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Official Timing Chain Tensioner failure thread

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GreggGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
Hey guys. Long time lurker, here now with a question.
2012 GTI 2.0 TSI, tensioner blew up on me! I didn't expect it, but it's gone. Happened on shutdown and now won't start. I feel like it's bad, definitely jumped some links. It's been to two shops and both of them threw hands up. Weak! Now I'm bringing it to a foreign auto shop for a teardown and quote. I'm not sure if valves are bent or not.
My question:
I'm a decent shadetree mechanic ('79 VW bus restoration). I have seen a lot of used motors for sale about $2K+. If the shop is priced around that, is there anything stopping me from pulling the bad motor and putting in a new one myself? Are there any serious hang-ups to taking out the old one and putting in a new one? Would I need to replace the turbo or should the accessories still be trusted in light of the timing jump? I have a one-car garage and some available time coming up.
Thanks guys
 
D

Dans GTI

Ready to race!
GreggGTI said:
Hey guys. Long time lurker, here now with a question.
2012 GTI 2.0 TSI, tensioner blew up on me! I didn't expect it, but it's gone. Happened on shutdown and now won't start. I feel like it's bad, definitely jumped some links. It's been to two shops and both of them threw hands up. Weak! Now I'm bringing it to a foreign auto shop for a teardown and quote. I'm not sure if valves are bent or not.
My question:
I'm a decent shadetree mechanic ('79 VW bus restoration). I have seen a lot of used motors for sale about $2K+. If the shop is priced around that, is there anything stopping me from pulling the bad motor and putting in a new one myself? Are there any serious hang-ups to taking out the old one and putting in a new one? Would I need to replace the turbo or should the accessories still be trusted in light of the timing jump? I have a one-car garage and some available time coming up.
Thanks guys
Click to expand...

If you can get the new motor complete for $2k i'd do that if i were you. If you have the tools and ability to swap the motor yourself then you should do it, its a pretty simple car to work on.
 
nvturbo

nvturbo

Go Kart Champion
Got mine done (main timing chain, tensioner, guides, etc) the other day. Just have to go pick up the car tomorrow. If it wasn't such a PITA, I would have done the replacement myself and saved some $$$.
 
G

GreggGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
If you can get the new motor complete for $2k i'd do that if i were you. If you have the tools and ability to swap the motor yourself then you should do it, its a pretty simple car to work on.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. I have a set of tools, but it's mostly average equipment. Nothing extravagant. An engine hoist, jacks and socket sets. Like you said, it's simple to work on. If it's a 'take out the old one, put he new one back in' plug and play job, I'm not scared at all. I intend to get one with accessories already onboard.
I've seen the list of compatible 2.0t engines from other cars, are there any absolute deal-breakers? Like I said, I need a plug and play option. I plan to use the existing ECU, will all sensors be the same?
Thanks a lot
 
nvturbo

nvturbo

Go Kart Champion
It's a bit more involved than you think. I've done all types of work from suspension to internal parts replacement to motor swaps and I didn't want to tackle the job. It's not the end of the world difficult but it isn't easy either.
 
artemk93

artemk93

Ready to race!
Need opinions
Car is a 2012 at 67K miles. A local reputable shop checked and told me that I have an updated tensioner. I have also checked chain stretch through vagcom and got -3.0, which I believe is within the norm (-4,4). I am still worried about the tensioner failing.
Should I just get a new tensioner, and install it myself
or
should I get new chains, guides, etc and update everything?

There're couple DIYs for the tensioner update, it looks very doable, but I haven't seen any chain update DIYs, and don't know how complicated it is
 
D

Dans GTI

Ready to race!
artemk93 said:
Need opinions
Car is a 2012 at 67K miles. A local reputable shop checked and told me that I have an updated tensioner. I have also checked chain stretch through vagcom and got -3.0, which I believe is within the norm (-4,4). I am still worried about the tensioner failing.
Should I just get a new tensioner, and install it myself
or
should I get new chains, guides, etc and update everything?

There're couple DIYs for the tensioner update, it looks very doable, but I haven't seen any chain update DIYs, and don't know how complicated it is
Click to expand...

So, you have a updated tensioner and your chain isn’t stretched, and your car has relatively low miles. Why in the world would you want to waste money on replacing parts that don’t need replacing?
 
artemk93

artemk93

Ready to race!
Dans GTI said:
So, you have a updated tensioner and your chain isn’t stretched, and your car has relatively low miles. Why in the world would you want to waste money on replacing parts that don’t need replacing?
Click to expand...
probably once a month on startup I can hear the rattle. I can never duplicate it, seems to happen on random. While chain is within norm, it will probably be out of norm before I hit 100k.
I am just trying to do some preventative maintenance, instead of waiting for everything to break.
 
D

Dans GTI

Ready to race!
artemk93 said:
probably once a month on startup I can hear the rattle. I can never duplicate it, seems to happen on random. While chain is within norm, it will probably be out of norm before I hit 100k.
I am just trying to do some preventative maintenance, instead of waiting for everything to break.
Click to expand...

I doubt your hearing timing chain rattle at 67k miles. Your chain obviously is not stretched. Maybe your hearing something else?
 
artemk93

artemk93

Ready to race!
Dans GTI said:
I doubt your hearing timing chain rattle at 67k miles. Your chain obviously is not stretched. Maybe your hearing something else?
Click to expand...
Sounds exactly like videos online, only on startup for a second or two. It never happens on cold engine, happens only when the car has been sitting for couple hours, so tge engine is slightly warm.
I have been reading this thread for a while, and my symptoms seem to be consistent with what others have reported

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 
realcyberbob

realcyberbob

Go Kart Champion
How can you check the stretch with vagcom?
 
realcyberbob

realcyberbob

Go Kart Champion
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