Hey, I have been trawling this forum for a few months since i bought my late 2009 Octavia II facelift VRS (CCZA Engine code) with 52k miles on the clock and i am more than a bit confused about what I have and what i should and shouldn't be worried about as there seems to be a bit of conflicting information so any help or opinions would be hugely appreciated, because at the minute I'm sitting here wondering why i have bought a car that could potentially require nearly £800 worth of preventative maintenance?! 

• Firstly i hear people refer to TFSI and TSI and as my engine cover says TSI I can only assume that is the variant I have?  Whats the difference?
• I have read about the HPFP cam follower wearing out and causing catastrophic engine failure on the TSFI engines does my car have this issue and should I be replacing it as I originally thought or does the TSI have a roller type follower which isn't a known problem, as I have read in a post on here also?!
• Cam chain failures due to poorly designed early level tensioners, is my car affected with this potentially?  My engine has a very minor rattle for about 1 second on cold start, is this a worry?
• Does my car have a pre cat or is that only on TFSI engines?
• I have been looking at RTech performance in hinckley about getting my car remapped, but they do not list my engine code (CCZA) on their website anywhere so I have no idea as to what power i could achieve if I have the pre cat removed (If it has one) fit a miltek cat back resonated exhaust and use an ITG panel filter?
• Do i have a K03 or K04 turbo, I'm assuming the first?!

I really hope some of you can shed some light on some of this for me and I think it would certainly help a lot of new owners make sense of it all as The VAG group really don't make life easy for us!!

 

Thanks in advance and thanks for taking the time to have a read.

 

Cheers

Edited 7 September, 20169 yr by F1BTCC

• Cam chain failures due to poorly designed early level tensioners, is my car affected with this potentially?  My engine has a very minor rattle for about 1 second on cold start, is this a worry?

 

If your car has not had the latest revised tensioner fitted by a previous owner, then yes it will be affected. My car is a late 2011 TSI with the CCZA engine and I worked out mine had the second revised tensioner from new. I think your car will have the first tensioner. There have been so far the original tensioner and then 3 revised ones. I don't think you need to worry about the 1 second rattle when you start it from cold. Mine has been doing that since I bought it at 31k miles and it now has 54k miles on the clock. Just by chance I have just had a full timing chain kit fitted today, more preventative maintenance than anything. The next time I start mine in the morning, will be the first time from cold since the new kit was fitted. Going to then find out whether it still has the 1 second rattle, which I believe is caused by the slight delay in the oil pressure getting to timing chain tensioners.

Other members will give you some informative answers on your other questions.

 

• Cam chain failures due to poorly designed early level tensioners, is my car affected with this potentially?  My engine has a very minor rattle for about 1 second on cold start, is this a worry?
•  
• If your car has not had the latest revised tensioner fitted by a previous owner, then yes it will be affected. My car is a late 2011 TSI with the CCZA engine and I worked out mine had the second revised tensioner from new. I think your car will have the first tensioner. There have been so far the original tensioner and then 3 revised ones. I don't think you need to worry about the 1 second rattle when you start it from cold. Mine has been doing that since I bought it at 31k miles and it now has 54k miles on the clock. Just by chance I have just had a full timing chain kit fitted today, more preventative maintenance than anything. The next time I start mine in the morning, will be the first time from cold since the new kit was fitted. Going to then find out whether it still has the 1 second rattle, which I believe is caused by the slight delay in the oil pressure getting to timing chain tensioners.
• Other members will give you some informative answers on your other questions.

 

Brilliant, thanks for your reply.  What a strange coincidence that you have had your chain kit done today!!  I am very eager to hear if your start up rattle has disappeared so please do let me know.  I assumed the same that it was just a case of the oil pressure building up.  My car has 52k miles on it i forgot to mention!

 

• Cam chain failures due to poorly designed early level tensioners, is my car affected with this potentially?  My engine has a very minor rattle for about 1 second on cold start, is this a worry?
•  
• If your car has not had the latest revised tensioner fitted by a previous owner, then yes it will be affected. My car is a late 2011 TSI with the CCZA engine and I worked out mine had the second revised tensioner from new. I think your car will have the first tensioner. There have been so far the original tensioner and then 3 revised ones. I don't think you need to worry about the 1 second rattle when you start it from cold. Mine has been doing that since I bought it at 31k miles and it now has 54k miles on the clock. Just by chance I have just had a full timing chain kit fitted today, more preventative maintenance than anything. The next time I start mine in the morning, will be the first time from cold since the new kit was fitted. Going to then find out whether it still has the 1 second rattle, which I believe is caused by the slight delay in the oil pressure getting to timing chain tensioners.
• Other members will give you some informative answers on your other questions.

 

Forgot to ask and please tell me to stop being a nosey beggar if you like but where did you have your chain fitted and what was the cost of the job?!

Hi

It was fitted by my local reliable independent in Didcot Oxfordshire. The total cost was £639.00. After that outlay, I will have to cut down on my caviar breakfasts. LOL 

Hi

It was fitted by my local reliable independent in Didcot Oxfordshire. The total cost was £639.00. After that outlay, I will have to cut down on my caviar breakfasts. LOL 

Thats a pretty good price to be fair, i would do it myself but have no idea what special tools etc are required and just don't think i can be bothered with the hassle!  You can always switch out the caviar for roe from the chippy!!

Last time I used a local chippy, I got severe food poisoning, no really. I guess the cost hit harder, as I have recently spent more than that upgraded the suspension for Bilstein sports shocks and poly bushes. Serves me right for loving the car so much. Will let you know how it sounds on start up tomorrow. 

