Plastic particles in my MK5 GTi sump

[skodaman]

Hi
looking for advice on my 2007 GTi (BWA engine with 128k). EML has come on intermittently a couple of times in the recent weeks but drives fine. Fault codes shown are 01089 and P0441. So as a first step i dropped the sump to clean it and the oil pick up pipe. There was some sludge and carbon but in the oil pick up filter there were about 8 small brownish plastic pieces some with rounded sides so could have come from a spindle or drum shaped bit. Looking for some advice on what's gone wrong and rectification. First thoughts were that these could this have come from the oil pump chain tensioner but i believe the plastic guides on these are black and the plastic debris is definitely bronzey brown in colour. Many thanks

[pudding]

Dipstick crumbs.  The early orange dipstick and guide tube were known to crumble apart and drop down into the sump.  The newer yellow tube and dipstick are much more resistant to decay.

[skodaman]

Topman! Initially i wasn't convinced as my orange dipstick is still intact .But on closer inspection the dipstick guides are the correct size a for the particles  and on the debris i could see spiral marks on what i initially thought maybe a hole holding a spline pin....the spiral marks though match the dipstick braided steel wire. Brilliant!! And some good news cos i don't have to do any work!! I'll get a new yellow dipstick anyway. By the way any thoughts on balance shaft delete kits? My car has done 128k but its a BWA engine which i believe has less oil starvation issues. Thanks again

[pudding]

Chances are a previous owner replaced the dipstick at some point, but left the crumbs in the sump for you to find one day 

I've never messed with the pump or balancer shafts on mine mate, and don't intend to.  Mine's on 157K and still running the original pump/balancer assembly with no issues    The key to long balancer life is regular oil changes and not over revving the engine 

[skodaman]

Thanks. just ordered a new yellow dipstick and tube to replace the current orange units. Reasonably cheap from my local VW dealer. ...And i'll stick to oil changes every 6000mls. cheers

[pudding]

I do mine every 3000 with Mobil 1    Yeah I'm crazy.  It's why the cylinder head casting still looks new under the cam cover though