Golf 118 TSI Engine Failures and Service Campaign 24S4

[skyva]

If they cannot diagnose the problem and you can replicate it, then insist on having a long term data logger put into the car. By long term I mean 72 hours or so. I have only read about it, but from what I hear, not every dealer has one, so they need to book it in for you to take away with you. It may mean you have to record the exact time you experience the problem so they can match the time in the data logger. A problem with data loggers is that they record huge amounts of data, and data that is normal, for example, going up a hill in low revs, may not be normal for freeway driving.
It may not be relevant, but in my (very) old car we made sure we gave it a caning every now and again, as there could be a build up of carbon in the cylinders. When carbon build up is present, bits of it heat up and cause pre-ignition, resulting in poor combustion. There are so many computerised parts on these new engines that it is not possible to say if this is the case, but if you do a lot of driving where the engine lugs (low rpm, high load), then my thoughts are that it might benefit from a high rpm blast.
Also, it may depend on how you drive. Modern cars have an adaptive throttle control, where it monitors past driving and adapt shift points. This means that if you regularly thrash your car, the computer recognises this and sets the throttle to be sensitive, with higher change points. If you regularly drive conservatively, then the throttle control and transmission may choose to change up earlier than you like. This may cause the change up issue you mentioned and some carbon build up. You used to be able to solve the problem by disconnecting the battery and turning on the ignition key and holding it on for several seconds. Nothing would happen of course, but the charge in the electrical system would deplete, wiping the adaptive memory. I am not sure how VW's work in terms of adaptive control, it may take the dealer to reset it.
If you are not happy with the change points your car chooses, may I suggest asking the dealer whether there is a way to reset any adaptive throttle control memory so it starts from scratch and you can drive it to encourage higher rpm change points.
It would be great if someone familiar with these systems could add some advice as I am really only guessing on the specific system used by VW.
It sounds like everyone is trying to help so that is one positive step.

Good luck.

[cktsi]

Would carbon build up in such a new car & in less than 3 months? Sounds a bit soon to me.

I was also wondering if any other 118TSI drivers experience the same issue. They may not be reading this thread, so may be worthwhile starting a new one (not that I like clogging up forums with bad news or anything).

Yesterday the car was fine (really nice having a car with a sunroof in really good weather).

Today there was the same ticking & unburnt fuel belch. It seems to happen when I'm accelerating uphill (i.e. under load) in 5th or 6th gear and the engine is revving from 1,600rpm.

I'm also certain the engine is now a little rough under heavy acceleration between 2,000 - 3,000 rpm (and wide open throttle) where before it was smooth.

Other than those hiccups, the car was behaving itself... and yeah... really good to have a car with aircon & sunroof in Sydney this weekend Also nice to use the remote to open the windows & let the hot air expel before I enter the car.

Oh... I also did try to use the turbo more today to 'unclog' any carbon build up by building revs slowly to 3,000rpm... then when the traffic in front clears I let loose. Boy what a feeling when the turbo flies !

[cktsi]

Looks like there's a Jetta with the same 118 TSI 1.4 engine with the same issue in the Mark V forum. !

[pologti18t]

Can't you put the DSG in Sports mode? That should raise the gear shift points.

I noticed this in your remarks

Do you happen to notice a plume of unburnt fuel out the back by any chance when this happens?

HOw do you see an plume of unburnt fuel? Is it dark grey smoke?

[cktsi]

Can't you put the DSG in Sports mode? That should raise the gear shift points.

I noticed this in your remarks


HOw do you see an plume of unburnt fuel? Is it dark grey smoke?

The problem with sports mode is the gear changes are too aggressive for suburban driving. Fine for open road twisties.

It wont shift until at least 5,000rpm is reached. If i accelerate moderately it will red line. I dont really want to constantly thrash the car.

The unburnt fuel is not smoke. Just a brownish cloud of fuel. Same thing you see in any car under heavy acceleration.

[gerhard]

The problem with sports mode is the gear changes are too aggressive for suburban driving. Fine for open road twisties.

It wont shift until at least 5,000rpm is reached. If i accelerate moderately it will red line. I dont really want to constantly thrash the car.

The unburnt fuel is not smoke. Just a brownish cloud of fuel. Same thing you see in any car under heavy acceleration.

Re brownish cloud of exhaust -

The GTI engine runs a very rich mixture around 10:1 under heavy acceleration, not what you'd call "electronic lean burn". If you're ever behind a a GTI that's WOT you'll see what I mean. Not to mention behind one that's running a big turbo and a big chip.......

It's no surprise that the twincharged engine is tuned rich as well, so when you cane it you should expect following cars to think you are driving a dirty diesel

[logger]

I am too busy hanging on for dear life and looking at the road ahead to notice whats going on behind, when I use WOT
Gerhard, is the rich mixture invoked to protect the engine from detonation?

