1.4 tsi 160 hp increase reliability / life support mods

[vladandrei51]

Hi there,

So I have a 09 Scirocco with the 1.4 TSI 160 HP engine with 130k km. As I've read a lot of horror stories regarding CAVD's reliability and given the fact that my car is not exactly new, I'm thinking whether is there anything I can do to make sure I can keep it running for as long as possible.

There is a discrete knocking sound I hear at idle that goes away when the clutch is pressed and unless I rev-match it sometimes won't let me downshift at high(ish) revs, mechanic says is probably the flywheel but other than that never really had any issues.

What I did as of now is fitting in NGK iridium spark plugs, making sure I put in only 100 octane fuel, and changing the oil + filters every 7500 km.

I've been reading a lot about REVO software which supposedly is way better than stock one and the car feels smoother and fast(not exactly my goal but why not). So I'm particularly interested if using their stage 1 would benefit me in terms of reliability? Common sense says not really because I can't see how going from 160 hp to > 180 would help me from a reliability stand point. What are your thoughts?

Also, is there anything I can do for my goal? I'm a total noob when it comes to mechanic stuff but I'm doing my best to learn

Thanks and have a nice day

[edwheels]

That's a great question and hopefully there will be some more replies soon.

I too have the 160BHP 1.4 (which I bought without knowing anything about the potential issues) but I do consider myself fortunate in that I have 2014 build which should mean the factory revisions have sorted most things out. It's a great engine and when driving it like this it feels much more powerful than 160BHP - it is quite characterful with it's supercharger and turbocharger. I test drove an Audi A3 TFSI 1.4 with 150BHP and it didn't have the same responsiveness). I think it is a shame VW abandoned it just when they had sorted it out. For the power, the fuel economy is also quite excellent.

Like you, I only use higher octane fuel (generally 98 RON) and my car is on VW fixed mileage service intervals which means an oil change, I believe every 10K miles, so I may start to do another every 5K - it can't do any harm. I have run mine from 8K miles to about 36K (about 56K km) now in the last 3 years.

I also do not rev over 2.5K-3K until the oil (not water) temperature is over 75C. Using it day to day, I am generally gentle on the throttle but I will occasionally use the entire rev range.

Oil consumption is also something to watch out for - it may give you an idea on how healthy your engine is. I feel very fortunate here - mine uses very little oil. I have gone through less than 1/2 litre on top-ups in 28K miles - so practically none, but I keep a very close eye on it.

I also have the 'troublesome' DSG 7 Speed gearbox. It is, in practice, a superb gearbox, well suited to the 160BHP 1.4. I was initially worried about its reliability as I thought mine was developing a problem as a scraping noise could be heard between 0 and 15MPH, 1st / 2nd gear (especially in hot weather and slow stop start traffic jams)... it turned out be a bad brake disk, now replaced - nothing to do with the gearbox.

Best of luck with your 1.4 twin charger. Oh - one final thing, if your's has already reached 130km without problem and you are now treating it very well, that is surely a good thing - remember not all of these engines are going to have a problem, just a small percentage. I have seen others on the market with well over 100K miles (160K km) on them and I bet many of their owners never even gave a second thought to 'looking after' their engines!

Cheers.

[vladandrei51]

Hey there. Glad I got a response

remember not all of these engines are going to have a problem, just a small percentage

I do realize that, people are way more likely to post a new thread saying "hey, my engine blew up" rather than "My car ran fine today".

Here is my oil consumption after 3500 km (2100ish miles). Definitely not abused but probably went over 3-4k rpm every time I drove it after the engine was well warmed up, so I might be in the clear as far as oil is concerned.

Currently running 5W30 Castrol oil. Heard 0W40 might do a better job, will test that at the next oil change.

Looking forward to hearing your guys thoughts and start a conversation here

[edwheels]

That looks great - I was always taught that oil consumption is not always a bad thing, but engines which use little or no oil (like yours!) are much more likely to be on good shape.

Hope you continue to enjoy your Scirocco. I love mine - its the best all rounder I have owned and can't see me selling it any time soon and I am glad I chose the 160BHP engine. It is practical, just a bit different - looks nice and goes well. Reminds me of my old MK1 Golf GTI from many, many years ago which fulfilled the same role perfectly.

My biggest maintenance issue has been down to the the 18" wheels and the width of the car plus lots of driving (to work locations) in central London - often parking in very small and high kerb'ed streets. The nearside wheels are looking a bit of mess now and my next job is to have the restored and then be ultra-careful.

I am not into modifying cars and, generally, I don't like modified cars (with all due respect those who disagree with me) but this is also something which may help to extend the life of the engine - simply not modifying it for more power.

Cheers.

[AlanH]

Just to add about the Revo map. It should take your 160 to around 220. Mine runs 225-230 with a non res Milltek and panel. Before it was mapped it was running 173

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[vladandrei51]

That's nice, but my goal here is to keep the car as long as possible. I've read a lot of posts here regarding the revo stage 1 saying the car runs smoother/better (I guess revo fixed/improved the stock map) but at the same time since the power is increased is more stress on the internals.

[SurgicalProcedures]

Does anyone have any info about supercharger maintenance? I know that the oil supposed to be 'filled for life', but if anyone watched the wheeler dealers episode with the supercharged mini, it was close too 100k miles and it had actually ended up consuming some of the oil within the supercharger even though it was completely sealed.

[risingson]

Have a MY2010 160 here and engine was replaced by VW when it failed in warranty. So I think I now have the post-2012 engine. I'm not great at not ragging it when the engine is cold because a lot of my journeys are short. That may have led to the earlier death of my previous engine. Now only use 97 RON+. Very little oil consumption from what I can see.

Was tempted to get rid of it before the same problem materialised again but I now realise I'm unlikely to get it with the stronger pistons in replacement engine. If I replaced it would be for a 2.0 GT - having test driven one I was impressed with the power but could barely use much more of it in the city! So I don't think I'll replace this soon, it's a lovely car.

The one thing I regret is not going for the 18" interlagos wheels, although I would surely have dinged them to b*ggery by now with my parking! If I had the money I prob would buy interlagos (or similar) rather than restore my Doningtons.

Also too scared to tempt fate by having it remapped. I have a bluefin kicking around somewhere and some goodwill I can use with superchips, but as someone said it's impressively powerful in stock mode?

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[vladandrei51]

Any clue regarding how much would fitting in the revised pistons would cost? I'm tempted to buy the revisied chain and pistons but that seems like a lot of cash to spend

Also, your chain was fine when your engine died?

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[risingson]

I've never been aware of any issues with the chain. I'm sure others on here would know how much the new pistons would be - might involve reboring the cylinders.

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