Catastrophic Piston Failure 2.0t TSI Engine ~ Walkthrough and Diagnosis

This 2.0t TSI Volkswagen GTI engine had catastrophic piston failure on cylinder 2. In this video we walk step by step on a quick diagnosis for bottom end engine damage. We will also remove the 2.0t TSI engine from the GTI for engine teardown and inspection of the piston and the cylinder wall to see what the proper repair is going to be. #humblemechanic #vw #GTI
~~~~ Support the Show ~~~~
Become A CrewMember ~ goo.gl/D7eROI
Patreon ~ www.patreon.co...
Shop Amazon ~ amzn.to/2FQErAm
Audio ONLY Podcasts ~ goo.gl/5XcZxB
~~~~ Recommended Tools ~~~~
Impact driver ~ amzn.to/2HsxS2H
Small Impact driver ~ amzn.to/2DZdsMN
Electric ratchet ~ amzn.to/2FydxMS
Magnetic tray ~ amzn.to/2FEpQ6g
Basic hand tools ~ amzn.to/2GnjF7K
Box wrench set ~ amzn.to/2FzoJch
ScrewDriver set ~ amzn.to/2FEjcgd
Shop towels ~ amzn.to/2FC7UgM
Allen Sockets ~ amzn.to/2GlcnAz
Torx Sockets ~ amzn.to/2pL0SfL
Nitrile Gloves ~ amzn.to/2GTsasZ
~~~~ Playlists ~~~~
Humble Mechanic Podcasts ~ • The Humble Mechanic Po...
Project White Wookie ~ • MK3 VR6 GTI Project Car
Failed VW parts videos ~ • How VW Parts Fail
Tool and Product Reviews ~ • Tool and Product Reviews
How To videos ~ • How To Fix Your Car
MK1 VR6 Swap Videos ~ • VR6 Engine Swap MK1 Ca...
~~~~ Be sure to follow me at ~~~~
humblemechanic.com
INSTAGRAM ~ / humblemechanic
FACEBOOK ~ / humblemechanic
TWITTER ~ / humblemechanic
Amazon Store ~ www.amazon.com...

[@Poorschedriver]

Subaru EJ25 - "I am the king of ringland failures" VW EA888 - 'Hold my beer"

[@HumbleMechanic]

Hahahahahhaha

[@MeltingRubberZ28]

Probably had a lot detonation... would happen on any motor

[@desertsoldier41]

Does not look like detonation, looks like a ring lubrication issue.

[@dragospahontu]

@@MeltingRubberZ28 the Subaru is worse

[@aaronblankenship1741]

You can destroy any motor in any vehicle if the tuning is not applied correctly. Mistakes can easily be made from selecting the wrong octane file, meaning you pumped 89 octane fuel into the tank (maybe on purpose or accident) but your flashed to a 93 octane is required map, etc. This scenario can cause catastrophic knock/detonation events if the ECU does not pull timing or enough timing to save the motor. Also, what can cause this is the end-user simply selecting a map that absolutely requires supporting mods like an intake, aftermarket downpipe, upgraded front mount intercooler, etc. Who then chooses to not do so and runs that "Stage 3" map on a bone stock car. Yea these and other mistakes will doom any motor when you start playing with tuning and don't know what you are doing. My personal experience with the older version of this very GTI motor when tuned and taken care of correctly has been a great experience with zero issues. Everyone has their own experience I guess and I'm sure some factory parts do fail for reasons that don't seem right or fair but to say "TSI motors suck", ehh not so much.

[@MrBadBoyob]

Seen this in a few engines now, here in Europe, In fact, ALL TSI engines do this. Oil rings get clogged up on Carbon then break of the lower part of the piston." manufacturer" design fault on pistons.

[@Shaftexx]

I have a 2017 GLI with the TSI 2.0 engine. Howlong do I have left? hahahahahaha

[@hondatrix]

@@Shaftexx 3 years max...lol

[@dickard8275]

Helifreak NOR I have 140,000kms on my 2014 Golf R without issue and it is highly tuned.

[@olegknowsbest4971]

True, I have seen so many bad tsi's come by that I won't buy vw anymore...

[@apexseal2811]

Not really for all TSI if I'm not mistaken. 2013.5+ (Gen. 3) don't tend to have these issues quite as much as the Gen. 2. Apparently Volkswagen decided in order to reduce fuel consumption they needed to reduce friction inside the cylinders, hence they used thinner piston rings. Up about 80-100,000km these wear out (as you said, specifically the oil control ring which gets clogged up) and causes excessive blow by because the rings cannot deal the combustion chamber properly. Extremely high oil consumption (1qt per full fuel tank), loss of power and maybe higher fuel consumption are common symptoms. Charles pointed out this issue was more common in longitudinally mounted engines than in transversal ones, more common in Audis yet also in some Passat, Jetta, Tiguan and Golf. He can probably explain with far more details and specific models affected for sure.

[@acefighterpilot]

No wonder you got this done so quickly, ChrisFix appeared at 4:30.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Also the fact I’ve been working on these forever. Also, also Ricky is an ace vw tech too. Lol

[@acefighterpilot]

@@HumbleMechanic I don't know, have you seen how well ChrisFix can clean a car in only five minutes with just soapy wooder? I think it was all him really.

