Timing Chain Tensioner GTi MK6
Discussion
Hi All,
Am looking for some advice from fellow GTi owners regarding the following situation.........I currently own a MK6 GTi (10-reg) which I've had for the past four years. The car has been faultless in my ownership. Its is on 49k miles and has a full main dealer service history. Car is serviced annually and has no expense spared. Recently I've read about the timing chain tensioner failure and its got me thinking..........what is the general consensus.......should I forget about it and continue with routine servicing or should I consider getting the tensioner changed for piece of mind? If changed, what is the ballpark cost to have this part replaced at a VW main dealer or specialist (I am in the Wokingham area)?
Car is DSG gearbox and is 'potentially' a long term keeper
Thanks for reading.
DolphinS3
Am looking for some advice from fellow GTi owners regarding the following situation.........I currently own a MK6 GTi (10-reg) which I've had for the past four years. The car has been faultless in my ownership. Its is on 49k miles and has a full main dealer service history. Car is serviced annually and has no expense spared. Recently I've read about the timing chain tensioner failure and its got me thinking..........what is the general consensus.......should I forget about it and continue with routine servicing or should I consider getting the tensioner changed for piece of mind? If changed, what is the ballpark cost to have this part replaced at a VW main dealer or specialist (I am in the Wokingham area)?
Car is DSG gearbox and is 'potentially' a long term keeper
Thanks for reading.
DolphinS3
Sorry to hear that. I am awaiting a quote to replace the tensioner from my local main dealer. From what I gather this part can fail at any time/mileage? I'd be interested to know if VW revised the tensioner and up-rated it for subequant model years? and if they did, could that part be fitted to my 2010 car?
I really hadn't given this subject any thought but now its got me focussed
I really hadn't given this subject any thought but now its got me focussed
D'oh said:
Get it changed!
Absolutely 100% this! My MK6 GTI is also a 10-reg with similar mileage to yours, albeit the 6-speed manual. I had my tensioner changed 18 months ago as the thought of it failing was spoiling my enjoyment of the car. There are extensive threads about this over on GolfGTIForum and Briskoda. Dolphins3 said:
I'd be interested to know if VW revised the tensioner and up-rated it for subequant model years? and if they did, could that part be fitted to my 2010 car?
The tensioner has had several revisions and as far as I can remember, the general rule of thumb is that cars that are 61-plate and newer will have the latest tensioner, which sadly means that your 2010 car is very much at risk. Also, it's worth getting the chain replaced while they've got the engine apart. Shouldn't be any more than £250-£300. Accessory belt off, crank pulley off, chain cover off, replace chain tensioner, replace chain cover (with a new one if the original bends), refit pulley, refit belt. Done.
History likes repeating itself with VWs. VR6, MK4 R32, MK5 GTI, MK6 GTI.... they all suffer from premature chain and/or tensioner wear.
History likes repeating itself with VWs. VR6, MK4 R32, MK5 GTI, MK6 GTI.... they all suffer from premature chain and/or tensioner wear.
Wow!
I can understand a chunky price to do the chain as it's an involved job, but that is a silly price for just the tensioner.
It's par for the course with these cars. I have to take the intake manifold off this weekend and de-carbon all the valves, which will cost around £100 in parts, £100 for a special tool and about 5 or 6 hours of my time. Regular 'maintenance' never used to be this expensive in the good old days!
I can understand a chunky price to do the chain as it's an involved job, but that is a silly price for just the tensioner.
