what engine and what oil?

 

The engine is a 2.0T and the oil I use is Castrol syntec 5w-40

 

this supports my turbo theory. i've used that oil and i'll never use it again. mobil 1 does a much better job at cleaning the engine. i've checked both oils in this engine.

 

Interesting, I always thought Castrol was better than Mobil.
Next time I'll try using Mobil (with 5w-40 rating)...

 

There's nothing wrong with Castrol oil. I have used both M1 and Syntec for over a decade and have seen no differences. The defect is in the design and the cam follower material.

 

i have found that the used mobil 1 oil is "dirtier" than the used castrol oil. to me, that means the mobil 1 is better at picking up soot from the engine. the turbo is so demanding on oil and if more soot can be picked up and removed during oil changes, that's a good thing.

has the cam follower failed on any 3.0?

 

Esandes:

It is a problem with the FSI 2.0T engine. The cam follower that fails is for the high pressure (800 to 900 lbs of pressure, no kidding) that is required for the "Direct Injection" straight into the combustion chamber.

 

Unless you have sent that oil in for analysis then your "findings" amount to nothing. If you have please post it.

 

i'm well aware of how the pump works. the V6 also uses direct injection so is this a problem isolated to the turbo engine?

also note the mobil 1 i use is 0W-40 and the castrol is 5W-40 but the difference is quite noticable. i don't need a lab to tell me otherwise. the mobil 1 was much dirtier. good enough for me to know the difference. you can try for yourself or take it at face value.

 

Back from months away after a long move and glad to see people are checking their followers.

Beware guys because it is happening to all of us.