Engine Blown

[bernie]

Hi all,

3 weeks ago the engine on my R suddenly blew up the day before i was going on holiday for 2 weeks. It was taken to a dealer for repair where they diagnosed a couple of days later that the engine had blown and it would be £7000 to repair. I queried the bill by e mail ( being aboard) they reduced it £4000, i authorised the repairs.

The car is only 3 1/2 years old with 59000 on the clock, full VWSH last done at 57,300 3 months ago, i bought the car privitely. I have asked why the engine has blown, they told me the pistons have hit the spark plugs causing the damage. Because the damage was so bad they cannot tell me what caused the pistons to hit the spark plus and cause the problem!! Anybody technically minded out there, does this sound right????

I have raised the issue with VW customer service and literally got NO where, its out of warrenty, the diagnostics havent shown anything wrong, the damage was to great to locate the cause, GREAT customer service!! I do not believe a car engine should blow at 59000 in a 3 1/2 year old car fully serviced by VW.

I have heard VW have had problems with the TSI engine, anyone got any more details

UNhappy, Skint, Scirocco R enthusiast

[eMiL-VR6]

That sound's really strange!
Completely original or tuned?

"How" did i blow? Low revs, highway driving etc?

[bernie]

Completely original.

Normal highway driving doing approx 60mph, just heard it mis fire, then lose power, warning lights came on, would not start up

[Din]

MY 1.4 TSI Engine did the same, Driving, misfire, lost power.

Took it to my vw dealership and it was something related to the pistons too. My car was out of warranty (Just!) and only had 20k miles so they they replaced it free of charge. However id be pushing to get more done for free! IF you have two vw dealerships local try visiting the second one explaining your issue, and see what there opinion is!

[wigit]

normally this engine is bullet proof unless been badly modified or not looked after

i would be checking what was done at the last service

the tsi issues relate to the EA888 which people have had timing chain issues with

[mond2k]

Im not a Mechanic but know a little.

For something to damage the piston and spark plug would suggest DET (little explosions in the engine cylinder) but this is more common on Modified cars I wouldnt expect this on a standard car, is the issue down to 1 specific cylinder? Does the vehicle have any mods, air filter for example? I know from my VXR days people would slap on a air filter without mapping and the thing would run lean and end up knackering up pistons.

so other options timing belt snapped would would bend valves and cut the engine out which sounds more like it. or spark plug drops its tip and smashes about in the engine scoring the housing and damaging the piston but would still fire on 3 as there would be no fire in the cylinder.

Like been said before im under the impression that these engines are solid.

[bernie]

The car is as bought new, no modifications, 2 pistons went apparently.

I'm going to try my local dealer for a second opinion, but not going to let this drop. The car is fully serviced & maintained and will continue to be, I'm disappointed in VW,s attitude, the customer care department are wrongly named, they told me to speak to the dealership. Dealerships sell & maintain cars not build them!! VW don't seem to care, poor!

[SMB]

This is very odd

Firstly for Pistons to hit spark plugs either the wrong plug is fitted ( too long) but that should cause issues straight away or the crank/ rods broke. Again very rare in this engine.

I'm puzzled why the repair bill dropped so dramatically so quickly, vw contribution is the. Main reason but also are they being 100% honest with their diagnosis. The spark plug excuse suggests you aren't getting the right explanation.

Cam belt failure could cause this but with a full vw history I would push vw to contribute more as its with the service guidance.

We're their any vibrations before the failure? May be dmf issue causing crank failure?

[bernie]

I don't believe VW myself, the explanation does not ring true to me either. First time round the dealer said the cambelt had gone, this then changed to the pistons hitting the plugs, something must have caused this. I can't believe with all the computers on the engine that they do not know the reason.

The cost dropped due to VW contribution, but my initial quote was 3-5k, funny how it ended up smack in the middle!!

No funny noises, no warning leading up to the failure, just a pop and power loss, my stereo was on at the time tho. What's a dmf??

[SMB]

Assuming no issues , or vibrations before hand then most likely cause is cam belt failure, either through is breaking or a tensioner water pump failing. Dmf is the dual mass flywheel, a failure here could in theory cause crankshaft failure,
With a cam belt failure thepistons hit the valves,bending the valves and putting witness marks in the head, pistons and potentially bores. The amount of damage then determines what needs to be replaced. A vw dealer won't spend much time replacing parts, they will just order a replacement engine.

In general this engine is pretty solid, what has happened is rare, but you may want to search for water pump failure in golf R models in the usa from around the time your car was built. I've not heard of any in Europe so it was most likely a usa or Mexico production issue.

[mond2k]

Keep us informed.

The other thing i thought was jumped a tooth on the timing but the thing would still run. Did it start after the bang?

I would definitely say its cam belt related due to a total loss of power but then as mentioned there are tensioner, waterpump etc which could be a contributing factor.

surely if the DMF was the issue would there not be symptoms like it rattling rather loud when the clutch is not pressed?

My mates Ibiza which was modded totally obliterated hit tip of the plug and piston looked a mess and this was down to DET but it still run on 3. if it was that 2 pistons died then it would run like a absolute dog but would have thought would still fire on two.

[Stu13R]

If you have an R it would be the belt drive TSFI and not a TSI.

I've rebuilt lots of engines in the past including a TSFI that has a bent rod. Usually this seizes, snaps the rod and blows through the side of the block. On this occasion the piston broken and bent the valve causing damage to the complete valve train as the piston all went out of timing. This meant it was actually a component failure and if it had been warranty should have been covered.

[mbx0710]

Hi Bernie,

Which month/year was the R manufactured? I have a april2012 R. Waterpump problem. Same problem as the US golf R with engines manufactured April 2012. I am certain that ALL R engines at that time were manufactured in Germany , so it is not an isolated US problem. VW has an "aktion" on this.

[bernie]

Hi,

Registered October 2011, still no give in VW, not sure I can do much more