Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures and Service Campaign 24S4

[cktsi]

Just had the CEL and EPC light go on with the horrendously rough idle. Started idling worse than my high compression cammed 8v MK2 (idles like a harley). I will be getting it towed to a VW dealer in the upper north shore (Sydney). I'm pretty nervous, as the car is now 3.5 years old. I'm hoping statutory warranty covers it, as it has only done approximately 40,000kms.

We've had it since new, and had the DSG clutches replaced.

So.... class action?

Holy moly! Only 40k kms!!!! I would have thought you would have been in the clear after 3.5 years.

You know the drill re root cause... Coil pack or injector.

Have you always erviced your car with VW dealers? Hopefully if you have they fix it under goodwill.

Keep us posted.

P.s. sounds like you need to enjoy the car more with only 40k kms :-p

[minke]

Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures: Resolved via Service Campaign 24S4

Recall for a over eager fan

http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1046339

Wonder what it will take to have the 118tsi recalled

[Sentinel]

Just had the CEL and EPC light go on with the horrendously rough idle. Started idling worse than my high compression cammed 8v MK2 (idles like a harley). I will be getting it towed to a VW dealer in the upper north shore (Sydney). I'm pretty nervous, as the car is now 3.5 years old. I'm hoping statutory warranty covers it, as it has only done approximately 40,000kms.

We've had it since new, and had the DSG clutches replaced.

So.... class action?

You have my sympathy. My engine died at 39k, and I'm not confident that the "fixed" version has actually solved the problem.

I would hope it doesn't come to legal action, but VW really ought to do something about this. The 118TSI was their flagship model, Car of the Year, and so on. They should realise how much it will hurt their reputation if they don't fix it.

[kaktusdigital]

That's really scary about the December 2010 build tsi 118 having the same engine issues. One would assume the patch applied at the factory has fixed things. I for one never even got close to the published fuel consumption numbers , so i'm assuming my august 2010 build was also patched before being dispatched.. bugger its still a ticking time bomb.

We're, or at least 'I' am a lazy one. I'm probably not going to kick up a fuss with letters to the vw management. Simply put, i'm getting rid of it before the warranty expires and going to tell anyone who can be bothered to listen about the engine & dry 7 speed issues. I would have been happy to step foot into another VW, but on principle, I probably won't.

[bugsalanko]

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

exact problem I had. It got worse. Then the light on the dash came on (something about exhaust). it got worse. I took it in and they found loss of compression on cylinder one. It was booked in for a full check but before I got there it got a lot worse (jerky ride, loss of power). Warning came on to take the car straight to the service centre. Turned out to be the dreaded fuel injector - cracked piston issue. I finally got the car back last week after about a month in the garage.

Oh crap. i thought it was my imagination but the car has been feeling a little less grunty of late :S. time to turn off the tune and see if that helps. F@rk!

Only grain of hope I can take is that I haven't felt the shake at all this week? So possibly mine is an alternative intermittent issue

[adhock]

Only grain of hope

Good luck. Or wait til the misfire is really bad to guarantee the new motor vs new piston. Bring on the recall.

[Feng]

So.... class action?

I'd contribute if there was enough interest! What's involved?

[agz]

Oh crap. i thought it was my imagination but the car has been feeling a little less grunty of late :S. time to turn off the tune and see if that helps. F@rk!

Only grain of hope I can take is that I haven't felt the shake at all this week? So possibly mine is an alternative intermittent issue

mine started to shudder a little last tuesday, it was due for a service so i brought it into VW village at Kensington. asked them to check the engine whilst servicing. get a call from them, the guy on the other end sounded like he'd seen this a few times. told me engine was misfiring, and that it was best to bring it back to the dealer and hope for a fix under goodwill (car's warranty ran out in Feb). really worried about it atm, car's not even paid off yet and if they decide to reject the goodwill, i dont know what i will do. plus the last 2 services werent done at a dealer.

[adhock]

Good luck. May you not need goodwill for a pre-existing problem.

[adhock]

New thread for 118 TSI engine failure stats

Is it time to start a thread devoted solely to documenting the number of 118TSI engine failures?

I see numbers round 500 on the threads here, and comments such as 'Dropping like flies', but not hard numbers. So, is a thread listing Year/Month build, delivery date, kilometers driven, date of failure, dealer, VW response, (what have I missed) worth while? The mutterings about Class Actions need this sort of stats, I'd think.

[brad]

mine started to shudder a little last tuesday, it was due for a service so i brought it into VW village at Kensington. asked them to check the engine whilst servicing. get a call from them, the guy on the other end sounded like he'd seen this a few times. told me engine was misfiring, and that it was best to bring it back to the dealer and hope for a fix under goodwill (car's warranty ran out in Feb). really worried about it atm, car's not even paid off yet and if they decide to reject the goodwill, i dont know what i will do. plus the last 2 services werent done at a dealer.

Statutory warranty.
There is a reasonable expectation that a motor vehicle engine will last more than XXX,000km when serviced IAW the manufacturers guidelines. If you'd known that the engine would require an engine rebuild just outside of warranty, would you have bought the vehicle? No, because your expectation is that you'd get ~10 years/250,000km without requiring major work.

