VW recalling 92,000 cars in USA for shearing camshafts

[jake]

Volkswagen Recalling 92,000 Cars For Shearing Camshafts, Loss Of Power Brakes (Update)

Volkswagen’s troubles continue, but this time it’s not emissions-related cheating, it’s failing camshaft lobes which can wreak havoc on braking performance.

Volkswagen is recalling 91,867 cars including the 2015-2016 Jetta, the 2015-2016 Beetle, 2015-2016 Golf SportWagen, 2015-2016 Volkswagen Passat and 2015-2016 Golf and Golf GTI. It’s all over troubles with the new EA888 engine.

That engine is a good one. I just reviewed the 2016 Passat and found that little 1.8-liter Turbo version of the EA888 to be a darned good mill.

But, it turns out, I got lucky, because the EA888’s exhaust camshaft lobes have a tendency to shear off. The exhaust camshaft drives the fuel pump and brake vacuum pump, so once that camshaft is toast, there go your power brakes. And without power brakes, that corner up ahead is gonna get really hairy.

Volkswagen Recalling 92,000 Cars For Shearing Camshafts, Loss Of Power Brakes (Update)

Normally camshafts are machined from bar stock or cast from molten iron, but Volkswagen opted for modular sintered camshafts, whose lobes are pressed on. The friction from interference fit between the lobe’s and the shaft causes the lobe to “become one” with the shaft.

NHTSA says the camshafts are shearing due to “high load” on the cam. Whether that’s the only cause is not yet clear. I’d guess that the failures have something to do with the assembly process and too high of an interference between the shaft and lobe. This could impart high radial stresses on the lobe and weaken it.

Volkswagen, will your woes ever end?

Update: We called VW for more info, and they told us the GTI is actually not part of this recall (they’ve submitted a new form 573 to NHTSA that does not include the GTI). Additionally, VW’s rep says it’s more likely that the lobe is actually spinning around the shaft, rather than shearing, but that hasn’t been confirmed.


Update 2: After another call to VW, it looks like they will issue a stop-sale on 3,500 affected vehicles.

[Eaglehawk]

Oh dear.

Welcome to the party my VW petrol friends...(From a VW diesel owner)

[Eaglen00b]

Oh FFS VW!!!

[bobg]

This is rather depressing. I own a mk7 golf gti so I'm thinking I'm probably not affected but it's starting feel like just a matter of time....

[tigger73]

This recall is in the US guys.

"Volkswagen has a new recall in the US that affects 91,867 vehicles with the company's EA888 1.8- and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines.

According to documents submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (as a PDF), VW doesn't yet know the root cause for these failures, and the automaker doesn't expect to have a fix ready until March 2016. The company will first notify owners of the problem on December 22, and it'll send a second letter when there's a repair. If a vehicle is affected in the meantime, dealers will replace the camshaft for free with existing parts.

RECALL Subject : Loss of Power Brakes due to Camshaft Lobe Fracture Report

Receipt Date: OCT 26, 2015
NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V705000
Component(s): ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING , SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
Potential Number of Units Affected: 91,867

All Products Associated with this Recall
Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s)

VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE 2015-2016
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2015-2016
VOLKSWAGEN GTI 2015-2016
VOLKSWAGEN JETTA 2015-2016
VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 2015-2016

Details
Manufacturer: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

SUMMARY: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Jetta, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Passat, Golf/GTI and Golf SportWagen vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the camshaft lobe that drives the brake vacuum pump may shear off, resulting in a loss of brake assist.

CONSEQUENCE: If the camshaft lobe shears off there would be a loss of brake assist, lengthening the distance needed to stop the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.

REMEDY: The remedy for this recall campaign is still under development. Volkswagen will send owners an interim notification by December 22, 2015 and will send a second notification when a remedy plan has been finalized, currently expected to be in March 2016. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-822-8987. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 23R1.

NOTES:Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).


VOLKSWAGEN ISSUES VOLUNTARY RECALL

Herndon, VA - Volkswagen considers the safety and satisfaction of its consumers and passengers a top priority. As such, Volkswagen has notified NHTSA of an upcoming voluntary safety recall affecting approximately 91,800 vehicles with a 1.8T or 2.0L gasoline engine from the 2015-2016 model year. The models involved are: Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Golf GTI, Golf SportWagen, Jetta and Passat.
The recall affects approximately 91,800 model year 2015 and 2016 Volkswagen Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Golf GTI, Golf SportWagen, Jetta and Passat vehicles in the U.S. On some vehicles, the rear camshaft lobe has the potential to unexpectedly shear off from the camshaft. If this happens, vacuum pump power will be lost so that the pump will not deliver further vacuum supply to the brake booster, and reduced engine power will cause the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) to come on. After depletion of the vacuum reserve, braking effort increases. A reduction in engine power and/or increased need for braking effort after vacuum reserve has been depleted while driving can increase the risk of a crash.

At no cost to customers, authorized VW dealers will repair the vehicle if it is identified as having come from one of the affected production lots.

No injuries related to this issue have been reported. Volkswagen will notify all owners of affected vehicles and will instruct them to arrange for an appointment with an authorized Volkswagen dealer.

About Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc., an operating unit of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWoA) is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. VWoA's operations in the United States include research and development, parts and vehicle processing, parts distribution centers, sales, marketing and service offices, financial service centers, and its state -of-the- art manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Volkswagen Group is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. VWoA sells the Beetle, Beetle Convertible, CC, Eos, e-Golf, Golf, Golf GTI, Golf R, Golf SportWagen, Jetta, Passat, Tiguan and Touareg vehicles through approximately 652 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at VW.com | Official Home of Volkswagen Cars & SUVs or media.vw.com to learn more."


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[woofy]

Awesome so my new RS Octy getting built in Jan will come with defective CAMs....how long until Skoda/VW/Audi locally all announce this bright bit of joy. This one appears to be solely due to cheap cost cutting.

Oh just noticed the GTi has been pulled from the list, so maybe, just maybe they put a stronger one in that engine variant.

[Eaglen00b]

Awesome so my new RS Octy getting built in Jan will come with defective CAMs....how long until Skoda/VW/Audi locally all announce this bright bit of joy. This one appears to be solely due to cheap cost cutting.

Oh just noticed the GTi has been pulled from the list, so maybe, just maybe they put a stronger one in that engine variant.

Call me cynical, but maybe they haven't found any defective GTIs.......... yet?

[woofy]

I wondered that, but they intentionally pulled them out after they were originally in the report. It also says that they changed the part in Production in June 2015. But it also says they don't know the full cause of it, so how can they change what they had in production without knowing what caused it properly?

[bobg]

Hey guys where are you getting this updated information regarding the gti?
Thanks

[AdamD]

I wondered that, but they intentionally pulled them out after they were originally in the report. It also says that they changed the part in Production in June 2015. But it also says they don't know the full cause of it, so how can they change what they had in production without knowing what caused it properly?

Manufacturers are always making running changes to designs and manufacturing processes, to improve identified weak spots/flaws/inefficiencies. It's possible that this was identified as a potential cause of trouble (or just something that they wanted to improve) some time ago, and a redesign was put in place at some point when they had the capacity to re-engineer it. This is all standard practice. The recall itself was likely only triggered by actual instances of failures occurring 'in the wild'.

Hey guys where are you getting this updated information regarding the gti?
Thanks

It's in the article linked at the top of this thread: Volkswagen Recalling 92,000 Cars For Shearing Camshafts, Loss Of Power BrakesÂ*(Update)Â*

This issue does not affect the GTI engine (EA888 2.0 TSI 162kw).