Newbie in Australia but not VW ;)

[alexjan]

Hi all,

I'm Alex. It's nice to see you here and a pleasure to join VWWatercooled. Many thanks for accepting me.

I came to Melbourne, Australia last year and have just bought for my family a VW Tiguan 2011 Tiguan 5N 125TSI 2.0 Auto. I often drive my kids back and forth between home and schools and occasionally have some longer trips ranging from 2-4 hours to 8-10 hours driving.

I'm new to Australia and my VW Tiguan but not VW because I lived in Europe before and owned a VW Polo 9N 2003, as German-speaking folks often say, "Das Auto". That's also part of the reason I looked for and ended up with my VW Tiguan.

VWWatercooled popped up almost as the first result of any Google searches about VW or so. That's how I met you here

Cheers,
Alex

[tigger73]

Hi and welcome!

Make sure you get your timing chain tensioner replaced before 100,000km. Hope you enjoy your Tiggy


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[alexjan]

Hi and welcome!

Make sure you get your timing chain tensioner replaced before 100,000km. Hope you enjoy your Tiggy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Many thanks, tigger73. Good to know. I'm just wandering and learning a bit more as the Tiggy is much newer and more complex than the Polo 2003

[alexjan]

Make sure you get your timing chain tensioner replaced before 100,000km.

I did read a lot of posts and threads in this forum about this very issue. Most of the posts on this issue are postmorterm with very severe consequences and costs (engine damage, fixed/replaced from 5000$ up to 12k$).

The Tiggie, which is preowned by my seller, is at 88000km. I was not aware of this issue when inspecting the Tiggie. As I can see that you also have a Tiggie 125TSI 2011, your advice or experience would be greatly helpful. Should I do the timing chain service now as precaution or wait until hearing some rattles?

Thanks so much.
Alex

[tigger73]

I did read a lot of posts and threads in this forum about this very issue. Most of the posts on this issue are postmorterm with very severe consequences and costs (engine damage, fixed/replaced from 5000$ up to 12k$).

The Tiggie, which is preowned by my seller, is at 88000km. I was not aware of this issue when inspecting the Tiggie. As I can see that you also have a Tiggie 125TSI 2011, your advice or experience would be greatly helpful. Should I do the timing chain service now as precaution or wait until hearing some rattles?

Thanks so much.
Alex

Personally I would change the timing chain tensioner at the next service just as a precaution. If you hear a rattle on start-up, stop the car immediately and put it on a tow truck to a workshop. You could have already done damage but if you run it then it almost certainly will.

It's not guaranteed that it's going to happen to your car but it's definitely a risk. Mk6 GTI runs the same engine and has the same issues. Most VW workshops will be well aware of this issue and can discuss with you the best course of action.

At least you are aware of potential issues with the car and can make some informed choices. These are great cars and if you keep on top of the maintenance it should give you many years of faithful service.