Hi.... Just a bit of as heads up....

 

I got in my Superb 1.4 TSi 2018 (50,000 miles) on Friday night and the engine started making an almighty rattling / clattering / knocking noise.  When I took it to a local indy garage the next day they said it sounds exactly like another Skoda they had in the previous week.

The one they looked at before wasn't a Superb (can't remember which model they said), but it had done similar relatively low mileage and a bolt was loose at the camshaft pulley.  When they investigated mine further they found all the bolts were loose and one of them was just about ready to fall out.  The mechanic's exact words were.... "You have been very very lucky".  It sounds like if the bolt had fallen out it could have dropped down and trashed the timing belt (or other associated timing gear I expect).

 

Not sure if this is a common problem but I've seen a few discussions about when to get the timing belt changed and I can't help feeling that getting it changed at 4 years or 50,000 miles, even if overkill, could possibly mean this being spotted.

 

Does yours have a belt or a chain?

 

Loose bolts I believe are as a result of an oil leak from a cam actuator, if this has not been resolved the same will likely happen again

2 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Does yours have a belt or a chain?

 

Loose bolts I believe are as a result of an oil leak from a cam actuator, if this has not been resolved the same will likely happen again

 

It's a belt.  The garage removed all the bolts, cleaned out the threads, applied something (thread lock ?) and then re-fitted the bolts.

Do you know for sure that the belt has not already been replaced?

 

If there is no oil then the loose bolts are almost certainly the result of previous work.

7 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Do you know for sure that the belt has not already been replaced?

 

If there is no oil then the loose bolts are almost certainly the result of previous work.

 

The car is five years old.  I've had it for three years and it had 12,000 miles on it when I got it, so although I'm not 100 percent sure the belt hasn't been replaced previously, it hasn't been done by me since it was 2 years old and had 12,000 on the clock.

Common problem.

 

normally caused by a timing belt being done and people don’t replace the bolts like they are meant to - sounds like your garage of choice has done the same.

 

get replacement bolts and refit with medium loctite, no further issues  

26 minutes ago, ApertureS said:

sounds like your garage of choice has done the same.

 

I haven't had the timing belt done, and I've owned the car from 12,000 miles.

6 hours ago, DB72 said:

 

I haven't had the timing belt done, and I've owned the car from 12,000 miles.

@ApertureS is saying that the bolts are stretch bolts, i.e. one time use only.  New ones are required to prevent the problem reoccurring

From the manual

 

33 minutes ago, Legacy said:

@ApertureS is saying that the bolts are stretch bolts, i.e. one time use only.  New ones are required to prevent the problem reoccurring

 

OK.  The mechanic did say at first that new bolts might be needed if they were stretch bolts, but when I went back to pick the car up he was confident that they weren't going anywhere now that he'd used thread lock or whatever it's called.

I'm now wondering how easy it would be to remove them to replace, or do I just leave it for now until the mot and service are due in March and see if I can get them replaced then.

32 minutes ago, DB72 said:

 

OK.  The mechanic did say at first that new bolts might be needed if they were stretch bolts, but when I went back to pick the car up he was confident that they weren't going anywhere now that he'd used thread lock or whatever it's called.

I'm now wondering how easy it would be to remove them to replace, or do I just leave it for now until the mot and service are due in March and see if I can get them replaced then.

Thread lock isnt amazing under heat, it softens up. It still works, but less so. 

 

You also have the added risk with stretch bolts of simply the head snapping off the bolt leaving just the threads. 

 

Personally id replace them, can be done in about 30 minutes really, top timing cover and one at a time whilst you rotate engine. 

 

N10546403 is the part number and you need either 5 or 10 depending if you have twin camshaft control or single. Roughly £1 each.

A cheap 1/4 US PRO torque wrench can be had on ebay for £15.

Couple of £ for a tube of loctite.

You could quite easily do it yourself for £30 if you wanted.

I've just had this happen on my Seat Leon with the same engine, 2 bolts loose and one missing entirely which had scored the inside of the cover before disappearing down into the belt well!  This bolt doesn't appear to have damaged the belt or the pulleys on it's way down but something has happened as the engine sounds more rattly now, like the usual ticking which these engines have at idle is worse than it was.  That rattle seems to disappear at higher revs completely and the engine then sounds fine.  Any ideas?  

Hi - I have a VW (sorry I know) Tiguan 2018 1.4 TSI

My camshaft adjuster bolts have also come loose. VW are refusing to admit any manufactuer fault due to the incorrect torque being used. Oil and metal shavings have gone in my engine.

I'm building a case to the motor ombudman. Do you have any further information about this? I've also seen 2 other related posts and people are saying they've seen the same things too on my reddit posts.

