Sudden Failure - Timing Chain + Tensioner replacement

bushfrog · Post by **bushfrog** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 10:27 am

Just a warning to all - A couple of weeks ago I had a sudden problem with 2.0tsi 2008 78k miles scirocco on a gentle drive to the shops where the idle went all over the place and there was a loud metallic tapping sound when you used the gas.. The engine was running horribly rough suddenly from being smooth as ever and the car was barely drivable with flash emissions light.

I had it towed to the garage and they diagnosed it as needing timing chain + tensioner. The diagnosis along cost £600 and they warned a new engine may be needed if damage to engine had occurred. Total bill was 1.9k including all Diag etc but thankfully my dealer gave a 30% discount. I was glad to have agreed to diagnosis in the end.

I think I could have prevented this - When starting engine I used to hear a very short rattle of less then a second and was convinced it was related to the problem mentioned on below forum.

http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... =2&t=17060" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Sun Sep 21, 2014 2:24 pm

Hey pal, sorry to hear about your trouble, unfortunately it is a very common issue on tsi, I changed mine before it totally collapsed. Personally people should change the tensioner for precaution as its not a huge cost for peace of mind.

Shak

markjp · Post by **markjp** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:29 am

shshivji wrote:Hey pal, sorry to hear about your trouble, unfortunately it is a very common issue on tsi, I changed mine before it totally collapsed. Personally people should change the tensioner for precaution as its not a huge cost for peace of mind.

Shak

Do VW recommend a Distance/Time for doing this?

salsajoe · Post by **salsajoe** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:41 am

Do VW recommend a Distance/Time for doing this?

Chain and tensioner are suppose to last the lifetime of the engine. My last vauxhall coupe had a chain, passed on to my daughter and that is still going strong on 145k. Tensioner on the VW 2.0 TSi engines have a faulty design. It has been redesigned twice now. You should have the latest design fitted now so should not have any more problems hopefully. Plenty of threads about the problem. http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=262793.0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post by **skippy** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:08 pm

Yes - this is the first instance I have heard regarding a failed tensioner on a Scirocco, but has occurred on quite a few Golf GTI's, presumably as there are a lot more of them.

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:12 pm

markjp wrote:
shshivji wrote:Hey pal, sorry to hear about your trouble, unfortunately it is a very common issue on tsi, I changed mine before it totally collapsed. Personally people should change the tensioner for precaution as its not a huge cost for peace of mind.

Shak
Do VW recommend a Distance/Time for doing this?

As above the chain and tensioner should last the lifetime of the car but unfortunately early tsi's have issues with the tensioner. The latest revision of the tensioner was made in 2012, so would say if anyone has a 2.0tsi with a build date before 2012 then maybe get it booked and have it replaced for precaution, it's cheaper then having a £2k bill.....

Shak

Post by **skippy** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:49 pm

@Shak, from what I know these failures have appeared completely at random, irrespective of mileage. Mine is a 2009 but have only 21K on the clock, I guess like with anything though - the higher the mileage the greater the chance of this issue occurring, like at 78K in this example.

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:29 pm

skippy wrote:@Shak, from what I know these failures have appeared completely at random, irrespective of mileage. Mine is a 2009 but have only 21K on the clock, I guess like with anything though - the higher the mileage the greater the chance of this issue occurring, like at 78K in this example.

Tbh, the mileage they go at is 'random' they have been known to have collapsed at a mileage as low as 16k, which is a worry. Some times you don't even get a warning, mine was the same as the op, where it started to rattle for a second on start up, so I promptly changed mine, it had around 52k on the clock.

Shak

Post by **skippy** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 5:29 pm

Thank you Shak, yes a little worrying I must admit!

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 6:21 pm

skippy wrote:Thank you Shak, yes a little worrying I must admit!

Tbh, to save the worry I'd just book the car in for the tensioner repacement at your local indi/dealer and get it replaced, it should only cost the same as a timing belt job on any other car, worth it for peace of mind

Shak

ciaranm · Post by **ciaranm** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 2:13 pm

Hi guys,
I'm new to the forum as I am on the hunt for a Scirocco so I've been doing my research and found this dreaded timing chain tensioner issue.

I went to look at this car today - http://www.usedcarsni.com/2009-Volkswag ... -141835527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and its the exact spec I want.
However, before going to view the car I spoke to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and he told me that when I view the car to make sure the engine is cold as I would then hear the rattle on start up that would indicate the tensioner needing replaced, so I asked the seller to make sure the engine was cold when I came to view. He said that wouldn't be a problem...... Low and behold, I got there, opened the bonnet, felt the engine and it was hot. He said he'd just nipped round the shop an hour before hand and thought it would have cooled down by the time I arrived. His wifes GTi golf was sitting in the drive too which I nodded at and he said he couldnt find the keys for it earlier!!! alarm bells were ringing now!!
I started the engine anyway and thought I heard a bit of a rattle but it was literally for less then a second I wasn't sure what to even listen for so it may have been completely normal.

