Scirocco 1.4 TSI 160 - Timing Chain Problem

[carlcrossman]

Hello,

I bought this car in April 2016 from Arnold Clark and I had the service done FOC at Arnold Clark on 12th November, all was fine according to them. On the 23rd November the car started to run extremely rough so I rang Arnold Clark and booked it in for the 13th November. On the morning of 13th November when i was due to take it to them the car wouldn't start so i rang Arnold Clark and asked if they could do anything to help me get it in. They said they do not have a recovery service and gave me a number for a recovery service which i had to pay £50 to get it to Arnold Clark.

Anyway, on the 19th November they called me and told me that the timing was out and the timing chain has jumped, the pistons have hit the valves and the engine has low compression. I have been reading this forum looking for answers to this problem and i noticed many people mentioning the rattling noise upon starting the car which leads to the above problem!

I took the below video of my car starting up and you can hear the rattling sound, could this be the problem? Why I am asking is that this video was taken 3 weeks after I bought the car and I believe the car was sold to me like this! When I bought the car the sales rep tried to up sell 2 years warranty on the car however the system would not let him.. Could this be because they knew the car was on the way out?

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If anybody could help me on this issue I would be grateful as I am going to be given a big bill which I don't believe I should have to pay as the car was sold to me like this by Arnold Clark!

Thanks

[Cuprabob]

Sorry to hear about your woes, both from a car point of view as well as the fact you are dealing with Arnold Clark.

I would start talking to VW Customer Services explaining the situation to them emphasising the FVWSH and your disappointment of such a major failure on a car of this age and mileage.

As bad as Arnold Clark are, it's unlikely they would know there was an issue with the car and as such not sell a warranty. The warranty is just an insurance policy and it's in there interests to sell the warranty as it reimburses them if there is any issue.

Hope it works out with the minimum impact on your wallet

[carlcrossman]

Sorry to hear about your woes, both from a car point of view as well as the fact you are dealing with Arnold Clark.

I would start talking to VW Customer Services explaining the situation to them emphasising the FVWSH and your disappointment of such a major failure on a car of this age and mileage.

As bad as Arnold Clark are, it's unlikely they would know there was an issue with the car and as such not sell a warranty. The warranty is just an insurance policy and it's in there interests to sell the warranty as it reimburses them if there is any issue.

Hope it works out with the minimum impact on your wallet

I will try to contact VW Customer Service and explain what has happened. I have only had the car 8 months, I am going to look at Trading Standards and Citizens Advice to see what options I have.

The car is a 60 reg with 70k miles

[blower]

Unfortunately that really does sound like the loose chain rattle, which is not to be confused with a similar sound when the camshaft adjuster is sticking.
This will be caused by a failing or gummed up chain tensioner.

You do have evidence to show the car was faulty at the time of purchase - stand your ground as you have the legal right for them to repair the car, with no cost to yourself.

[carlcrossman]

Unfortunately that really does sound like the loose chain rattle, which is not to be confused with a similar sound when the camshaft adjuster is sticking.
This will be caused by a failing or gummed up chain tensioner.

You do have evidence to show the car was faulty at the time of purchase - stand your ground as you have the legal right for them to repair the car, with no cost to yourself.

So you do think this is evidence that the car was faulty when purchased? I need to build up a strong case against them or they will try and shoot me down.

Thanks for your help!

[blower]

Yes it is evidence - its not the strongest but you can point to forum posts, Youtube video's and there is a VW TSB (technical service bulletin) for this, but its hard to find...you maybe able to get VW themselves to give you information if you push hard enough.

That rattle is certainly a loose chain rattle and not anything else - having rebuilt and reverse engineered this entire engine and all its ancillaries myself, I know all its characteristics.

The car was faulty at the time of purchase - the chain tensioner was failing/failed. They are liable, just have to prove it - if you stand your ground enough, threaten legal action (small claims court), they will probably back down and fix it. Just don't accept any part payment nonsense.

[carlcrossman]

Yes it is evidence - its not the strongest but you can point to forum posts, Youtube video's and there is a VW TSB (technical service bulletin) for this, but its hard to find...you maybe able to get VW themselves to give you information if you push hard enough.

That rattle is certainly a loose chain rattle and not anything else - having rebuilt and reverse engineered this entire engine and all its ancillaries myself, I know all its characteristics.

The car was faulty at the time of purchase - the chain tensioner was failing/failed. They are liable, just have to prove it - if you stand your ground enough, threaten legal action (small claims court), they will probably back down and fix it. Just don't accept any part payment nonsense.

Great news, many thanks for your help! I will certainly take this up and look to get more advice. Not sure if Trading Standards are open today so I will ring them tomorrow and get their advice on this.

Arnold Clark are ringing me tomorrow with the cost it will be to repair the car.

[blower]

I did a post here on all the wonderful startup sounds the 1.4 TSI can have....you will notice yours sounds similar to the second video:

http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 25&t=20760" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[carlcrossman]

I did a post here on all the wonderful startup sounds the 1.4 TSI can have....you will notice yours sounds similar to the second video:

http://www.sciroccocentral.co.uk/forum/ ... 25&t=20760" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, i have watched that video before actually and related it to my car. Definitely sounds like that. I'm not too sure how to go about this with Arnold Clark, am i meant to just show them the video and explain this was 3 weeks after I bought the car and the rattling is there? And that I did not report this fault as I am not a mechanic and thought it was normal until reading forums posts etc.