1.8TSI and 2.0TSI engine failures

[marcinp]

My car is going to Skoda garage this Thursday I have decided not to wait for that day so I'm going to change my tensioner ( full kit ) . I know that it will cost me some money but well I really like my car and I don't want to spend £5000 on new engine. Hopefully this will solve the problem forever. 

update on my one:

 

I left my car with the Skoda last Thursday I've been told I'll get it back Friday/Saturday , I have been given loan car (Octavia 02 1,9tdi never had diesel before but it's not that bad as I though). I had a phone call on Friday that the car is not ready so I can collect it on Monday , today another phone call still not done because it is a big job so I hope it will be ready tomorrow. It seems like they are rebuilding the car , I don't might at longest the job is done correctly ! I'm enjoying my 1,9 tdi beast very economical car compering to VRS petrol :| Service very good so far very friendly , loan car and many updates. Will update this tomorrow when is done .

[vRSrod]

update on my one:

 

I left my car with the Skoda last Thursday I've been told I'll get it back Friday/Saturday , I have been given loan car (Octavia 02 1,9tdi never had diesel before but it's not that bad as I though). I had a phone call on Friday that the car is not ready so I can collect it on Monday , today another phone call still not done because it is a big job so I hope it will be ready tomorrow. It seems like they are rebuilding the car , I don't might at longest the job is done correctly ! I'm enjoying my 1,9 tdi beast very economical car compering to VRS petrol :| Service very good so far very friendly , loan car and many updates. Will update this tomorrow when is done .

I'd be interested to know how much they've quoted you to replace the tensioner?

[marcinp]

I'd be interested to know how much they've quoted you to replace the tensioner?

Hi, it is £995 plus £12 for a loan car. it hurts !!!

[marcinp]

update on my one:

 

I left my car with the Skoda last Thursday I've been told I'll get it back Friday/Saturday , I have been given loan car (Octavia 02 1,9tdi never had diesel before but it's not that bad as I though). I had a phone call on Friday that the car is not ready so I can collect it on Monday , today another phone call still not done because it is a big job so I hope it will be ready tomorrow. It seems like they are rebuilding the car , I don't might at longest the job is done correctly ! I'm enjoying my 1,9 tdi beast very economical car compering to VRS petrol :| Service very good so far very friendly , loan car and many updates. Will update this tomorrow when is done .

 

All done. No scratches, no dents very good customer service , they kept me updated. It took longer then it suppose to take but I have been only charged for what I have been told. Car seems to be fine but I think it's louder when on high rpm's (turbo?? ).  I need to take her for a proper run. If I find something strange I will let you know.

[FLAPPERJACK7]

Brilliant. Just the worry about the oil burning issue now.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Edited 18 August, 2015 by FLAPPERJACK7

[blackspaven]

Hmmm, cheaper than a dealer but still expensive compared to a few indies on here. :/

[charris]

Hi everyone

Just to add to the list Octavia 59plate VRS 2.0tsi engine only just clocked 30k! Did buy private at 25k.

I'm at my parents holiday home so not local and the car does not start, AA have been out to me and it looks very much like the tensioner as everyone has described. I will be transporting the car back up to the midlands tomorrow as I'm in Devon and want to get it to a local garage. Should I go straight to my local skoda garage and see what they say ? I'm not happy at all 30k with fssh and having this problem is ridiculous for a engine so widley used in so many diffarant cars.

[m0bov]

Did u pay out for a warranty? I doubt u will get much from Skoda. Might have to try contacting what car, watchdog etc..

[charris]

Did u pay out for a warranty? I doubt u will get much from Skoda. Might have to try contacting what car, watchdog etc..

No don't have any warranty I'm out of luck there. I will have to see what they say first there's know way I can afford £6000+ for a new engine that's for sure.

Edited 3 September, 2015 by charris

[markquinton]

May I ask some advice on this issue.

 

I am going to look at a 61 plate tsi VRS this sunday which has 68k and full service history. The independent dealers selling the car advised me that they have recently changed the cam chain  tensioner as they were offered the car by a main dealer and were advised that there was an intermittent rattle. They investigated this and subsequently changed the cam chain tensioner for the latest revision.