I had a good look over the car, took it for a spin and couldn't fault it in any way. I have literally just came home to do my research on the chain thing again and came across this post.

My question is, how much would it cost to get the tensioner replaced if I buy this car? Could I use it as a bargaining tool to get a few more quid off the price?
He said someone else is coming to view the car this afternoon, I would hate to miss out on it by being overly paranoid but I'm really in a dilemma here.
Thanks for any help. It is much appreciated.

andyy · Post by **andyy** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 6:09 pm

ciaranm wrote:Hi guys,
I'm new to the forum as I am on the hunt for a Scirocco so I've been doing my research and found this dreaded timing chain tensioner issue.

I went to look at this car today - http://www.usedcarsni.com/2009-Volkswag ... -141835527" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and its the exact spec I want.
However, before going to view the car I spoke to a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and he told me that when I view the car to make sure the engine is cold as I would then hear the rattle on start up that would indicate the tensioner needing replaced, so I asked the seller to make sure the engine was cold when I came to view. He said that wouldn't be a problem...... Low and behold, I got there, opened the bonnet, felt the engine and it was hot. He said he'd just nipped round the shop an hour before hand and thought it would have cooled down by the time I arrived. His wifes GTi golf was sitting in the drive too which I nodded at and he said he couldnt find the keys for it earlier!!! alarm bells were ringing now!!
I started the engine anyway and thought I heard a bit of a rattle but it was literally for less then a second I wasn't sure what to even listen for so it may have been completely normal.

I had a good look over the car, took it for a spin and couldn't fault it in any way. I have literally just came home to do my research on the chain thing again and came across this post.

My question is, how much would it cost to get the tensioner replaced if I buy this car? Could I use it as a bargaining tool to get a few more quid off the price?
He said someone else is coming to view the car this afternoon, I would hate to miss out on it by being overly paranoid but I'm really in a dilemma here.
Thanks for any help. It is much appreciated.

The seller could be genuine.. the "someone else is coming to look later / tomorrow" line is probably not.

If you have alarm bells / any doubts walk away imo.

Cars come up for sale daily and I'm sure you won't have a hard time finding another

ciaranm · Post by **ciaranm** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:20 pm

Thanks for your input.
I've been reading up on this tensioner issue all day and it has really put me off the petrol engined Sciroccos.
I am giving some consideration now to a diesel Scirocco (unless anyone knows of any issues with the diesel engines?)
The guy has been texting me all day about his car. Turns out the person coming to see the car after me didn't take it (surprise surprise)
He is now saying his brother in law is a VW mechanic and will replace the tensioner for £100 with receipts to prove....

Post by **skippy** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:37 pm

To be honest this tensioner issue is still very rare, so I would not necessarily let it put you off. As with all forums, people will tend to just report the bad stuff, but you would be desperately unlucky to have a tensioner fail.

ciaranm · Post by **ciaranm** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:23 pm

Yeah I know what you mean, when you go looking for a problem on the internet, you open a whole can of worms...
I do have a history of bad luck with cars, so I now try to as cautious as possible, sometimes maybe to the point where I get too scared to buy anything!
I guess it's just a risk you take when you buy a second hand car.

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 11:03 pm

ciaranm wrote:Yeah I know what you mean, when you go looking for a problem on the internet, you open a whole can of worms...
I do have a history of bad luck with cars, so I now try to as cautious as possible, sometimes maybe to the point where I get too scared to buy anything!
I guess it's just a risk you take when you buy a second hand car.

For the cost of replacement (similar cost to replace the timing belt on a 2.0tdi) I'd just replace the tensioner anyway, these engines are brilliant so are well worth owing :-)

Shak

ciaranm · Post by **ciaranm** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 11:15 pm

what sort of cost is that? do you know a ballpark figure?

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:11 am

The parts cost around £40, plus approx 4 hours, I would expect the job to cost no more then £300 at an indi.

Here a link of when I did mine last year :-)

http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... er#p149918

Shak

ciaranm · Post by **ciaranm** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 2:56 pm

Thanks Shak, really appreciate your help!
Just one more question, Is the part just called a Timing Chain Tensioner or is there a technical name or product number?

shshivji · Post by **shshivji** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 10:32 pm

ciaranm wrote:Thanks Shak, really appreciate your help!
Just one more question, Is the part just called a Timing Chain Tensioner or is there a technical name or product number?

Just 'timing chain tensioner' :-)

Shak

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Sudden Failure - Timing Chain + Tensioner replacement

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