Best give the chippy a swerve then!! This is why i posted the thread as I don't want to spend un-necessary money on exhausts and remaps if getting the timing chain replaced is a must!

Yea would be great to hear if the rattle has gone away on yours for sure.

 

Thanks for your advice

Edited 7 September, 20169 yr by F1BTCC

Your engine has a roller so no follower wear issues to worry about.

It does have a pre cat which helps get the main cat up to temperature quicker, but by its nature raises exhaust temperatures and interrupts exhaust gas flow. It's easily removed with a hammer and screwdriver, and the turbo spools up slightly faster without it.

R tech mostly deal with 1.8T and TFSI engines, but I believe they are just starting to look into the TSI'S, not sure if they are actually remapping them yet though.

The TSI responds slightly better than the TFSI to tuning and stage 1 is usually advertised as between 250bhp and 260bhp

Edited 7 September, 20169 yr by Mr G 76

Your engine has a roller so no follower wear issues to worry about.

It does have a pre cat which helps get the main cat up to temperature quicker, but by its nature raises exhaust temperatures and interrupts exhaust gas flow. It's easily removed with a hammer and screwdriver, and the turbo spools up slightly faster without it.

R tech mostly deal with 1.8T and TFSI engines, but I believe they are just starting to look into the TSI'S, not sure if they are actually remapping them yet though.

The TSI responds slightly better than the TFSI to tuning and stage 1 is usually advertised as between 250bhp and 260bhp

Great, I'm pleased to hear about the roller follower at least thats one thing less to worry about!  I may have a crack at doing the pre cat then, i remember doing it on my 2.2 EcoTech Astra coupe some years ago lol!

 

Thanks for your input, it's great to get some proper advice.  I might pop down to RTech then and have a chat with them as they are local to me anyway.

 

Cheers

I am not sure with the chain tensioner issues but being an 09 would it of not happen by now if it was going to go just a thought,

Yes you can remap your engine shark are highly recommended on here and you would get to the 250bhp with just that I wouldn't worry about the exhaust and panel filter it would be a waste of money unless you want to go further,

Maybe use the exhaust and filter money to replace you timing chain tensioner as a precaution,

I am not sure with the chain tensioner issues but being an 09 would it of not happen by now if it was going to go just a thought,

Yes you can remap your engine shark are highly recommended on here and you would get to the 250bhp with just that I wouldn't worry about the exhaust and panel filter it would be a waste of money unless you want to go further,

Maybe use the exhaust and filter money to replace you timing chain tensioner as a precaution,

 

 

Yes you are right on the cam chain front but you read all the horror stories on here and it makes you wonder lol!  I already have the panel filter to be fair as through work I get 40% discount at ITG and as for the exhaust i would just like that little bit more sound over stock as it is annoyingly quiet and with that i didn't see the point in having the remap first and then replacing the exhaust.  I have not heard of shark before, i don't think so i'll check them out now.

 

Cheers

Your engine is marketed as a TSI, although a TFSI is just as accurate description but this was used in the predecessor engine, so I suppose the shorter acronym was adopted to differentiate.

 

Neither a K03 or K04 - it will use an IHI Turbo.

 

Unfortunately, the chain tensioner issue is impossible to predict and can occur at a variety of ages and mileages. It is probably more likely related to duty cycles than anything else.

 

All the above - you can find good - further, in depth info on forums and threads on this very site.

Best give the chippy a swerve then!! This is why i posted the thread as I don't want to spend un-necessary money on exhausts and remaps if getting the timing chain replaced is a must!

Yea would be great to hear if the rattle has gone away on yours for sure.

 

Thanks for your advice

Hi F1BTCC

Well when starting the car this morning, no 1 second rattle at all, it was all smooth and quiet. I have also looked at the old tensioner, as I asked the garage to let me have the old parts. From what I can see there is no sign of wear on it. I have seen where they wear online and the ridges that wear down and cause the problem look okay on mine. Will know better after a few cold starts if it now always starts quietly. Mind you, the 1 sec rattle on cold start up before, did not worry me at all at the time. Have had cars in the past that gave a little rattle on start up till the oil got around the relevant parts. Maybe I have been over cautious spending the money, but I am still happy I had it all done. I intend to keep this car a long time.

Hi,  Thanks for updating me on this.  It's certainly very interesting that the little rattle has indeed now gone away, I think you have probably done the right thing in getting it changed now to be fair, and I might do the same too.  If you think about it, it is no more expensive really than having to have your cam belt done every 60k miles or so and now that you have had the chain done, it will never need doing again whilst you own the car I imagine.  I too plan to keep this car for a long time so perhaps I will postpone the mods for now and look at getting it done, nothing quite like peace of mind!!  

Your engine is marketed as a TSI, although a TFSI is just as accurate description but this was used in the predecessor engine, so I suppose the shorter acronym was adopted to differentiate.

 

Neither a K03 or K04 - it will use an IHI Turbo.

 

Unfortunately, the chain tensioner issue is impossible to predict and can occur at a variety of ages and mileages. It is probably more likely related to duty cycles than anything else.

 

All the above - you can find good - further, in depth info on forums and threads on this very site.

 

 

Thanks for that in sight especially on the turbo front, i haven't heard an IHI turbo mentioned before!  The more and more responses I receive the more and more inclined I am to have the timing chain and tensioners replaced, not worth taking the risk!

 

Thanks