 

Now that this has been fitted is there much chance of future failure? Is the new part proven to eradicate the problem?

 

The dealers have a strong mechanic based background and sell cars in addition to garage works so seem to know what they are talking about.

 

Thanks

 

Mark

[TsvRS]

May I ask some advice on this issue.

 

I am going to look at a 61 plate tsi VRS this sunday which has 68k and full service history. The independent dealers selling the car advised me that they have recently changed the cam chain  tensioner as they were offered the car by a main dealer and were advised that there was an intermittent rattle. They investigated this and subsequently changed the cam chain tensioner for the latest revision.

 

Now that this has been fitted is there much chance of future failure? Is the new part proven to eradicate the problem?

 

The dealers have a strong mechanic based background and sell cars in addition to garage works so seem to know what they are talking about.

 

Thanks

 

Mark

The later tensioner will cure the cam chain problem but you could still suffer from the defective camshaft bridge which was fitted to VAG engines until 2011. That defect may have made its way onto shipments into 2012. It might have a lower probability of failure than the tensioner (VAG would know this but they like to keep their little secrets away from the customers who have to pay). That was wrote off my engine and many many others across all the affected VAG ranges. The defect is in an oil non-return mechanism within the bridge that halts oil distribution to the camshaft and seizes the top end. If your dealer knows his stuff they might have done it already during the service history.

.

[Onza]

Perhaps that's the root cause of my oil starvation problem, resulting in the new engine being required.

I've now put c.6k on the new engine (the car's done ~75k altogether) and the engine still sounds nice & quiet.

[markquinton]

Thanks for the replies, I loved my short time with my 2007 tfsi and am hoping to return to the fold again if the car checks out ok.

[m0bov]

Have put about 3k onto my new engine now. Just proves that even with low mileage, well cared for car with on the ball, fixed services and 504 oil FMDSH the engine can destroy itself at any moment.

[Onza]

Yes, that's what would worry me about changing the cambelt & tensioners as a pre-emptive fix; the oil starvation issue may still raise its head...

[planehazza]

Is there any way to lower the risk of said oil starvation? 

 

Also, those without any warranty.  What are you doing to reduce chances or are you simply holding on to fate/luck like me? I'm ont 65k and this car has already had a cam chain tensioner failure at 48k miles, but I'm still bricking it that it might happen again. Who's to say it won't? And, without warranty, it'd basically write off my car leaving me with a huge financial loss...

 

That leads me on to my next question... If it happens, and the engine is ruined, are literally left with a £6k+ bill/deficit? My car has FSH, but not with Skoda. Can insurance pay out for these things, or does that literally only cover RTCs etc?

Edited 7 September, 2015 by planehazza

[Yeti_Man]

A suggestion that may help some of you that are unlucky enough to suffer a knackered engine due to the tensioner failing (or any other route of engine failure for that matter). I fully understand why some of you wont see my viewpoint on this suggestion and I probably see the sense in it more due to always having been the type to tinker and tune my cars but there's a lot of worrying going on in here so thought it may be worth me playing devils advocate for a moment...

The main cause of the worry, understandably, appears to be the cost of getting the engine replaced once failed. As the majority of the cars are mainly out of warranty I just can't get my head around the owner then considering going to a dealer for a new recon engine and stumping up 6-7k for the privilege.... That option would not even occur to me as a viable option tbh.

There's so many low mileage 2 litre engines at tuners and on auction sites that I'd simply grab one for £800-£1000 and pay Shark (in my case) to do the necessary swap. There's been a few listed at £1200-1500 which go for £800-1000 as a best offer. There's a couple on a well known auction site currently with 12k and 15k on the clock that will go for around 1k and come with a 3 month warranty. So £1500 fitted instead of £6-7k surely makes a lot of sense, especially given the value of the slightly higher mileage cars that have suffered failure. Hell, there's even a couple of complete 300ps Golf R engines on there for 2k currently.

So just wondering why people don't seem to consider this route really?

[blackspaven]

To be fair, that's what I've been wondering as well.Admittedly, it was only a 1.6l MkII golf and it was about 15-20 years ago, but due to the massive mileage on it, I got the existing lump AND gearbox reconned from a relatively reputable and decent garage/chain for about £500, fitted myself, and even then that didn't seem like a lot for both of those to be done!

[planehazza]

Just reread the document that came with my car that lists the work done when my tensioner failed...

 

 

TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER FAILED, TIMED CHAIN JUMPED.

REMOVE ENGINE AND GEARBOX, REMOVE AND STRIP CYLINDER HEAD.

ALL INLET VALVES BENT.  REAM OUT VALVE GUIDE AND RENEW AND GRIND IN INLET VALVES.  

REBUILD CYLINDER HEAD AND REFIT TO ENINE.

RENEW TIMING CHAIN, GUIDE AND TENSIONER.  

REFIT ENGINE AND GEARBOX.

Should I be worried about all the custom work?  This was carried out in October 2013.  Will it have the latest tensioner?  There is no part number or info, aside from that it cost £35.21.

Edited 7 September, 2015 by planehazza

[Onza]

Re: sourcing replacement engine from elsewhere other than main dealer.

 

I do agree that would be a less expensive approach (and probably the only feasible approach) where there's no warranty and no chance of goodwill.

 

FWIW, this is why I ended up going the main dealer route.

 

My first thought was to drop the car at my trusted local garage.

When I arrived there on the back of the recovery truck (early in the morning on a weekend, of course), they didn't want me to leave the car with them.

At that stage, we didn't know that a new engine was going to be needed, only that a nasty rattling noise was evident.

My local guy told me that some kind of special VW tool is needed to set the timing properly, which they didn't have and which would have cost several hundred pounds for them to buy.  So they didn't want to start opening the engine up to see what damage there was.

They called around some VW indies while I was on the back of the truck, as did the recovery driver, but between a) not answering the calls,  not being able to do the work and c) the recovery truck driver needed to be away to another call, I ended up dropping the car at the nearest dealer where it had been serviced all its life, and where I had pointed out the noisy idling on several occasions.  I was hoping that the matter would be covered by hefty amounts of goodwill.

 

Other issues which contributed to my decision:

I don't have anywhere to store a disabled car while I source an engine and find an installer.

Costs of dragging the car here and there to effect the repairs etc,

I didn't know that replacement engines are available relatively easily

 

I certainly feel fortunate that I had access to SUK goodwill, even if it wasn't as much as I felt they should have made.  If there was no goodwill, I would have been forced to recover the car from them and look for a replacement engine and installer.  I couldn't have stretched to 6 or 7k for an engine.

 

All the best.

[markquinton]

Is anyone able to tell me what is involved in replacing the camshaft bridge? How involved is it and does anyone have idea of the likely cost of the part and/or the labour costs involved?

 

Just wondering whether it's something worth doing for ongoing peace of mind.

 

Regards

 

Mark

[TsvRS]

I have attached the Audi version (exactly same part and engine) of the document describing what VAG were doing without telling anyone i.e., they were replacing it only to cover their own warranty risk but not telling their customers that it would be a good idea to do so anyway if they wanted to protect their engine to work once the warranty lapsed. Once the engine fails the customer is told that the fault is unknown, we haven't seen that before, etc etc.

 

It takes one hour (100 TU) to do the work assuming that the engine is not already being worked on. The part is about £30 I think.15D6 UPDATE - Camshaft Adjuster (LNVW).pdf

[rob_e]

The later tensioner will cure the cam chain problem but you could still suffer from the defective camshaft bridge which was fitted to VAG engines until 2011. 

.

 

what are the symptoms of that then?

[TsvRS]

what are the symptoms of that then?

 

The symptoms are that the camshaft bearings receive insufficient lubrication and wear prematurely. Given that the bearings are not a normal serviceable item and otherwise hidden from view then the symptom seems to become apparent in practice only when the camshaft seizes. Of course when that happens the timing chain tensioner fails, the chain slips, and the engine lunches itself.

[markquinton]

Tsvrs whereabouts have you attached that document? Can't see it anywhere.

 

Thanks