[gerhard]

I am too busy hanging on for dear life and looking at the road ahead to notice whats going on behind, when I use WOT
Gerhard, is the rich mixture invoked to protect the engine from detonation?

I guess so, not really sure. But when you see the posts with dyno runs, the mixture is invariably very rich.

[cktsi]

If they cannot diagnose the problem and you can replicate it, then insist on having a long term data logger put into the car. By long term I mean 72 hours or so. I have only read about it, but from what I hear, not every dealer has one, so they need to book it in for you to take away with you.

They don't have such a data logger (so I'm told). Each car has a data logger that logs faults only. That's the best they can do. Obviously this is not showing up in the car's error log.

So they kept the car overnight & couldn't replicate the problem. To them, there is no issue until the problem can be consistently replicated. Till then, they aren't going to do anything to the car, nor do anything about extending any warranty.

Basically until I can replicate it, there seem to be no other avenues of redress. I cannot claim the car is not of merchantable quality because it runs properly 99% of the time... till that one time the engine decides to shut down & not run properly.

Apparently they said that the car actually returned to normal even before replacing the fuel injector port. So that in itself was a pointless exercise.

Maybe it's the engine's ECU that is defective?

The only other thing I can think of is really not to let the "low down torque" take care of the acceleration and change my driving style so that I'm always kicking down a gear till I have at least 2,000 rpm when I want to accelerate.

[cktsi]

ok, i just picked up the car. I had a TDI DSG Caddy as a loaner with 270km on the odo !! :p I presume it's the 1.9 TDI and it had nice in gear acceleration... but I digress.

The head tech came out to talk to me and explained that the squirrelling noise was caused by the recirculation valve for the turbo not sitting correctly in the seat. They put in a new plug & noise has gone. They were also unable to replicate the issue but think it may be related.

All I'll do now is just be a happy owner for now (they also fixed some minor rattles) and be grateful the car is now as quiet as it was when I first got it (save for the supercharger squeak which is getting fainter in moderate acceleration). It is nice having the car back again cos the Caddy kept locking the side door every time I take off from stationary (it sounds like a very loud slap).


My warranty complaint has come to nought. They said i'd be wasting my time with VW Australia on extending the warranty (despite the fact that I've owned & had multiple issues with a Mark V as well).

All I can hope for is that the car settles down & gives me trouble free motoring. It is still a great car after all.


I have a feeling the odd fuel belch & the ticking may be due to an issue with the ECU. Who knows... a new APR chip may be what my car needs I'm sure Logger would agree

[gtimk5]

My local dealer was just telling me that they have a GT 1.4 in there with a hole the size of a 20 cent piece in no. 4 piston....
Sign of things to come??
Andrew

[dopey]

My local dealer was just telling me that they have a GT 1.4 in there with a hole the size of a 20 cent piece in no. 4 piston....
Sign of things to come??
Andrew

I wonder if its tuning related, the standard tune might perhaps be a little too lean and prone to pinging due to the quest for low emissions and good fuel economy. A super lean air/fuel ratio isn't always the best thing for a boosted engine. Perhaps those with APR flashes will find their engines more reliable?

[graeme86]

My local dealer was just telling me that they have a GT 1.4 in there with a hole the size of a 20 cent piece in no. 4 piston....
Sign of things to come??
Andrew

Some cheapskate probably just put 91 RON petrol in it

[drbono]

My VW TSI 118 is great, but...

I wanted to detail a major engine failure I experienced on my newish TSI 118...

Last week on Xmas eve at about 5:45 pm, my EPC & engine lights illuminated while driving 100kph on the M1 freeway. Engine lost power and I pulled over into the emergency lane and called VW Roadside Assistance.

Given it was after hours on xmas eve, they were great - a towtruck arrived within 30 minutes and a taxi about 45 minutes later. Ended up taking the taxi 80km ($180, yes $180) to my home - VW contributed $100.

My car was held with the towtruck operator and reached my local dealership yesterday. Due to the reduced staff, they only were able to look at my car today. I was told that there was reduced compression in one of the cylinders, similar to a previously posted experience. They had discussed this finding with VW Head Office and concluded that the engine needs to be replaced!!! Loan car should be organised tomorrow.

This is all a bit of a shock given that the car has only done 5,000km and my previous Peugeot 306 lasted 12 years with great reliability. Obviously even the best cars/engines can fail, and the service provided to me in the wake of this problem has been good, however it is still disappointing to have such a terminal problem in such a new (& highly awarded) car/engine.

I don't know how common this problem has been around the world. I look forward to my car's return, whenever that may be!

[Intensive]

118TSI Engine Failure

Some follow up to my original post in the newbies area ( 6 month old united grey 118tsi). VW have confirmed that it is broken piston and piston ring. New engine has arrived in Sydney today and now has to pass through customs. Should be back in my car in about 10 days. This problem does not appear to be a "one off". Who is aware of similar issues with this engine? Does it run to lean or hot for Australia?