TSI Chain Tensioner worry.

TSI Chain Tensioner worry.

Author
Discussion

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
quotequote all
I've only just recently heard about the chain tensioner issues on EA888 TSI engines. I have a '58 plate Scirocco 2.0L TSI with 56,000 miles on the clock and I'm now worried about this.

Is it something which is likely/unlikely to go wrong? I'm wondering whether or not it would be wise to change the car. I would rather keep the car as I do like it though.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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It seems to be affecting the Mk6 Golf GTI and SEAT Leon FR with the same engine quite badly but I haven't heard of any Scirocco catastrophic failures yet. Which engine code is yours? One option could be to take out an extended warranty then you're covered if anything goes wrong. Also make sure the engine oil is changed at least every 10k miles minimum

Edited by va1o on Thursday 25th September 13:52

SMB

1,513 posts

265 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
va1o said:
It seems to be affecting the Mk6 Golf GTI and SEAT Leon FR with the same engine quite badly but I haven't heard of any Scirocco catastrophic failures yet. Which engine code is yours? One option could be to take out an extended warranty then you're covered if anything goes wrong. Also make sure the engine is changed at least every 10k miles minimum
Changing the engine every 10k could be expensive ;-) , the engine is the same as the golf, and I've heard of failures in scirocco too. One just this week on scirocco Central.


http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p...

Stoofa

958 posts

167 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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...and there are reports of failure in the Skoda Octavia's too.
You gotta remember that there are a lot of these engines int he wild and it's only those people who have an issue that will report it - so no literal hundreds of thousands of people saying "No, mine is fine".
But extended warranty is your answer if you're worried.

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Sorry I meant to say engine oilhehe

jetbox

218 posts

160 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Just FYI. When when my mk6 gti had the tensioner issue, I knew something was not right, I could hear a rattle on start up which I thought was strange, it didn't do it on every start but was very noticeable when it did. Every 3 starts or so. Eventually it jumped the chain during start up and wrecked the engine.

The garage denied the noise was related but I think it was...

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Just change it anyway, IIRC its relatively inexpensive.

The problem is caused by a design fault, there is a new part that is a different design. I think I'd rather have the redesigned part regardless.

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Friday 26th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies!

Really not sure what to do, I may seek advice from VW but by the sounds of it they have stitched some people up.

Some very good points raised, especially about Skoda, Seat and Golf GTi 6 engines being the same. Surely it can't be that common a problem or there would be outrage.

I suppose most cars have a weak spot somewhere and I could potentially go and change the rocco out for something different just to have the arse fall out of that instead.


Decisions!

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Friday 26th September 2014
quotequote all
va1o said:
It seems to be affecting the Mk6 Golf GTI and SEAT Leon FR with the same engine quite badly but I haven't heard of any Scirocco catastrophic failures yet. Which engine code is yours? One option could be to take out an extended warranty then you're covered if anything goes wrong. Also make sure the engine oil is changed at least every 10k miles minimum

Edited by va1o on Thursday 25th September 13:52

I believe it to be the EA888 engine (200PS)

rongagin

481 posts

135 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
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I don't know the details, but my son has a mk6 gti on a 59 plate. he reckons he could hear a 'rattle' on start up so did a bit of research and found that there have been 2 or 3 different chain tensioners by VW in this engine. So he bought the latest tensioner and had that fitted.
Price was about £60 (I think?) for tensioner, but lots of other bits needed and labour at a specialist gave an overall bill of £250 ish. But the 'rattle' has gone and he is feeling happy, new engines aren't cheap.....
Hope that helps

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
quotequote all
rongagin said:
I don't know the details, but my son has a mk6 gti on a 59 plate. he reckons he could hear a 'rattle' on start up so did a bit of research and found that there have been 2 or 3 different chain tensioners by VW in this engine. So he bought the latest tensioner and had that fitted.
Price was about £60 (I think?) for tensioner, but lots of other bits needed and labour at a specialist gave an overall bill of £250 ish. But the 'rattle' has gone and he is feeling happy, new engines aren't cheap.....
Hope that helps
Thanks that helps a lot, good to know that 'pre-emptive' action is affordable. £250 sounds very reasonable for peace of mind. I'm going to look into this!

