I'm in a pickle, driving the car the Saturday after it had been sat for a week I briefly lost power (like I'd lost boost/it had gone into restricted performance mode) and a mil light flashed up but then this went in less than 30 seconds then back to normal.

 

Fast forward to today and after being out this morning the car struggled to start again when I got home, though it may be the battery going so charged it then put it back in but it was the same and now it's showing a mil light fault code of P0016 which is this.

 

The engine still struggles to run then is running rough when it is running.

 

I feel I shouldn't drive it and should get it taken to a garage right?

 

Anyone experienced this set of symptoms what was the outcome?

Doesn't sound good. What year and engine type is it?

2010 ccza

It needs to get towed to a garage. Hopefully it's something minor like a coil pack,but it could be a timing chain issue.

I'm in a pickle, driving the car the Saturday after it had been sat for a week I briefly lost power (like I'd lost boost/it had gone into restricted performance mode) and a mil light flashed up but then this went in less than 30 seconds then back to normal.

 

Fast forward to today and after being out this morning the car struggled to start again when I got home, though it may be the battery going so charged it then put it back in but it was the same and now it's showing a mil light fault code of P0016 which is this.

 

The engine still struggles to run then is running rough when it is running.

 

I feel I shouldn't drive it and should get it taken to a garage right?

 

Anyone experienced this set of symptoms what was the outcome?

I had a problem a bit like this about 6 months ago.

 

About a month after a service I would be driving along and suddenly all power would go ( normally as I was going for an over take) It would stutter for maybe 30 seconds then all would be fine again.  After a month or so it was starting to struggle to start. Finally the MIL came on and stayed on where as previously it would flicker on while the power was reduced but then went out after it was running fine again. 

 

So I took it to the garage, and it turned out one of the coil packs wasn't pushed all the way down on top of the spark plug. Unfortunately where it had not been making proper contact it had been sparking between the coil pack and spark plug and eroded away the metal connector inside the coil pack. A new coil pack and new spark plug later and I haven't had any problems since!

 

Maybe worth giving the coil packs a push to see if one has come loose.

 

Rusty

I'll be sure to check out the coil packs but why would it cause that code to show?

Did you have the same issue with the car starting?

I'll be sure to check out the coil packs but why would it cause that code to show?

Did you have the same issue with the car starting?

I doubt the coil packs would have produced the same error code and his posting doesn't say it did on my read of it.

 

With the CCZA tensioner issues, those symptoms would be a bit worrying for me.  I hope it is not, but clearly it could be the timing chain has slipped. In that case you definitely want it recovered for diagnostics to prevent any damage to engine internals, valves, guides, piston etc. in the hope they haven't been crunched already.

 

I had a 1.4Tsi170 golf that produced a camshaft sensor (implausible signal) error due to timing chain stretch.  After changing the sensor over it was realised that the sensor was ok but the timing was the problem!  Your error code appears more specific and that the timing is actually the problem.

I'll be honest I didn't check the codes as I don't have an easy way to check them.

 

I was throwing it out there as an alternative/ easy thing to check as, other than than the code, the symptoms seem similar.

 

EDIT: Yes it had a problem starting with this too. Took a few seconds to catch and start

Rusty

Edited 30 August, 20169 yr by RustyHill

Cheers guys I'll do some further investigation

Definitely a possibility of the timing chain issue. I would not attempt to start it, or move it in gear until you know exactly what it is.

Cheers guys I'll do some further investigation

I am not a VCDS owner, yet, unfortunately, but I believe there are some measuring blocks that can tell you the offsets - which can be symptomatic of a problem. Think measuring blocks 90 to 93. There are manufacturer maximum tolerances for values - you would need to research.  Warning: I'm assuming you would probably need to run the engine again for this and that may not be a great idea.

I had a friend who is a.mechanic come over last night to look and hook vcds up and both cams are still turning meaning the chain is still intact and is either skipped a tooth, lost tension or a sensor is failing on it.

Im going to run a compression test on it next to see if I'm losing compression on any cylinders. If I am then timing is out and if not I can start to look at other options.

I had a friend who is a.mechanic come over last night to look and hook vcds up and both cams are still turning meaning the chain is still intact and is either skipped a tooth, lost tension or a sensor is failing on it.

Im going to run a compression test on it next to see if I'm losing compression on any cylinders. If I am then timing is out and if not I can start to look at other options.

 

I really wouldn't be cranking it over for a compression test if there's any chance the timing is out...

I don't hear any clashing and it's been the recommended thing by 3 mechanic friends now. Any damage would have been already done and it would have seized by now I'd imagine.

Im praying it's a sensor but I think realistically it's stretch or a tooth jump. Fml.

I don't hear any clashing and it's been the recommended thing by 3 mechanic friends now. Any damage would have been already done and it would have seized by now I'd imagine.

Im praying it's a sensor but I think realistically it's stretch or a tooth jump. Fml.

 

Maybe get a borescope in there.  I'm no engineer/mechanic, but I recall hearing that up to 3 teeth is the tolerance for severe damage, even though even one tooth out of timing is bad,

I don't hear any clashing and it's been the recommended thing by 3 mechanic friends now. Any damage would have been already done and it would have seized by now I'd imagine.

Im praying it's a sensor but I think realistically it's stretch or a tooth jump. Fml.

Yeah, I suppose a compression test will tell you the state of the valves and pistons rings and whether anything has already occurred.. The concern I would have is if the tensioner has failed and the chain is slack,  Further damage could ensue. Suggest extreme caution whilst investigating. You don't want to munch it.

 

Ps. did he look at the cam offset measuring blocks in VCDS?

Edited 31 August, 20169 yr by TheClient

He didn't as we weren't aware of that at the time.

Ran compression not getting a hint of movement of the needle so it's either fully toast or that compression tester is broke.

No compression on any cylinders and the engine still starts? If that's the case the gauge is knackered..

No it has stopped starting just turns over but won't catch. Im going to try a different guage tomorrow.

No compression on any cylinders sadly. Going to give a vw specialist near me a call tomorrow.

No compression on any cylinders sadly. Going to give a vw specialist near me a call tomorrow.

Oh dear. Not the finding you were looking for. I suppose there is some hope you could rebuild the head [and replace tensioner and chain], if the damage ends there. If it is beyond that, I would imagine the rebuild cost starts to become a bit scary.  Fingers crossed.  Keep us updated.

No compression on any cylinders sadly. Going to give a vw specialist near me a call tomorrow.

PS. When I bought the car I had the timing chain replaced by the Lion Garage in Hinckley (it was near to where I collected the car). Not too far from you I assume - I think they have a few branches in the area Tamworth and some others. Jason at Hinckley branch was very knowledgeable and helpful and price was reasonable compared to dealers. It's a proper garage - no white tiled waiting areas with cappuccinos though!  May be worth having a chat with him.

Thanks I'll have a look. There's an independant vw specialist a couple of miles from me so I'm going to speak to him when he's back on Monday.