It's par for the course with these cars. I have to take the intake manifold off this weekend and de-carbon all the valves, which will cost around £100 in parts, £100 for a special tool and about 5 or 6 hours of my time. Regular 'maintenance' never used to be this expensive in the good old days!
dolphins3 said:
My local VW main dealer has quoted me £928 to replace the tensioner and £1242 to replace the tensioner and chain. Seems pretty steep to me but I guess that down to the labour
VW Main dealer is always going to be high on Labour , can you not take it to a good independent?Seems steep alright , but not too bad when you put it in perspective...i just paid out over €6,000 for new engine & Labour because of this stupid problem!
dolphins3 said:
Local indie has quoted a shade over £900 to replace the timing chain and tensioner using genuine VW parts. The VW quote comes with a 2yr warranty. Gotta decide what to do now 
My GTi is a late 2010 build car and I'm not sure whether I have a revised tensioner fitted or not. My local VW dealer seem pretty useless and are not aware of any problem relating to the cam chain tensioner. I then spoke to another dealer and they said the same thing and said to me don't worry it's a non serviceable part and all will be fine! I did ask for a quote and his words were probably a couple of thousand pounds to change a tensioner.....obviously he didn't know his @rse from his elbow. I promptly ended the call.I got a quote this morning from an independent at £545 inc VAT. That includes new chain, tensioner, the three chain guides, balance shaft chain, balance shaft tensioner and three balance shaft chain guides. These parts came to £305 inc VAT and labour at £240 inc VAT. Apparently the balance shaft bits do not necessarily need changing but for the extra £140 inc VAT it's worth getting them replaced at the same time.
Looks like your indie is quoting a tad too high.
Is there any way of knowing what tensioner one has fitted without pulling it apart?
EFA: I have just called VW customer Services who have said to take my car to my local VW dealer for them to run a diagnostic check on the car to see if there is a fault with the tensioner. Explained it's a mechanical part and how would diagnostics find a fault. Again VWCS being utterly useless, they also said that if the car has no official VW warranty then any cost would be borne by the owner of the car.
Edited by Andy OH on Wednesday 5th October 14:43
Seems like your experience of the main dealer was the same as mine..........they weren't very helpful or inspired any confidence. Apparently my local main dealer had never herd of a tensioner failure. Go figure
I'm probably going to get the tensioner and chain replaced but I would be interested to know what the actual failure rate is?
I'm probably going to get the tensioner and chain replaced but I would be interested to know what the actual failure rate is?
Dolphin, do you have a rattle for a couple of seconds at cold start up? I checked mine earlier today and there is no rattle. My car has not moved a wheel since Saturday so was stone cold. If there is no rattle then the tensioner may be ok but like you I'm getting paranoid that it's a ticking time bomb!
Edit:
I've just found out my car is a 2011 model car as it was built on 3 November 2010 and as I was told all GTiI's built after 1 May 2010 had the first revised tensioner fitted. This was from the parts guy at Lancaster VW in Harlow, Essex. He confirmed this by the chassis number on my car.
Dolphin, call your local VW parts dept. and they will tell you when your car was built which may help you.
Edit:
I've just found out my car is a 2011 model car as it was built on 3 November 2010 and as I was told all GTiI's built after 1 May 2010 had the first revised tensioner fitted. This was from the parts guy at Lancaster VW in Harlow, Essex. He confirmed this by the chassis number on my car.
Dolphin, call your local VW parts dept. and they will tell you when your car was built which may help you.
Edited by Andy OH on Wednesday 5th October 15:39
No rattle upon cold start up on mine. I'm mainly thinking about getting the work done as preventative maintenance. I've owned the car for 4 years and I plan on keeping it. Checking my records, my car was first registered in May 2010, so the build date would have most likely been 1Q2010. I will take your advice and check with the part dept.
Andy OH said:
Is there any way of knowing what tensioner one has fitted without pulling it apart?
I believe the video on this page covers it - https://deutscheautoparts.com/make-model-year/volk...Andy OH said:
EFA: I have just called VW customer Services who have said to take my car to my local VW dealer for them to run a diagnostic check on the car to see if there is a fault with the tensioner. Explained it's a mechanical part and how would diagnostics find a fault. Again VWCS being utterly useless, they also said that if the car has no official VW warranty then any cost would be borne by the owner of the car.
On some engines, you can use diagnostic software to check the cam / crank angles for deviation away from factory new spec. It's how you could tell on the R32 before pulling it all apart.Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff