Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures and Service Campaign 24S4

[Mk R]

Hi Michael!

The option i took is to get the latest year engine with low km i could find, aim for a 2012 CAVD engine block with under 50,000km on it. This is just the central block part of the engine.

1. ask around here to find a good local mechanic who has done this before. My local mechanic in Sydney generally does this work for about $1500. Try and find one who's done this a few times. You can by all means go to a VW specialist or Euro specialist but big names can mean big overheads and higher prices. Once you've found the guy, ask if you can have the engine delivered to his workshop in the lead-up to the job.

2. Call the wreckers in and around Melbourne to find the lowest km 2011 or later CAVD block, i got a 2011 CAVD with ~20,000km for $2,000. Let them know you're shopping around and have been quoted that price. Organise for delivery to the mechanic or to your garage. The block weighs about 80 kilos so strong adults can lift it on and off a ute ok. If you need to keep it at your place you can rest it in an old tyre if you have one or rest it carefully on something else.

3. If you want to keep the car, consider getting the spark plugs, ignition coils and high pressure fuel pump updated to the most recent versions. Google is your friend, so is ebay. These were shortcomings of the original engine. The forum can help you with those part numbers, as can you VW service centre or mechanic. The idea is to find the parts cheap by yourself and get the mechanic to install them when your car goes in for regular servicing. In my humble opinion, these cars benefit from 5,000km oil changes/services. When you get it serviced have the mechanic do a compression test every 2nd service or so to track its health so to speak.

I suggest getting either the VW or an aftermarket remap to make the fuel/air mix "wetter" which reduces the running temps. The VW map is a free recall if you haven't got it already. If you do there'll be a sticker on the drivers side door frame (on the car side).

If you don't care either way about having that car, maybe sell it after the work is done and get yourself a TDI instead. The Golf Mk V GT diesel is also a good and fun car thats not too $$$.

4. For extra reading you can refer to Lucifer's guide (same engine) for more info: Lucifer's ultimate guide: 1.4tsi fundamental problems - SEAT Cupra.net - SEAT Forum

Good luck to you man, feel free to ask any other questions in here, hope this is useful for you.

EDIT: Yes any 2011-2012 CAVD engine will do. You just need the central block part, not the peripherals like turbo, supercharger etc. The CTHD engine is just the next version on from the CAVD with upgraded internals like forged and coated pistons. I understand there may be some slight differences but there's a guy here who's done the swap. search the forum for his CAVD CTHD engine replacement thread and hit him up about it if you're curious. I'd only do that if you want to keep the car.

FYI, i put a 2011 CAVD in mine and have tuned the engine for more power. Mine is still running fine with good compression after 50,000km.

[blower]

EDIT: Yes any 2011-2012 CAVD engine will do. You just need the central block part, not the peripherals like turbo, supercharger etc. The CTHD engine is just the next version on from the CAVD with upgraded internals like forged and coated pistons. I understand there may be some slight differences but there's a guy here who's done the swap. search the forum for his CAVD CTHD engine replacement thread and hit him up about it if you're curious. I'd only do that if you want to keep the car.

The CTHD pistons are certainly not forged - but are better than pre-2012 pistons in the CAVD.
2012 CAVD engines were also upgraded to use the same pistons as the CTHD engine (same part numbers)

The only difference between a CAVD and CTHD internals are the pistons - conrod's, inlet valves, exhaust valves, valve springs - all the same as a 2010 CAVD. A 2012 CAVD is practically a CTHD.

[Mk R]

The CTHD pistons are certainly not forged - but are better than pre-2012 pistons in the CAVD.
2012 CAVD engines were also upgraded to use the same pistons as the CTHD engine (same part numbers)

The only difference between a CAVD and CTHD internals are the pistons - conrod's, inlet valves, exhaust valves, valve springs - all the same as a 2010 CAVD. A 2012 CAVD is practically a CTHD.

Thanks, Blower. There you go Michael, that's the difference.

[Rawcpoppa]

The CTHD pistons are certainly not forged - but are better than pre-2012 pistons in the CAVD.
2012 CAVD engines were also upgraded to use the same pistons as the CTHD engine (same part numbers)

The only difference between a CAVD and CTHD internals are the pistons - conrod's, inlet valves, exhaust valves, valve springs - all the same as a 2010 CAVD. A 2012 CAVD is practically a CTHD.

When you say 2012 do you mean calendar year? My Jetta was made in January 2012 and I've always wondered if it made the cut off point to get the uprated pistons.

[blower]

When you say 2012 do you mean calendar year? My Jetta was made in January 2012 and I've always wondered if it made the cut off point to get the uprated pistons.

Its the manufacturer date - the pistons in the CAVD changed to the same ones in the CTHD from 10th Jan 2012....so if your car has a manufacture date after that time it should have the latest piston revision.

[Waz]

I am in the same situation, I bought a second hand golf 2010 for similar price and guess what the engine light came on after 15 mins of driving the car. The engine will now cost me $4500. I still think this is a vw issue and I should contact them and even fair trading. I bought the car thinking its German with 57000 so definitely a good buy little dos I know.

[Mk R]

I am in the same situation, I bought a second hand golf 2010 for similar price and guess what the engine light came on after 15 mins of driving the car. The engine will now cost me $4500. I still think this is a vw issue and I should contact them and even fair trading. I bought the car thinking its German with 57000 so definitely a good buy little dos I know.

Hi Waz,

I did a swap out for a used 2011 engine on my 2009 118 TSI for about $3000-3500. It's still going strong 50,000km later. I'm in Sydney and can send you to my mechanic in Brookvale who's done a few of these now.

I've sent you a PM with my details.

