At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!!

[Robby71]

Just out of interest - what years are affected by the chain problem on the 1.2tsi and is it still a problem on new cars? is it just the 1.2tsi or does it affect the 1.4act?

[wolfie]

wolfie - maybe have a look on the Skoda forum Fabia Mk2 section page 4 at the moment "1.2TSI chain problems" or something like that. The implication near the end of that thread is that VAG had concerns about being able to (cheaply) change the chain wheels so went for the "silly" option of designing a chain cover that would trap the chain if/when it tried to jump off. Once things had settled down or the tooling became available, VAG now know that they can replace the chain wheels and so have dropped the new chain cover. That thread is about a year old now, so who knows how far on this miserable mess has moved on.

Cheers that's quite informative, it's also quite scary as it looks far more involved than a simple chain and guide swap. I'm stunned the bottom pinion is just an interference fit. From what I've seen there it's a fair bit more involved than your average DIY motorist would be capable, Also the bottom pinion removal and press tool looks like it might be prohibitively expensive. I'm sure I've also read that new values need to be adapted in the ECU (though what they would be I have no idea) It also means you'd need access to VAG-com or other appropriate diagnostic gear.

I have seen that Youtube clip before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uht2ROfERuw

Just out of interest - what years are affected by the chain problem on the 1.2tsi and is it still a problem on new cars? is it just the 1.2tsi or does it affect the 1.4act?

As far as I'm aware this particular problem is confined to the 1.2TSI, CBZB engine codes. Early engines pre-second half of 2011 are worse affected.

[RUM4MO]

I have a Triumph Street triple R bike and have seen photos on forums of american bikes same as mine and they have canisters fitted as standard, UK bikes don't have them

Just another thought/maybe fact - in EU at least, it is currently only cars that get hit for "all" the emissions rules, even similar saloon derived vans get away with fewer emissions controls than their saloon version. Also motor bikes are also dealt with very lightly I think in EU. So that could answer your observation that your bike did not have an EVAP carbon can - but USA models did.

[BigDaveGti]

wolfie - maybe have a look on the Skoda forum Fabia Mk2 section page 4 at the moment "1.2TSI chain problems" or something like that. The implication near the end of that thread is that VAG had concerns about being able to (cheaply) change the chain wheels so went for the "silly" option of designing a chain cover that would trap the chain if/when it tried to jump off. Once things had settled down or the tooling became available, VAG now know that they can replace the chain wheels and so have dropped the new chain cover. That thread is about a year old now, so who knows how far on this miserable mess has moved on.

Cheers that's quite informative, it's also quite scary as it looks far more involved than a simple chain and guide swap. I'm stunned the bottom pinion is just an interference fit. From what I've seen there it's a fair bit more involved than your average DIY motorist would be capable, Also the bottom pinion removal and press tool looks like it might be prohibitively expensive. I'm sure I've also read that new values need to be adapted in the ECU (though what they would be I have no idea) It also means you'd need access to VAG-com or other appropriate diagnostic gear.

I have seen that Youtube clip before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uht2ROfERuw

Just out of interest - what years are affected by the chain problem on the 1.2tsi and is it still a problem on new cars? is it just the 1.2tsi or does it affect the 1.4act?

As far as I'm aware this particular problem is confined to the 1.2TSI, CBZB engine codes. Early engines pre-second half of 2011 are worse affected.

All of the new VW tsi engines are belt driven apart from the gti models

[wolfie]

All of the new VW tsi engines are belt driven apart from the gti models

I think they'd have better luck if they stuck to rubber bands and clockwork. Getting a cam chain to work properly seems beyond them. Worse still they have no qualms whatsoever in passing the buck and letting owners pick up the bill. No wonder they are reporting a $16 billion loss this year, if they fessed up to all quality issues of the past 10 years I doubt their profits would look so good.

[BigDaveGti]

All of the new VW tsi engines are belt driven apart from the gti models

I think they'd have better luck if they stuck to rubber bands and clockwork. Getting a cam chain to work properly seems beyond them. Worse still they have no qualms whatsoever in passing the buck and letting owners pick up the bill. No wonder they are reporting a $16 billion loss this year, if they fessed up to all quality issues of the past 10 years I doubt their profits would look so good.

True lol I've replaced a couple of the new 1.2tsibengines due the faulty adjuster already

[BigDaveGti]

Also the only ones I haven't seen goodwill on is the 1.2 polo and they're probably the most common ones that we do, there is also no TPI on these chains, but I suspect a lot of it is down to driving style and servicing to as to how long the chains last

[wolfie]

The goodwill is far too hit and miss for me. I agree some folk do drive like eejits and skip on the servicing but the majority take reasonable care of their vehicles. If there is a know fault VW should be picking up the bill in it's entirety. It shouldn't be down to luck as to whether they show any "good-will" or not.

Just look at the issues with the cam-chain on the early 1.2Tsi (like mine.. ) I doubt that there's a VAG forum in the UK or Europe hasn't got some poor soul picking up the tab to sort it because VW haven't held their hand up and sorted the effected vehicles. Yet instead of as minimum of checking the vehicles when they come in for a service, they choose to charge customers for the privilege of checking for there rubbish parts. At the moment VW really do deserve to be losing customers by the 1000.

[BigDaveGti]

The goodwill is far too hit and miss for me. I agree some folk do drive like eejits and skip on the servicing but the majority take reasonable care of their vehicles. If there is a know fault VW should be picking up the bill in it's entirety. It shouldn't be down to luck as to whether they show any "good-will" or not.

Just look at the issues with the cam-chain on the early 1.2Tsi (like mine.. ) I doubt that there's a VAG forum in the UK or Europe hasn't got some poor soul picking up the tab to sort it because VW haven't held their hand up and sorted the effected vehicles. Yet instead of as minimum of checking the vehicles when they come in for a service, they choose to charge customers for the privilege of checking for there rubbish parts. At the moment VW really do deserve to be losing customers by the 1000.

We tend to do goodwill on those as there's a TPI VW have made the criteria for good will a lot tighter since the emissions scandal though, they have even started rejecting warranty claims so that the garages are picking up the tabs

[RUM4MO]

Strangely, I think that the UK market is currently the VW market least affected by the bad press.
I like think to think that when I buy a product that I get what the company in its marketing bumf said I was getting, in VW they claimed reliability, integrity and company transparency - and lots more stuff that is never going to be able to be proven yeh or nay when put to the test. I can either be a company's best customer if I am being treated fairly, or I can attempt to be their worst enemy by telling all around me to avoid them if they or their appointed agents start to mess me about. That is not a threat, nor is it something that I'd do without making sure that I had done my damnest to stick to what a customer should be doing to keep things "good" when things went "bad".

I'm sorry to say, that I've said this before and I'll say this again, when you are buying a Polo, what you are really buying is a Skoda Fabia with smarter clothes, what is underneath will always be a Skoda Fabia and limited/plagued by having too much Skoda CZ approved factories/suppliers as part of the car.

I used to buy Ford Escort and Orion Ghias - but they were the same, in the end they were just Escorts and Orions with smarter clothes - there is a saying "you can't polish a turd" - I feel that until Polo can be removed from that "illness" of being connected to a Skoda product, it will always end up with too many potential issues for the place it put in the small car market.

[RUM4MO]

We tend to do goodwill on those as there's a TPI VW have made the criteria for good will a lot tighter since the emissions scandal though, they have even started rejecting warranty claims so that the garages are picking up the tabs

I seem to remember that there used to be a feeling that the selling dealer did retain a sum of money (from all car marques) to cover small nuisance issues that occurred within the warranty period, this no doubt allowed the car manufacturers the chance to leave these small nuisance issues off the recorded number of warranty claims - how true that is I do not know, but if it is/was it was a good reason to stick with the supplying dealer for as many of the warranty fixes as possible.

If VAG, because of their current monies flow problems are tightening the financial screws, then that should eventually hurt them, really a silly way to do things if they were being smart and only giving goodwill where it was due prior to this.

Edit:- remember that there are still some consumer products that yield huge profits for their maker, so they just give in to any and all claims to save face even if the customer is wrong and to blame, and replace FOC reported goods - that is not a good way to do business, though the ends justify the means in as much "they " are looked on as being a "good" supplier.

