Preventative maintenance - Chain tensioner and DSG

[Navos]

Hello all,

Will be picking my Scirocco up on Saturday (excited) and I am looking for views on preventative maintenance measures. My car is a 2010, 2.0 TSI DSG. It has done 24,000 miles and has a full VW service history and no mods.

I have read about the chain tensioner issues and have had three different opinions about changing it. Two independents have stated it is not worth doing, on the basis that even the revised version fails! The other independent has said change it. Am at a loss, opinions please.

Further, should I have the DSG serviced, even though I have not yet reached 40k miles? Is gearbox oil age an issue?

Thanks in advance for reading this and hopefully helping.

Cheers, Nav

[sadtranz]

From what I can make out you can generally hear a rattle on startup if its going, apart from a catastrophic failure of course, perhaps best option is to insure against failure, mine is approaching 40,000 with no problems 2011, cant help with dsg but would go with vw recommendations mileage or time interval

[Harry_VW]

Some seriously low mileage there. If you have a years warranty, get it done next year when it runs out. If you've bought privately I would get it done now. Manuals can have instant failure, dsgs seem to rattle before failure but for peace of mind I would update it.

[rsmagee]

I paid a lot to have my MY10 cars tensioner changed, turned out it had the new one....

No sign in the service book, was a bit miffed!

[Navos]

Folks, thank you very much for your views. For peace of mind, I will book it in and get the tensioner changed and the DSG serviced. I am going to use Midland VW, reading good things about them.

Now wondering if I should get the chain changed as well......where does one stop...

[skippy]

To be honest, I think this issue has been made out to be bigger than it actually is. With only 24K miles on the clock the chance of the tensioner failing is highly, highly unlikely. Yes - it should not fail and there are recorded cases of it failing but with all of the 1000's of engines out there, it is a tiny percentage that have actually failed.

[rsmagee]

Haha, believe it or not Midland VW did mine! They were great, and did a nice job remapping my car too.

I agree with skippy though, I think the issue is overstated, after all, you dont get reports on forums of engine that haven't failed!

[Billc]

Mine's a 2010 too with 34k on the clock. I'll get the DSG done at the next service even though it's not done 40k it is getting to be too long now. I too think the tensioner issue has been somewhat overblown and havn't even considered having it done. I do though have a comprehensive VW extended warranty and rather assume that a tensioner failure would be covered (certainly at my mileage). The warranty is cheaper than the work required after all.

[Navos]

Thanks again everyone. Really appreciated your input. For my piece of mind, I will get it changed. I have plans to get a BCS exhaust and a remap so would rather start with a known stable platform.

Thanks again, Nav

[tony4147]

DSG oil change is 4yrs or 40K, did mine a few months ago £179 incl VAT at a main stealer

[Paradox1]

I got mine done as i was a bit paranoid about it failing.
more for piece of mind

[IamSteveLyons]

DSG oil change is 4yrs or 40K, did mine a few months ago £179 incl VAT at a main stealer

vw have a standard price for this now. At £149. I combined mine with the timing belt service and they knocked a bit more off too. That was at Sinclair vw in Cardiff


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[House]

I think you are wise to get it done. My 2010 2.0 TSI had done more miles, 65k, but drove perfectly until it went. I heard a slight rattle every now and again on start up , but it was so minor I thought nothing of it (I was unaware of the tensioner issue). In the end it cost me ~£3500 for pretty much a complete rebuild.

People say it is rare, but since mine went I know of 2 other people who have had the same issue with a Skoda and a Golf of a similar year. Lucky for them it happened during the manufacturers warranty.

Get it done, then enjoy the car

[Paradox1]

I think you are wise to get it done. My 2010 2.0 TSI had done more miles, 65k, but drove perfectly until it went. I heard a slight rattle every now and again on start up , but it was so minor I thought nothing of it (I was unaware of the tensioner issue). In the end it cost me ~£3500 for pretty much a complete rebuild.

People say it is rare, but since mine went I know of 2 other people who have had the same issue with a Skoda and a Golf of a similar year. Lucky for them it happened during the manufacturers warranty.

Get it done, then enjoy the car

Wow thats a bomb!

What parts were damage then? was you on driving hard/fast when it let go?

[House]

Wow thats a bomb!

What parts were damage then? was you on driving hard/fast when it let go?

Damage to head, pistons, crankshaft from what I remember. Replaced with all VW parts. Worked out slightly cheaper than a second hand engine replacement. Nope I was starting it up in the morning. The damage was probably done when the AA guy turned up and turned it over for ages. Not sure really, I am no mechanic.

Just unlucky!

[Navos]

That is a real shame Paradox1. It will always be a nagging worry if I don't get it changed and will impact my enjoyment of the car. Car is booked in for next week at Midland VW. I will ask them if I can take some pictures of the state of the parts coming off the car.

[Paradox1]

That is a real shame Paradox1. It will always be a nagging worry if I don't get it changed and will impact my enjoyment of the car. Car is booked in for next week at Midland VW. I will ask them if I can take some pictures of the state of the parts coming off the car.

Didnt happen to me lol

I changed mine before hand. Although you shouldn't have to. it should really be a recall but its quite a big (internal) job so i dont think VW would want to honour it.

When you take your car to midland VW make sure they install the revised tensioner version

This is the part number to provide them with - 06K-109-467-K

[Harry_VW]

Might be worth checking it before you pay out. As with rsmagee he already had the new one!

https://humblemechanic.com/2016/01/12/c ... tensioner/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rsmagee]

Yep I sure did , got the "old" new one sat it my desk!!

[Navos]

Hey everyone. I had the timing chain and tensioner replaced today. £710 all in. No signs of wear on my old chain or tensioner but at least I have piece of mind.

Shout out to the guys at Midlands VW. They did a great job today.