Suggest you check out both the NSW & Federal consumer websites for your rights.

[Feng]

It might be wishful thinking but does anyone here work for VW or might have inside knowledge on this problem? I'm looking for reassurance that the problem won't come back after it has been fixed (I think I read someone had it happen to them four times though!). It really does take the joy out of owning the car and I'd rather not feel like I'm driving a disaster waiting to happen every time I'm behind the wheel!

[kaanage]

Given the post below (from another thread) I'd say the problem is inherent in the design of the piston and rings and it would a really major revision to fix it properly. It's talking about the higher output version fitted to the 6R Polo GTi but that's basically a slightly tuned up version of the 118 twincharger (the comparison CAVD engine is the twincharger used in the Mk 5 Golf GT frpm which the 118 twincharger was developed)

My friend for me is dead simple what is going on here. The twincharger engine was, in euro4 format, an excellent unit with the only criticism from rivals being its high emissions. Here in Europe emissions are of high importance since we are getting taxed based on them. Also note that the last cavd engine could not go to production (being marginally euro 5 on the scirocco).

60 per cent of the mechanical losses of internal combustion engines are due to cylinder piston ring contact. What to you do to reduce emissions ? You reduce tension between the two. Well in theory that produced the perfect engine with 138grams/ almost 200 hp stock and consumption only up by 10% when compared with cavd units ( still very sensible). In practice though they failed to accommodate for the rapid boost build up of the compressor with the new piston/piston rings setup, thus the screw up.
Can they sort the problem? Of course it is dead simple: just change the piston and piston rings back to CAVD specs, there! Problem sorted.

Can they solve the problem and meet emissions standards as advertised? NOT A CHANCE. Thus they are pretending nothing is wrong as a strategic decision. The VAG group would not admit to such a major engineering screw up. They will happily change as many engines as you want while in warranty until they produce the mk6 polo/mk6 ibiza with a new engine line up.

This is accordance to their first attempted fix of installing thicker piston rings ( i.e higher tension) but obviously that was not well thought out either, or not well executed by dealers.

So if you like the car and want to keep it, find a good local garage buy 4 piston and piston ring sets from a CAVD engine and off you go. A lot of guys down here have done just that and solved their consumption issues. Some even tried aftermarket piston ring sets and that solved the problem. Of course you need to re-hone the cylinder walls before installation.

================================================== ================

Is it time to start a thread devoted solely to documenting the number of 118TSI engine failures?

I see numbers round 500 on the threads here, and comments such as 'Dropping like flies', but not hard numbers. So, is a thread listing Year/Month build, delivery date, kilometers driven, date of failure, dealer, VW response, (what have I missed) worth while? The mutterings about Class Actions need this sort of stats, I'd think.

An engine failure register thread could be a good idea as you wouldn't get the clutter of discussion about DSG failures and denials from VAG fans - see the diesel section for how they did one for the 2.0l 125kW PD engines

[jamesw85]

Hi all, I was looking for some advice on my rough idle problem in my manual 118tsi. It's been doing it for over a year (in fact it started when the software update campaign update was done on it). The car has not failed and apart from some fairly serious shaking when idling and lesser surging when cruising it's fine. Vw have cleared it at the last 2 services saying there's no problem. Unfortunately I'm now trying to sell it and the idle is death for prospective buyers so I'm keen to see if it can be fixed.

I'm working on the basis it's not going to blow up since it hasn't yet and vw have found no issues. And so it's probably not the issue that's caused chaos for others in this thread. But I'd like to get it fixed so I don't have to worry some buyer is getting a timebomb.

The symptoms are: only emerges after a period of stop start but reasonably high rev driving; often will only emerge after half an hour or so of normal driving but can also start earlier when driven hard, does not happen when cold; no metallic noises, no bangs or rattles; a quite severe low frequency shaking that affects the whole car; no associated noise, just the feeling of a deep shake, almost like a weight on a shaft is badly balanced; is most noticeable idling at the lights but also occurs when cruising; no increase in fuel consumption etc; occasional black smoke bursts when changing gears; feeling of surging when moving slowly in 1st and 2nd after being parked and off for 30-90mins.

The car is a my10 manual 118tsi golf built dec 09 with 34.5k kms on the clock. No other issues in its history.

[jayjay]

@jamesw85 - I would take it back to the dealership and ensure that they hear/see the problem.


Further to my engine failure: just received a phone call saying the car is repaired and ready to be picked up. The dealership I dealt with were extremely helpful. I assumed it was some sort of misfiring causing the rough idle, however, the official diagnosis was a cracked piston ringland. The dealer organised a courtesy hire car through VW Australia (next day). Everything was covered under warranty, even though the car is approximately 3.5 years old.

The motor wasn't replaced, as upon inspection, the bores were not deemed to have suffered any damage (special coating apparently prevents resurfacing/machining/reconditioning). They consequently replaced all pistons and injectors. According to the technician, there have been revisions of the piston material, and these ones are supposedly significantly stronger than the broken ones.

Will let you guys know how it drives etc. after i pick it up.