19 hours ago, techen said:

Hi - I have a VW (sorry I know) Tiguan 2018 1.4 TSI

My camshaft adjuster bolts have also come loose. VW are refusing to admit any manufactuer fault due to the incorrect torque being used. Oil and metal shavings have gone in my engine.

I'm building a case to the motor ombudman. Do you have any further information about this? I've also seen 2 other related posts and people are saying they've seen the same things too on my reddit posts.

Looking back through the thread it looks like the proof will be that no-one has touched the parts since leaving the factory.

Nothing to say it isn’t a case but ApertureS definitely had insider knowledge so if the message at the time was that after-factory work had been carried out, then that’s what was being said at the time (be it accurate or a corporate fob off)

Same here, same engine, VW Passat 2018. Happened yesterday at 107700 km..

Had this happen - has anyone managed to do this and has had successful mileage since?

Seems pretty simple, only questions are:

Loctite - is medium enough?

Torque settings - above digram is correct and adequate to stop this happening again with heat/oil pressures etc? Ok to torque without securing the Pulley etc?

Rotating the engine - is this ok to do by just turning engine on/off to move the belt etc, or are you meaning with a specific tool?

Design of bolts - the AA guy who attended knew the issue so well, he was able to diagnose without even taking off the belt cover... He mentioned the thread/design of bolt being one of the causes, has a improved design been realised?

Have mentioned this to three garages so far in total and it's a bit worrying how potentially bad this could be for customers.

VWAG Dealer seem to deny it's an issue/common issue and denied ever hearing about it with the 1.4tsi...

Two VWAG specialists - one apparently hadn't heard of it, the other advised I do it myself and were generally quite dismissive of it being a massive problem.

All three said that the belt isn't checked in a service - Skoda apparently "visually check it" during a service - asked does this include taking the belt cover off? "NO".. Ok so then it seems there would be no reason to check this unless it's getting replaced....

Skoda UK: "It has a lifespan of 150k".... - So then, unless you're preventively replacing this early, against their advice, there would be no tangible reason to check this - unless you're aware of the issue, which VWAG are not currently admitting....

If someone could make a visual/video guide and publish on here or youtube, that would help the customer base out too.

Thanks all - as always.

On 13/11/2023 at 21:29, ApertureS said:

Thread lock isnt amazing under heat, it softens up. It still works, but less so. 

 

You also have the added risk with stretch bolts of simply the head snapping off the bolt leaving just the threads. 

 

Personally id replace them, can be done in about 30 minutes really, top timing cover and one at a time whilst you rotate engine. 

 

N10546403 is the part number and you need either 5 or 10 depending if you have twin camshaft control or single. Roughly £1 each.

A cheap 1/4 US PRO torque wrench can be had on ebay for £15.

Couple of £ for a tube of loctite.

You could quite easily do it yourself for £30 if you wanted.

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by Jayboii

8 minutes ago, Jayboii said:

Had this happen - has anyone managed to do this and has had successful mileage since?

Seems pretty simple, only questions are:

Loctite - is medium enough?

Torque settings - above digram is correct and adequate to stop this happening again with heat/oil pressures etc? Ok to torque without securing the Pulley etc?

Rotating the engine - is this ok to do by just turning engine on/off to move the belt etc, or are you meaning with a specific tool?

Design of bolts - the AA guy who attended knew the issue so well, he was able to diagnose without even taking off the belt cover... He mentioned the thread/design of bolt being one of the causes, has a improved design been realised?

Have mentioned this to three garages so far in total and it's a bit worrying how potentially bad this could be for customers.

Skoda seem to deny it's an issue/common issue.

Two VWAG specialists - one apparently hadn't heard of it, the other advised I do it myself and were generally quite dismissive of it being a massive problem.

All three said that the belt isn't checked in a service - Skoda apparently "visually check it" - does this include taking the belt cover off? "NO".. Ok so then it seems there would be no reason to check this unless it's getting replaced....

Skoda UK "It has a lifespan of 150k".... - So then, unless you're preventively replacing this early, against their advice, there would be no tangible reason to check this - unless you're aware of the issue, which VWAG are not currently admitting....

If someone could make a visual/video guide and publish on here or youtube, that would help the customer base out too.

Thanks all - as always.

...Except only 2 years ago, Skoda UK was mandating 5-year cambelt replacement!

Just now, Warrior193 said:

...Except only 2 years ago, Skoda UK was mandating 5-year cambelt replacement!

Seems to vary depending who you speak to. Seems if you have the budget, get it in asap. But a lot of people will go by what the manufacturer advises, 5-year replacements seems way too often.

No you misunderstand me, Skoda UK appear to be now stating that the cambelt should not have had work done on it, since it left the factory, that may be the cause of the cam sprocket bolts becoming loose - yet only 2 years ago, they were mandating 5-year replacements!

I believe that current cambelt life is now stated as 'life' or at least 120K miles.