Author Topic: Timing Chain tensioner Failure List (timing issue)- Please Update with Your Info  (Read 361599 times)

Offline seabrook132

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Got mine done at Quattro-Tech. It took them a bit longer than expected as they found the engine had already been touched in that area and was missing several bolts and washers. Bit worrying, but the engine is still going fine so good to know that's been sorted now.

Overall £800 all in for labour plus timing chain, tensioner, guides, gasket, timing case, sealant and all the extra bolts (9 in total).

I really like Quattro-Tech. Lucky to have them in my new home town!

Good to hear it and very lucky to have them so close too! I travel from St Neots to go there so a bit of a journey but the service makes up for it!

2011 GTI DSG 5dr, Tornado Red, 18" Monza Shadows, Heated Leather, RNS-510, MDI, Bilstein B16 PSS10 Coilovers, Ohlins DCC Cancellation Kit, Audi TT-RS Front Top Mounts, Whiteline 24mm Rear ARB, Michelin Pilot Sport 4, 034 Motorsports Street Density Engine and Gearbox Mounts, Audi R8 Red Coil Packs, NGK BKR7EIX, Millers 5W-40 Nanodrive

Offline ramrod

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recently bought a 2011 mk6 gti 68k on the clock and im on page 15 of this thread & pretty much sh!tting my pants right now :undecided: :cry:

going to be listening to the cold start this morning very carefully.  thanks for the youtube uploads & info in this thread, pretty sure VW will do nothing for me considering the age of the car now :rolleyes: FML

edit2add after reading all 72 pages i am now halfway through my lockdown stash of toilet rolls & considering selling the car, only put about 500miles on it if that :whistle:
« Last Edit: 25 July 2020, 09:57 by ramrod »
Mk6 Gti - current daily
Mk3 16v Anni - retired daily now parked on 200,300 miles

Offline Borbus

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I was in the same position as you so I know how you feel. Best thing is to internalise the fact it's going to cost you around £800 to change. So decide if you want to keep the car or not, at that price.

If you do then find a good independent specialist who is aware of the problem. Many so-called VW specialists won't be aware of it and will think you're crazy for wanting to change your timing chain for no reason. My advice is just to try to explain it's a known weak point on the car and you want to do preventative maintenance but if they really have no clue then find somewhere else.

On the bright side at least it's a valuable lesson for us to always research a car thoroughly before buying, even if it's something as standard as a VW Golf.
2010 Mk6 GTI

Offline ramrod

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I was in the same position as you so I know how you feel. Best thing is to internalise the fact it's going to cost you around £800 to change. So decide if you want to keep the car or not, at that price.

If you do then find a good independent specialist who is aware of the problem. Many so-called VW specialists won't be aware of it and will think you're crazy for wanting to change your timing chain for no reason. My advice is just to try to explain it's a known weak point on the car and you want to do preventative maintenance but if they really have no clue then find somewhere else.

On the bright side at least it's a valuable lesson for us to always research a car thoroughly before buying, even if it's something as standard as a VW Golf.

hey thanks for the reply, its a lonely place in mk6 section and i am quickly realising why!

! yeah been quoted £800 for the chain & tensioner and i got a noisy throw out bearing so that another £950 for a clutch...if i pay that im going to drive it into the ground  :evil: got 200,400 miles on the clock of my mk3 16v anni which has been my daily driver for 10yrs lol

cold start this morning i think i heard a noise for half a second but not sure...so going to video the cold start once a week ti see if there is any change in sound, apart from that drives lovely & am waiting for an obdeleven dongle so see what coding can be done, saw a youtube video where you change the driver profile to audi and effectively get a poor mans remap but that was on a mk7 R...so not sure if it would make any difference to mine
Mk6 Gti - current daily
Mk3 16v Anni - retired daily now parked on 200,300 miles

Offline ramrod

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Got a obdeleven dongle and took my timing chain reading... I think I’m ok for now? Or should it be changed??

when i rev the engine the phase bank 1 reading changes which i assume indicates play in the chain?

edit to add quote for the chain is £940 worst case scenario, the tensioner is a half hour job & upon visual inspection the chain may not need changing but wont know till its in the hands of the garage :cry:


« Last Edit: 31 July 2020, 15:10 by ramrod »
Mk6 Gti - current daily
Mk3 16v Anni - retired daily now parked on 200,300 miles

Offline Borbus

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i got a noisy throw out bearing so that another £950 for a clutch...
I have a noisy throw out bearing too. I just decided to put up with it. If the clutch fails completely I'll change it. It's not like it will take anything else with it. From what I've read most just put up with it and it rarely leads to clutch failure.

The clutch is now my least favourite part of the car, though. Apart from the noise it just doesn't feel very good. I don't know if this is normal, though. I had a Honda before which had a lovely clutch, but Honda transmissions are the best in the world so who knows.

Got a obdeleven dongle and took my timing chain reading... I think I’m ok for now? Or should it be changed??
Really hard to say, I'm afraid, mate. OBDEleven can tell you if you definitely need to change your chain and tensioner right now, ie. if it's reading over 5 degrees (some say anything over 4-4.5). In that case you're definitely at risk of a jump and your engine going out of time. But it can't tell you that you're OK. If you're on the early tensioner versions it could still fail at any time.

I would shop around a bit if you can given the £940 quote, though. You should be able to get the whole thing done with new chains, tensioner, guides, timing case etc. for around £800. It's still a lot of money, though. Just have to ask yourself if you like the car enough to sink the money. You could probably sell it and get a FN2 Type-R for similar money and it won't have these problems. But you have to weigh up the stress of buying/selling and consider if the Mk6 is worth more to you than a Type-R.

It does get better, but you're going to have to fork out if you want to keep the Mk6 I'm afraid!
2010 Mk6 GTI

Offline ramrod

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yes you are right, i should just put up with the noise, clutch doesnt slip at all although pedal is a bit squeeky otherwise seems fine, not sure about the clutch on a honda, never driven one! i have noticed if i rev the engine and slip the clutch a little the noise isnt there lol

in regards to the tensioner im going to get the garage to check its the latest revision & go from there, im looking to keep the mk6 for atleast a year then upgrading to mk7.5 hopefully
Mk6 Gti - current daily
Mk3 16v Anni - retired daily now parked on 200,300 miles

Offline Snoopy

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Look at the sticker on the top of the engine. It will have the build date of the engine. From that you can workout what tensioner version you have.  (With ref to my post on page 1)

Sorry about the number of pages on this thread.  I did ask originally this was kept as a reference thread and individual cases be delt with as seperate threads. But no one listened and this turned into a Q&A and general babble chat thread. It's why the list on page one stopped being updated. The amount of drivel i had to search through to find info to update it i simply gave up as it was taking far far too many hours of my time.
« Last Edit: 02 August 2020, 08:09 by Snoopy »
Mk6 GTI  &  Mk1 GTI 
34 years of GTI ownership.

Offline ramrod

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Hi Snoopy

I actually read all 72 pages :nerd: my build date is december 2010 but want confirmation the tensioner is the latest revision, happy to pay the £300 to have it changed if not. decided im going to upgrade to mk7.5 in a years time when ive saved the funds to change over

cheers for this thread
Mk6 Gti - current daily
Mk3 16v Anni - retired daily now parked on 200,300 miles

Offline Jontadek92

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Hey all,

I'm gutted that I didn't read this thread earlier, but my 2010 Gti @ 75k has just had suffered the same fate. I had the tensioner, chain, guides etc changed hoping it would be no damage. No compression on any cylinder, now the head needs to come off and inspect whats happened. Still in disbelief  :sad: