Rocket_Man Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Having covered only 20k miles since i had my nice new engine fitted (after the timing chain snapped) the car has started running badly and has now been diagnosed as having a lose timing chain. VW are quoting £1700 to change the chain and say my non-standard cams void any chance on warranty (the car is out of warranty by the new engine would have had warranty had it been standard). How much should this cost? My searches are throwing up prices around £1k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenny Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Who fitted the cams? If vw say they are a fault - get it in writing and get whoever fitted the cams fix it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket_Man Posted March 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Originally they were fitted by a trusted tuning company. When the engine died (350 miles from home) it went to the nearest VW dealer on a truck. I always suspected it was the faulty part that was fitted to some of the 3.2L engines and never doubted the work that was originally done. Anyway VW got a new engine block/head from VW UK and while it was in bits they put the cams from the old engine back into the new (as i was paying i requested this because the software map wouldn't like the stock cams and i didn't want the car back standard). At the time they said doing this would void the warranty that would normally come with the engine. Now the car is at my normal (local to home) dealer, and i'm well bent over a barrel (spine creaking). If i contact the original dealer they are just going to laugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I'm afraid that because you asked them to put the original cams in and they told you it would void the warranty and you asked them to do it anyway, you've got nothing to go back to them on. There should, however, be an ability to go back to them about the chain itself to get it replaced FOC, although this won't save you much. If you have the option, get the car to a local specialist. At least you then won't be paying through the nose for labour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenny Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Thats really bad... I cant see a timing chain costing £1k to fix?? Its not as though its snapped again.. Hope you get it sorted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 The whole engine has got to come out of the car (1/2 day) and be put back in (another 1/2 day), so that's £600 gone straightaway at VW dealer rates. Unfortunately it's not a straightforward job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decked Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Sorry to hear about this... (again!) How can this have happened? What part is faulty, it can't be the cams... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket_Man Posted March 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 [ QUOTE ] How can this have happened? What part is faulty, it can't be the cams... [/ QUOTE ] Not sure what's wrong this time. I guess i'll find out when they take it to bits (when i find out i'll post). All i know is, the running repair bill (my car is one thing after the other) would now have paid for a nice FT-xxx conversion. I wouldn't mind (so much) if i was driving it hard but it just sits on the motorway most of its life. Make sure you all have an extra enjoyable blast in yours whist i try to make my 1.4TDCI Polo move Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decked Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Please let us know. I haven't really heard of this happening too often but it's strange it's happened to you twice. Would be a good idea to get mine checked out, no doubt my chain's probably stretched! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocket_Man Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 I got the motor back on Friday and it's now running perfectly The problem was a stretched timing chain which was starting to put the timing out. Apparently VW dealers have a bulletin regarding the top chain (there are two) and it was this that was causing my running problems. The new chain that went on was different (and had a different part number) to the one that came off, so VW have not only acknowledged (although not publicly) this as a problem but they appear to have done something about it. I'm not sure how many cars there will be fitted with the same chain that I had. My car had a new engine fitted almost exactly 1 year ago and had only done 20k so this failed very quickly. Those of you that have had new engines in the last 1-2 years should watch out for the smoothness and power dropping off. If you have this problem please get it looked at before the chain jumps and destroys the engine. If someone has a good contact at VW it might be worth finding out if this affects just the IV or if it's V as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry52 Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 I put a thread on here a while ago about the chains, any dealer can now do a check on vagcom to see if your chain is stretched by measuring your cam angles. It cost me £20 to have mine checked. I still have the vagcom print out somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinA3 Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 does anyone know how to do a check on vag com for stretched timing chain issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 AFAIK, you can't. Welcome to Tyresmoke, by the way What's the problems you're experiencing with your car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry52 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 you worry me Mook when you say that, It was VW who sent me to have my timing chain checked. They said if the angle exceeds 8 degrees then your chain has stretched and needs changing. Mine were 4 degrees on inlet and 5 degrees on exhaust cam which they said was normal. Interestingly I'm having it checked again tomorrow as it has been over a year since the last check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Hence the "AFAIK", because the question was about VAG-COM (now known as VCDS). Different matter at a main dealer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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