[wolfie]

Strangely, I think that the UK market is currently the VW market least affected by the bad press.
I like think to think that when I buy a product that I get what the company in its marketing bumf said I was getting, in VW they claimed reliability, integrity and company transparency - and lots more stuff that is never going to be able to be proven yeh or nay when put to the test. I can either be a company's best customer if I am being treated fairly, or I can attempt to be their worst enemy by telling all around me to avoid them if they or their appointed agents start to mess me about. That is not a threat, nor is it something that I'd do without making sure that I had done my damnest to stick to what a customer should be doing to keep things "good" when things went "bad".

I think that's a reasonable and pragmatic view. In many ways for almost 25 years I'd say I had fallen into VW's "best customer" group. I've driven VW after VW been happy with the build/quality and maybe because I don't do huge miles have been lucky enough to not have any major faults. Likewise because nothing major has cropped up have never really tested the customer service and the "back-up" that is promised in all the literature and advertising. I've enjoyed my dubs and thought they represented reasonable value for money.

Unfortunately I can feel myself slipping into the second category and becoming somewhat anti VW. If not anti, I see VW for what they are and not what they would have you believe, which is closer to Arthur Daley than a polished, glass palace of a showroom selling "premium vehicles" The build quality is no better than the industry average, customer service ranks amongst the worst. I'm sure there will be those that say much of that is down to the dealers so not entirely a "VW" Company issue. But they are the ones who had out the franchise agreements and turn a blind eye so long as profits are good.

A week has past since I emailed the customer service chap at my local dealer. Looks like it's too much trouble for him to reply. The "Mr angry" in me wants to tell him how rubbish he and his cars have become. The truth of it is I can't be bothered and will just buy something else next time and steer every man and his dog away from the brand.

The worst part is the "customer experience" has turned me into a sad moaner on a forum!! I want to be the the "This is how you do that" or "that's a great mod" and be posative and constructive not a grumpy sod.

[RUM4MO]

----------- The worst part is the "customer experience" has turned me into a sad moaner on a forum!! I want to be the the "This is how you do that" or "that's a great mod" and be posative and constructive not a grumpy sod.

True, same here, moaning is for weather and politics, ie abstract stuff - well maybe weather is not too abstract.

The relative positioning of VW in the UK car market I think is something that we have brought upon ourselves, I seem to remember that in mainland Europe, a Golf sits at the same level as a Focus or an Astra.

Problem as I chose to see it is, VW group, as a company seems to be well structured and has the ability to produce good value for money reliable cars, it is just that there does seem to be too many people in powerful positions making stupid mistakes or looking the other way - I'd think that all of that could be turned round.

As "we" won the last "fisticuffs" that we had with Germany, we should have grabbed VW and given Germany what became BMC - well maybe not, we would have destroyed what was VW!

Sometimes I find that that is part of the British "hate" of VW group products - and I don't mean us owner-moaners, is that "we could have done that" if BMC was not made to destroy itself successfully!

[andyfen]

Hi, new to this forum. I have a 1.2TSI 105 CBZB 2014 with 8K miles and in warranty. Took for 1st service complaining of hesitancy, stalling, lack of power and high fuel consumption.
Dealer found cylinder pressures were all below VAG minimum of10 bar and cylinder 3 is 7.3 bar - half the optimum of 15 bar published by VAG. Why is it always cylinder 3 thats worst affected??
Dealer I purchased from and VAG are not accepting there is a problem. Booked in at another dealer for 2nd opinion and further tests.
If the fault is cylinder blow-by, then this will apparently coke up the inlet tract and valves which apparently causes hesitancy and stalling - and Cat damage.

Does this engine suffer from the 'pistons breaking up' issue of earlier TSIs?
I have requested a new engine but from reading this forum it seems I need to prepare for a major battle. Such a shame that VAG adopts such a hostile aproach to its customers.

I had a strange event a while back - the engine running "tight" and very rough for 50 miles or so but seemed to recover somewhat after being left overnight. Could it have been petrol washing the oil off the bores causing a partial seize and wrecking the rings and bores? Could this account for my low cylinder pressures?

Is it true that the bores are ceramic coated so unlikely to wear or scratch?

I also have a battery issue. It will not charge up even on a charger for 48hrs. Had a MFD warning "Low Battery System Shut down" but dealer says nothing wrong and no fault codes.

My meter says 12.1V which is dangerously low - but no MFD message ATM.
Can't believe there were no fault codes - your views please?

[alexperkins]

12.1V with the engine off or on?