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Is Detonation a Common Problem with the 2.0T Engine?

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Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ready to race!
I've had a 2013 mk6 GTI for two years (second owner).

Since I've had it I've noticed what appears to be detonation (aka: knock, pre-ignition) when the engine is under heavy load from 2000 to 3000 rpm. It sounds something like a rattlesnake or shaking some chains with your hand.

It also seems like the engine makes some adjustments in an attempt to stop the detonation, since the sound reduces in intensity after it first happens (or sometimes disappears entirely), but will then re-appear after a few minutes the next time I put the engine under heavy load again.

I have always used "Top Tier" premium gas - 92 Octane. Once I tried a tank of 94 octane and the detonation was maybe 50% better, but still noticeable.

Also the car has only 17,000 miles on it, so I would think carbon build-up shouldn't be an issue.

So my questions are:

Is detonation typically a problem with the 2.0T engines?

Does the 2.0T have detonation sensors and an ECU algorithm for preventing it?

If the engine is indeed experiencing detonation will there be error codes stored in the ECU indicating this?
 
F

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ready to race!
Maybe, but really I don't think so. The sound I am hearing is exactly like detonation, and occurs as soon as I step on the throttle in the lower rpms (2000-3000), like detonation does.

Do you know the TSB number? I have a subscription at AllDataDIY, but after a quick glance, I didn't see any TSBs related to the wastegate.
 
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Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ready to race!
Ok, I found the TSB about the waste gate rattle on AllDataDIY (#2024061). Actually now it's looking promising.

The TSB mentions that the rattle occurs at 1800-3000 rpm, which is the right range.

Also it states "Noise can typically be duplicated by driving up a moderate incline, beginning at 35 mph (56 kph) in 4th gear (manual or automatic transmission) and accelerating through the RPM range of 1800-3000 RPM under moderate to heavy throttle." This would also reproduce the sound I am hearing.

It sounds like detonation to me. But I have been wrong before and I might well be wrong on this as well.

15 more days left on warranty. I'll have the dealer check this. Thanks for mentioning it.
 
F

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ready to race!
Thanks. I took a look at several of these. The most similar to the noise I am hearing is this one:

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

If you listen at 4, 6 and 24 seconds of the video, the faint rattle sound at around 2,700-3,000 rpm is basically what I am hearing in my car.

Some of the videos show the sound happening during deceleration as well as acceleration. However, in my car it only occurs during acceleration.
 
F

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ready to race!
I thought I would wrap up this thread by reporting back about the resolution of the problem.

It appears it was indeed the wastegate rattle issue. I had the dealer do the repair as per the TSB about three weeks ago, and have driven the car around a few times since then. I haven't noticed the "rattling chains" sound at all during this time, so it seems that the problem is fixed and it was indeed the wastegate that was causing the sound.

First, it's a bit surprising that this issue even existed on my car. My car is MY 2013, and the 2.0 TSI engine came out in 2009 I believe (maybe even earlier in Europe). So I wonder why it took more than four years for the issue to be resolved and implemented in production. The Japanese would hare done better I feel.

Second, believe it or not the repair wasn't covered under warranty. According to the dealer the wastegate rattle is only covered under the new vehicle warranty (which had expired on my car), not the powertrain warranty. The powertrain warranty apparently only covers failures of major components, like if the crankshaft snapped or something. I thought they were jerking me around so I checked with a few other dealers and they told me the same thing.

So, overall I'm glad the problem wasn't detonation and the engine sounds great under load now. But I'm not impressed with VW's approach to the concept of standing behind your product. Because of this and other issues I've had with the car, it really seems like they have a culture of maximize profits without consideration of customer satisfaction.
 
B

BudgetPhoenix

Autocross Champion
Fyodor Dostoevsky said:
I thought I would wrap up this thread by reporting back about the resolution of the problem.

It appears it was indeed the wastegate rattle issue. I had the dealer do the repair as per the TSB about three weeks ago, and have driven the car around a few times since then. I haven't noticed the "rattling chains" sound at all during this time, so it seems that the problem is fixed and it was indeed the wastegate that was causing the sound.

First, it's a bit surprising that this issue even existed on my car. My car is MY 2013, and the 2.0 TSI engine came out in 2009 I believe (maybe even earlier in Europe). So I wonder why it took more than four years for the issue to be resolved and implemented in production. The Japanese would hare done better I feel.

Second, believe it or not the repair wasn't covered under warranty. According to the dealer the wastegate rattle is only covered under the new vehicle warranty (which had expired on my car), not the powertrain warranty. The powertrain warranty apparently only covers failures of major components, like if the crankshaft snapped or something. I thought they were jerking me around so I checked with a few other dealers and they told me the same thing.

So, overall I'm glad the problem wasn't detonation and the engine sounds great under load now. But I'm not impressed with VW's approach to the concept of standing behind your product. Because of this and other issues I've had with the car, it really seems like they have a culture of maximize profits without consideration of customer satisfaction.
Click to expand...


Is that a Canada thing? Many people have gotten new turbos under the powertrain warranty.
 
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