Slow death of a 118TSI

[Pilot]

It was stock until 80xxxkm, that's when I got it tuned got new sparks and coils at 100xxxkm.... They hadn't been replaced since ~50-55k km

[Lucas_R]

^ correct me if im wrong, but i think "Pilots" car is a manual which seem to have a much better reliability rate than the DSG ones. Because the DSG always wants to be in the highest gear possible i believe they labour the engine and cause the engine to detonate (under load at low RPM) much more easily than the manuals.

[Rawcpoppa]

You must be the luckiest mk6 118 TSI owner from that year lol.

[Pilot]

^ correct me if im wrong, but i think "Pilots" car is a manual which seem to have a much better reliability rate than the DSG ones. Because the DSG always wants to be in the highest gear possible i believe they labour the engine and cause the engine to detonate (under load at low RPM) much more easily than the manuals.

You stand uncorrected Manual life pretty lucky I guess... Punchy as crap too coil pack only started to really give up after a mountain run

[Rawcpoppa]

^ correct me if im wrong, but i think "Pilots" car is a manual which seem to have a much better reliability rate than the DSG ones. Because the DSG always wants to be in the highest gear possible i believe they labour the engine and cause the engine to detonate (under load at low RPM) much more easily than the manuals.

I was thinking more along the lines of running lean if driven gingerly. Manual drivers don't use the highest gear when cruising like a DSG would?

[Rawcpoppa]

Pilot what symptoms did you have with the failing coilpack? Also what brand did you replace yours with?

[Pilot]

I cruise at 60 in 6th because it likes to... I do believe that the 7spd sits in 7th from 55km which strains the engine

[Lucas_R]

I was thinking more along the lines of running lean if driven gingerly. Manual drivers don't use the highest gear when cruising like a DSG would?

The 118's run very lean all the time from what i have seen - regardless of whether you are low RPM, high RPM or low throttle or heavy throttle.

Some manual drivers will use the highest gear possible, but i will regularly drive at 60-65kph in 4th gear for example - the car is only doing about 2400rpm at this speed. I will only go into 6th gear if im doing 80kph or higher for a period of time.

[Pilot]

Pilot what symptoms did you have with the failing coilpack? Also what brand did you replace yours with?

Rough idle, eventually jerky when at WOT.... And then misfiring.... I put VW ones in as the R8 and 2.0L ones DONT fit... if only they did.... Can't find any good aftermarket ones

[Rawcpoppa]

I share your pain. Seems like I have a faulty one as well. Similar symptoms minus the rough idle. Ended up getting a coilpack made by beru. Hopefully it cures my issues.

Lucas do you know if anyone has stats for the 118? In terms of failure rates? If lean is really an issue there should be a continuous stream of complaint threads I gather.

[Pilot]

I share your pain. Seems like I have a faulty one as well. Similar symptoms minus the rough idle. Ended up getting a coilpack made by beru. Hopefully it cures my issues.

Lucas do you know if anyone has stats for the 118? In terms of failure rates? If lean is really an issue there should be a continuous stream of complaint threads I gather.

By rough idle I mean you can feel a slight shudder from the engine when you are stopped... Its just a slight vibration kind of that you can feel in the seat... and then it will misfire eventually

[Rawcpoppa]

I have gotten EPC light with VCDS showing misfire in cylinder 1. Epc clears if I switch off and switch back on the engine. It's pretty interesting doing that at highway speeds.

[Pilot]

I got an EPC fault when I started up about 8 hours before I got a misfire

[Pilot]

Mine also misfired in cylinder one

[Lucas_R]

Slow death of a 118TSI

I share your pain. Seems like I have a faulty one as well. Similar symptoms minus the rough idle. Ended up getting a coilpack made by beru. Hopefully it cures my issues.

Lucas do you know if anyone has stats for the 118? In terms of failure rates? If lean is really an issue there should be a continuous stream of complaint threads I gather.

Penty of info in the Polo 6R section and also scattered through the Mk6 section. Countless Polo guys have had engine rebuilds to due pistons having holes in them (due to detonation from running too lean).

A local tuner (Recode) posted some info a few months ago about how lean they run (he was tuning one and took logs) and it was crazy lean. After i finish work, ill find some of the info and post back here.