effect of the different pickup tube types

As you may recall from the previous post, I mentioned the two different types of oil pickup tube, also known as oil suction pipe.
Let’s start out with the first version without the bypass. The first thing people tend to check, apart from the balance shaft sprocket, is whether there is a blockage in the pickup screen. Could be oil sludge or some sort of debris. What you must also take into account here, is the effect this restriction has on the regulating system. Of course a blocked screen will Always have a negative effect, but in the TFSI 2.0 EA113 it seldom causes total cutoff to the oil supply. I can almost hear people Reading this, shouting at me that I couldn’t be more wrong, but hear me out, please.
What actually happens when your screen gets partly choked, is that vacuum is created between the screen and the intake port of the oil pump. This channel is directly connected to the pressure regulating chamber, causing the piston to be sucked down and short the oil pump. And voila, no oil pressure.

This won’t happen with the other type of suction pipe, due to the bypass valve. The downside with this “fix”, is that the same regulating system is extremely sensitive to small particles. The bypass valve has no screen and increases the risk of debris getting in to the system and being wedged between the anodized aluminium piston and the untreated aluminium bore. This could once again lead to the piston being stuck in the open position.

Don’t worry, we have a solution to this problem

Wow, this post is getting long. I Think this is a good Point for a break. I will keep on typing in a bit, but for the ease of Reading, I will break it up into a new part of the ultimate oil pressure guide for the TFSI 2.0 EA113.

So, I’ll see you in part 4.

In this second part of the oil pressure troubleshooting guide we will start working on the bottom end of the engine. I will not cover any specifics about the general work involved, tearing your engine down, because this varies between differnet models and can be found elsewhere on the internet.

You can even access VAG’s own workshop repair manuals for a small fee:

• Volkswagen models
• Audi models
• Skoda models
• Seat models

Let’s get started

OK, so in the first part of this series we measured the oil pressure and made some notes about its specifics and behavior. Now its time to put those to use. Regardless of which results we got, when it comes to the 2.0T FSI EA113, the starting point will always be the bottom end. Inside the oil pan are numerous prone to fail components, each of which has its own way of affecting the oil pressure. Even if your fault is not in this area, some of them should be checked in order to take preventive actions if needed.

Checks to be made while removing the oil pan

Leaking rear main seal

As you are working on your car to disassembly the oil sump, it is good to keep an eye out for leaks in between the engine and gearbox. If there is a lot of oil in this area, chances are that your rear main seal is defective and needs replacement. Even if this will not affect the oil pressure, it can cause other issues later on.

What state is your oil in?

When draining the old oil from your engine, you should use a clean container in order to evaluate the condition of the oil. What you want to check for is:

• Contamination in terms of small particles or grainy feeling
• Larger particles (check color and if they are magnetic)
• Smell (if there is a heavy smell of gasoline, keep track on you oil consumption. You may have an piston ring issue.)

With the oil pan removed

I am now assuming you have finished disassembling your oil pan and are looking up on the oil pump and balance shaft assembly.

Oil suction pipe and strainer

The first thing to check here is the oil suction pipe, or pickup, to see if there is any debris blocking the strainer. This should be done before removing it because it can flush itself, once released from the oil pump.
Also note what type is installed in your car. Is it the old version without or the new one with the bypass inlet, highlighted in green. Both types can impact the oil pressure negatively under certain conditions. If it is the new typ, with the bypass, it will most likely not be your issue directly (unless the oil level was low). If it is the old type and it is blocked by debris or oil sludge, that might be part of the the cause. Indirectly both of these will affect the oil pumps regulating system in their own way, but I will get to that later on.

Oil pump transmission

The next thing to check is the transmission driving the oil pump and balance shafts. This is by far the most common issue leading to oil pressure loss when it comes to the EA113 engines. Mostly it can be spotted right away and many times you will even have seen larger metal pieces, from the chain and sprocket, in your oil.

Even if you do not find your issue here, you must still check the sprocket driving the balance shaft. Better yet would be to seize the opportunity to delete your balance shafts as a precaution. More about the subject of deleting the shafts can read HERE.

When inspecting the transmission, you should check for cracks in the sprocket on the left hand side, looking at the engine from the front. If the sprocket is broken apart you will also have to check for further damage to the one on the crankshaft and the chain connecting them. The separate oil pump sprocket will usually not be affected. If you find oil pump sprocket has failed, this will most likely be due to a seized oil pump, resulting in the notch on the shaft breaking.

End of part two

That’s it for this time! I think this is a good breaking point, since the next step will require some further disassembly.

Coming up next time…

In the next episode we will take a closer look at the oil pump and balance shaft assembly, as well as some more parts accessible once removing it.

As a true cliffhanger I can also announce that, for the first time ever we will reveal what’s wrong with the design of the regulating system, inside of the the oil pump.

Until then!

The ultimate oil pressure guide for the TFSI 2.0 EA113

It is no secret anymore that the EA113 engines have been plagued with oil pressure related issues. We have spent years studying these engines and why they fail. Now we will share some of this knowledge, along with solutions and preventive measures that can be taken, to prevent that dreaded oil pressure warning.

That is it for the first part of the series

As much as I would love to give you all the information and knowledge at once, I do have a lot of work going on as well. I will try to get the next part of the guide out for you really soon, since we havn’t really started in this first one.

Coming up in Part 2 of the ultimate oil pressure guide

In the next part we will start taking the engine apart and take a closer look at some of the most common causes of low oil pressure warnings.

See you then!