TSI timing chain

[EricVanDynamite]

Evening folks
I wondered if anyone here had had the timing chain replaced on their TSI.
It’s hard to find reliable stuff about intervals , just says they are prone to stretch or weak tensioners.

Has anyone got any advice? Or had it done and knows the price?
We are approaching 134,000 the van came with a good history and no signs or symptoms so far, touch wood.

 

[Sasquatch]

There's likely no official replacement interval as theyre supposed to be a lifetime fitment.

 

[EricVanDynamite]

Gotcha. But original design tensioners are prone to fail? So change it as a precautionary measure, or pray to the motor gods and wait for rattling and change immediately I guess?

Has anyone here needed to change theirs?

 

[Paynewright]

They’re quite rare in transporters - is the engine in other VW group vehicles?

 

[EricVanDynamite]

It’s an EA888 gen 2 from a mk5/6 golf got -

“while often marketed as "lifetime," the original tensioners were a weak point, leading to potential slack, noise (rattling), and severe engine damage if they failed. Replacement is critical, usually involving a full kit (chain, guides, tensioner, seals) with costs varying widely but often £500-£1500+ for parts and labour, with uprated tensioners recommended for reliability, and intervals sometimes suggested around 80-120k miles or 10 years, though this varies”


But ideally looking for any real world experiences here. Will give Oli and Simon at Bognor a call I think.
.

 

[phazer]

It's possible to check chain stretch on the Gen 3 EA888 with VCDS, not certain if you can on these but worth a look to see if the chain is still within tolerance

 

[EricVanDynamite]

Great tip! Thank you.

 

[EricVanDynamite]

Done a bit of digging

“go into advanced measurement options and choose locations
IDE00178, 179,182

it will tell you specified cam , actual cam and how many degrees are being compensated for, anything above 6 is replacement, anything above 7 is a time bomb.”

And

It’s in for a service, Milltek exhaust and summer wheels at Bognor in a couple of weeks so will ask them to plug in and see what’s what.

 

[Shaun Witts]

Done a bit of digging

“go into advanced measurement options and choose locations
IDE00178, 179,182

it will tell you specified cam , actual cam and how many degrees are being compensated for, anything above 6 is replacement, anything above 7 is a time bomb.”

And

It’s in for a service, Milltek exhaust and summer wheels at Bognor in a couple of weeks so will ask them to plug in and see what’s what.

Good to know. Have made a note for reference to check next time I plug VCDS in. But I’ve only done 70k so far, so should be OK.