1.4 TSI 118kW Reliability

[Dvid47]

Hey,
I'm not 100% if this is the correct section - if not, feel free to move the thread!

Anyways, I was quite excited about the fact the car is twincharged, and quite quick for something that has smaller capacity than a Coca-Cola bottle. After extensive research, it turns out they are problematic - some statistics caliming there were 60-80 cars, troubled with the timing chain issue, reported in Germany. On the other hand, I couldn't find any 1st person experience about the whole reliability issue - I mean, if it's only 60-80 cars out of thousands, that wouldn't mean the car is unreliable, would it? I'm quite sure (or just trying to convince myself) that's it's still way better than any Alfa or Fiat, regarding engine issues.

I'm looking for some insight about the problem, how can you prevent engine failure, are there any updated parts you could swap, that would cure the chain problem? How do you even detect the problem?

[blower]

A lot of potential problems are do to with what year your car is. Numerous parts were revised over the years to solve various problems with this engine that would eventually lead to a cracked piston - the most common total engine failure mode on the twincharged 1.4 TSI.

Anything 2012 onwards is fine. 2011 is not too bad, 2010 is worse and 2009 are the ones that fail the most with piston death.

The cause of piston failure is a multifaceted problem caused by numerous things that all add up to too much stress on the piston, the fact the pistons are not the strongest doesn't help either.

In terms of trying to prevent failure, a lot of piston failure can be attributed to fueling issues. This can be just using poor quality fuel, or clogged injectors (especially the early revision injectors found in 2009 and 2010 cars and also some 2011's).
It is strongly recommended to only use premium fuel with these engines, 97 to 99 RON - such as shell v-power, sainsburys super etc.
One of the biggest killers of a piston is engine knock, and with a lower octane fuel, in a high boost engine with PCV oil issues you can get into a scenario where the engine begins to knock intermittently, weakening a piston over time or killing it in one go.

I also recommend dropping in some intank injector cleaner once a year as you do your service.
You should also stick to regular oil changes, 10k miles or once a year....if you do a lot of short journeys you should switch to 5000 mile oil changes.

As for chain failures - they are rare on a 1.4 TSI. However, as you have a manual, you should NEVER leave your car in gear when parked.

The only sudden chain failures i have heard of on the 1.4 TSI have either occured when a car has been started back up after being left in gear overnight, or when the oil has been changed.
When changing the oil it is inadvisable to let it drain completely out for hours - this can lead to a delay in oil pressure being built up on restart and a potential for an aging chain tensioner to not apply enough tension to the chain for a few moments when the engine is up and running.

The chain tensioner on all TSI engines is hydraulically driven, i.e. it relies on oil pressure to fully apply tension to the timing chain. When the engine is shut down, the oil pressure is gone and then the only pressure being applied to the chain is that of the spring in the tensioner.
This spring can slacken over time on older/higher mileage engines and doesn't apply enough pressure.
In addition, the 1.4 TSI has no ratchet mechanism on the chain tensioner to ensure it doesn't retract back with no oil pressure (unlike that of the 2.0 TSI which ironically has far more chain tensioner failures as the ratchet mechanism that was supposed to increase reliablitiy, would fall to bits and result in catastrophic failure)

So if the car is left in gear, and it rolls back just a bit (say parked on a hill or even a driveway) then due to the design of the lower chain sprocket and where the tensioner applies it's pressure on the guide rail - the slackened chain can slip a tooth or 2 when the crankshaft is turned in reverse (ie car rolling backwards in gear).
Then when you start the car up the timing is out, the valves smash into the pistons and your engine is ruined.

[Komar]

I also recommend dropping in some intank injector cleaner once a year as you do your service.

You should also stick to regular oil changes, 10k miles or once a year....if you do a lot of short journeys you should switch to 5000 mile oil changes.

Can you please recomend which injector cleaner is good?

And also explane 5000 miles oil change when you have short journeys.......as I have


Thx

[blower]

I use forte specialist injector cleaner, its not cheap but is good stuff.

If you mainly do short journeys then the engine doesn't get up to full temperature (not just your coolant temperature on your gauge, but also oil temperature) - this is not good for the oil, or engine in general as the oil works best when hot, it provides the best engine protection.

With the car's mileage mainly being from short journeys - a lot of those miles will have been when the car wasn't up to temperature, still running its rich fueling - which means a lot of combustion byproducts that will accumulate in the oil.
So 5000 miles of short journeys will have the deposits in the oil of a car that's done 10,000 miles with mixed journeys.

It's actually recommended in the manual iirc, that if you mainly do short journeys you should change the oil more frequently - failing to do so means the oil can gum up a bit, normally not a problem but with these engines there are a lot of narrow oil passageways that can get blocked or not flow freely.

I also highly recommend you at least once a week give it a good run if you only do short journeys all week - the other problem with a petrol engines and short journeys is carbon build up on the sparks & somewhat on the injectors & piston crown. This is normally managed by being burn't off via the high cylinder temperatures during combustion - but if the car doesn't get a good run and up to temperature they will accumulate and eventually cause problems.

[Komar]

Thx for the answers

I have ordered the forte specialist injector cleaner, and I supose that i pour those 400ml into full tank?

When the product is inside, is there going to be any strange behavior of the car? like more smoke coming form the exhaust or anything else?

I suposue all of these is safe for the car

[blower]

Yep add to a full tank.

It shouldn't have any bad effect on running - you might get a bit of extra smoke but nothing really to be concerned with. Sometimes they can increase emissions slightly, so may effect an emissions test until you run the tank down - but other than that there is no real change in running.

They are safe to use in modern engines, the cleaning agent just gets combusted with no side effects.

[salsajoe]

I always add the cleaner before filling up to make sure there is a good mix in the tank - no need to let the tank get really low then.

[Komar]

One more question before I put the forte cleaner into tank......my car is running on 100 octane fuel, can I higher octane fuel do some strange affects to cleaner?

[Harry_VW]

how does the rolling back thing work with DSG cars? Should I leave mine in park on a hill or in neutral on a hill?

[Cuprabob]

how does the rolling back thing work with DSG cars? Should I leave mine in park on a hill or in neutral on a hill?

You have to leave it in Park otherwise you won't be able to remove the keys.

[blower]

how does the rolling back thing work with DSG cars? Should I leave mine in park on a hill or in neutral on a hill?

It's not and issue with DSG - not possible to roll back because of parking pawl (park gear) which locks the transmission. Just leave in park.