Cheers

Matt

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
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Just spoke to my local VW dealership's service department, they said they have never come across this problem and the amount of people it happens to must be very small! Unfortunately their master technician was out on a road test so they are going to speak to him later and phone me back on Monday with some advice.

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
quotequote all
matty8v said:
Just spoke to my local VW dealership's service department, they said they have never come across this problem and the amount of people it happens to must be very small! Unfortunately their master technician was out on a road test so they are going to speak to him later and phone me back on Monday with some advice.
To be honest you won't get much from speaking to VW main dealers. They only really have knowledge about basic servicing in my experience and regularly deny common problems exist. For something like this forums or a good independant specialist will be able to provide better info.

160

239 posts

144 months

Saturday 27th September 2014
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its all ea888 engines including the 1.8. theres about 4 revisions to the tensioner and a new design chain. iirc someone on briskoda had theres changed by an indie and it came to £400 all in.

edit.
http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/266114-18tsi-...

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Sunday 28th September 2014
quotequote all
va1o said:
matty8v said:
Just spoke to my local VW dealership's service department, they said they have never come across this problem and the amount of people it happens to must be very small! Unfortunately their master technician was out on a road test so they are going to speak to him later and phone me back on Monday with some advice.
To be honest you won't get much from speaking to VW main dealers. They only really have knowledge about basic servicing in my experience and regularly deny common problems exist. For something like this forums or a good independant specialist will be able to provide better info.
Good point, I'm also going to call Volkscraft in Exeter see what they say!

SpeedBash

2,318 posts

186 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
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matty8v said:
Just spoke to my local VW dealership's service department, they said they have never come across this problem and the amount of people it happens to must be very small! Unfortunately their master technician was out on a road test so they are going to speak to him later and phone me back on Monday with some advice.
Shows they haven't been reading their TSB's then!

http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=471...

matty8v

Original Poster:

74 posts

127 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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I called Volkscraft in Exeter and they have quoted me £780 to replace the whole lot which includes the cam chain, guides, tensioner and some other chain (guide chain I think but I can't remember).

I am very tempted to get the work done for peace of mind. Got no reason to suspect that something is wrong with my car right now but I will sleep easier knowing that bombshell isn't going to land on me in the future. The plan is to keep the Rocco for as long as poss so I don't mind spending some money on it to ensure it remains reliable.

Does £780 for the job sound reasonable?

Cheers

Matt

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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I would spend the money on a warranty instead to cover you for a couple of years if it goes wrong, depends how long you'll be keeping the car I guess!

SuperchargedVR6

3,138 posts

219 months

Wednesday 15th October 2014
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I'd like to see any warranty pay all of the £780. They are notoriously useless for "wear items", which is exactly what the chain gear is.

Shouldn't need to replace the chain as it's a gear chain, not a roller chain, which the R32 used. I would just do the tensioner which will save a lot in parts and labour.

If the chain gets too slack, you will get this fault code and the engine may refuse to start:


- 00022 - Bank 1, Camshaft Position -G40/crankshaft position sensor -G28, incorrect assignment.

vwkg1967

5 posts

170 months

Tuesday 21st October 2014
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3 Weeks ago I got in my 2010 Mk6 Golf GTi with 54k on it, started it up and experienced the Cam Chain Tensioner issue. Took it to the Ford Garage where I purchased it from and they sent it to the VW dealership to get it looked at under Warranty. Spoke to the garage today and apparently they've just had another GTi come in with the same problem. I also spoke to someone last week who's mate also had the exact same thing happen to him a week previous. Having trawled the internet it would appear that it's happening to VWs and on a regular basis.

The engine as it left the factory clearly wasn't fit for purpose and to prove this VW have re-engineered the offending part twice now although they have not issued a recall as this would probably be seen as an admission of liability.