[brad]

With 57k the first place I'd be ringing is fair trading and the ACCC. Anything else is letting VW get away with daylight robbery.

[VW Convert]

I still think this is a vw issue and I should contact them and even fair trading.

You are probably right about it being a VW issue and you may well be surprised at VW's response but it's a waste of time contacting fair trading at this point, they won't do anything if you have not discussed the issue with a VW dealer first.

Contact a VW dealer and get the ball rolling.

Cheers

George

[brad]

It's the ACCC you want. read up on what your statutory warranty rights are.

Waz, if your engine light came on within 15 minutes of purchase then obviously the seller had a fair idea there was an issue. Did you seek redress? Even a private sale should be discussing the issue.

[michaelfstanley]

So I signed up after finding this thread via the google and am impressed with the knowledge and depth people have covered this issue with. I promise I'm only seeking help because I've hit a brick wall googling stuff and would appreciate a little help understanding my options.

We (me and the missus) own a 2010 comfortline bought second hand in 2013. Now has 105k on the odometer and has run very well otherwise.

To cut a long story short at our last service the mechanic told us the pressure was failing in two cylinders and the engine needed a rebuild at around $8k and that replacing it with another engine would be in the same cost range.

I took it for a second opinion from a cheap mechanic recommended by a family friend who offered to replace the pistons for ~$5k but seemed to have little appreciation of the situation and did not inspire much confidence.

The missus contacted vw who said they would only consider any claim after the car was inspected by a dealer. the missus then contacted a local dealer and chatted with the mechanic who said in most cases vw would only assess the claim after the engine had been partially dismantled for assessment at a cost of ~$1,000.

So I see my options as falling into four boxes I'm trying to decide between

1.Get my established mechanic to rebuild the engine for ~8k
2.Go the route of handing the car to sit at the dealership for a few weeks, possibly getting a partial amount of the parts cost covered and paying the dealer premium for the rest of the work - I don't imagine I'll come a lot better out of it cost wise than option #1.
3. Try to engage vw a little differently by arguing the problem's been diagnosed by an mechanic with considerable vw experience and I should be able to get a better kind of commitment from them without having to fork out a grand and leave the car sitting at a dealer.
4.Go the route suggested on the previous page and replace the engine with one from a wreck.

UPDATE

I thought I should I come back here to relate I had a good outcome.

I started out looking into option 4 but couldn't find many keen mechanics. After a few weeks I decided to give option 3 one more go.

I rang up VW Customer service and stated I was unhappy about the prospect of committing to taking on over a grand in risk and a lengthy outage just for them to assess a known issue. The guy on the phone was hopeless, just lamely repeating I 'had to go to the dealer'. He also seemed to have no awareness or conceptual understanding of a statutory warranty. I stated that I was happy to take the car to the dealer, just I wasn't prepared to accept more than ~$200 of risk or more than two days without a car (we are a single car household with a 10 month old baby).

I went round in circles for an hour trying to explain this but he just wasn't prepared to engage me or explore any options. Towards the end of the call he sulkily told me that he would refer my case to the manager "Who would only tell you the same thing".

The next day I get a call from the manager who told me straight up they'd pay for an assessment and cover the cost of a hire car for the duration thereof. Within a couple of weeks we got a call saying VW would cover the full cost of parts and labour of an engine rebuild. As it was a good outcome I didn't ask any further questions as to why they made this particular decision.

The lesson I would give to others is to engage VW Australia directly and strongly assert that you have statutory rights and shouldn't have to accept large amounts of financial risk to have the car assessed for a known issue. Escalate the issue if you need to.

Best of luck to everyone else going through this and thanks to everyone in this thread who helped me in my time of need.

[ope126]

The above is a great outcome mate. I am glad that VW Australia had come to the party for you. I guess there is no harm in asking...

[Waz]

So guys, I have contacted VW and waiting for their response, the manager will call me. Hopefully they agree to do the diagnostic and repairs free of charge. Seriously, the rest of the car is in immaculate condition. I don't believe that the previous owner thrashed the car as it doesn't even have a scratch on it.

[Tatler86]

Hi all! 2 months ago, I spent $10000 on a tidy 04/09 golf 118tsi with high line interior and thought what a bargain! Checked it all out (bought privately) and seemed 100% fine until I drove it home... The car went into limp mode, limped her home and popped the hood and heard this god awful rattle under the bonnet. Freaked out and had it towed to VW to get a prognosis, I got one and it wasn't good! Timing chain tensioner shot and I was quoted $3900 to repair. I obviously wasn't happy but thought meh what can I do right? So VW Springwood sorted that for me, they called me and said we have an issue! What is that? Cylinder 3 has a misfire and we can't give you a prognosis unless you pay us $1200 to pull the engine out and apart. I was deep in the muck by now and very much commited so I told them to go ahead... They called me a couple of weeks later to tell me the rings were gone and I required all four Pistons to be replaced at a cost of approx $6000. I told them to put in for a good will claim and they did... This was the final outcome...

timing chain $3900 (no cover from VW)
engine rebuild $6500 (VW covered 50% of the parts)- cost me $4300
vw paid for a hire car for 3.5weeks
was without the car for almost 2 months
3rd owner and 2/3 of the services done with VW

Have a 2year warranty on the work carried out now and currently deciding whether to keep or let her go... Dsg was replaced 2years ago and she drives like a dream but I'm still paranoid! Thoughts???

[Lucas_R]

^ could have purchased a GTI for then than what you have spent on that 118TSI piece of rubbish. Those damn things are cursed (hence why there are so many for sale and they are dirt cheap) so get rid f it while it can actually move on its own (eg not on a tow truck) and get something better.