[@Syncopia]

He just sounded very similar to chrisfix at that point 😂

[@PMitchell106]

"HEY GUYS!..." 😂

[@TheDragonDelasangre]

I have an APR stage 1 and DSG tuned with just an intake on my 2016 GTI. Been tuned it's whole life, 50k worth. No problems yet. But this stuff does worry me slightly. Would love an update if you learn more and when you put it back together!

[@svenschwingel8632]

Change your oil and filter really regularly (at least every 7500 miles) and - if you use your engine power regularly - don't use that 5W30 oil with the VW 50400/50700 spec on a tuned engine. Go for a 0W40 or a 5W40/5W50 instead that meets the VW 50200 and the MB 229.5 spec. Also, always warm up the engine and cool down the turbo after running at higher speed. High-Octane premium fuel might also help keeping the injectors clean. Because when they start to lose their spray pattern, they will start to wash off oil from the upper cylinder wall.

[@user-vo3ku2sf2d]

@@svenschwingel8632 good god, change it every 4000 miles at MOST. What kind of advise are you giving.

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@user-vo3ku2sf2d over here in Europe, Volkswagen advertises 20k miles drain intervals when using engine oil according to the VW50400/50700 standard. The drain interval drops to 10k when using any other approved engine oil that does not fulfill the 50400/50700 standard. I used 50400/50700, drained every 7.5-10k and my engine was still running strong after 150k miles without any noticeable oil consumption. IMO, a 4k drain interval is a waste of money unless you operate your vehicle under extreme conditions like lots of short-trip city driving or racetrack driving - which would most probably justify changing the oil after a track session anyway.

[@clubsportf56s48]

It will happen anyway.. i change my oil regularly with LM 5w40, only premium fuel... 85 000miles and piston °2 no compression. Bmw B48 engine. These modern GDI engines are the problem

[@wadenorton35]

i have a 2011 Golf 6 GTI tuned stage 2 for 4 years had the car for 5. Accelerator is on on off switch and ive never had an issue. I baby it when its at home and maintain it well. Never had an issu in 170 000km

[@theboz6687]

“I like to start with the piston I have the issue with, that way I start with the one that has the issue.” Indeed.

[@HumbleMechanic]

It seems silly to have to say, lol

[@gunterification]

I have a 182000km 2014 golf 7 R manual and no issues whatsoever. Only thing that needed to be changed was the waterpump one year ago. Car has been driven hard on the autobahn (lot of vmax) over the years.

[@phatchoonz1]

Just finishing up a rebuild of a 2012 Audi TT 2.0TSI with valvelift, with exactly this failure on cylinder 4. Only 39,000 miles on it, regularly serviced, DSG box, never tuned and owned by older lady customer from new, so highly doubting it’s been abused! I’m still shocked at the list of ‘common’ failures these engines seem to suffer, lots of which have serious price tags attached once out of warranty! Thanks humblemechanic - couldn’t have posted this teardown at a more appropriate time for me!

[@christianteran]

Hi, i have the same issue with my golf. Do you think that it is a good idea to fix it? The mechanic said that it might cost $5-$7k and he can give me 2 years warranty. At this stage, the car runs fine (not smoke or funny noises). Not sure if I should fix it as what they quoted is almost the price of the car.

[@kdoran709]

won’t have to worry about this in my R. Those tsi’s are built for much more strength

[@adamspencer95]

engine out in a little over an hour? someone must have a dozen elves working behind the camera...

[@blockbertus]

I bet he had to do that quite a few times in his old job. These engines are really bad and have a lot of problems which, a lot of times, require a engine teardown.

[@HumbleMechanic]

LOL This is what happens when 2 VW techs tag team the job and get it done. :) Ricky has had more of these out than I have .

[@agenericaccount3935]

Just two motivated VAG gnomes

[@CJBMAGGOT94]

Pulled a VR from a MK3 GTI under 1 and a half hours by myself.

[@alexhatcher8812]

pulling a small engine with a friend or self is easy. especially if you've done it once+ and know the tricks to make stuff simpler.

[@djustan3373]

I have same engine on a Jetta with 100k miles stage 1 apr since day one. No issues. Air intake and cat back exhaust step colder plugs.

[@daviscc65]

Hey! I figured out what my 2006 gli noise at startup was. Bad alternator 😆. I always think the worst. Vw dealership was still wrong.

[@daviscc65]

Great video btw!

[@olegknowsbest4971]

Ofcourse they were...

[@GForceConnections]

Thank you for the informative video. I appreciate the simplicity yet detailed process you walked us through.

[@chrishernandez2490]

You can tell at 4:29 Charles is getting his "Chrisfix" on

[@lancelotkillz]

Lol yesss

[@davidut55]

A spider came out of the oil pan at 5.35. Guess he was living in there the whole time.

[@LynxStarAuto]

I finally got a Gen III TSI with a dead miss and found the same problem Charles. Looks like VW went with new pistons on these that do not take well to mods like the Gen II's do. For ppl calling these engines junk, I have seen TSI's handle more abuse, and more neglect from some of the dumbest owners known in the industry. I have profound respect for these motors.

[@dragospahontu]

Yeah but it's a bad design really. I'd stick to a Honda Civic

[@ferrumignis]

@@dragospahontu _"Yeah but it's a bad design really."_ What's a bad design, specifically?

[@samspezza8328]

Lucky the 100 shot of NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake. Now me and the mad scientist have to rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried.

[@taiwilson8966]

except NOS wasnt a factor......lol

[@samspezza8328]

@@taiwilson8966 clearly the joke went way over your head.

[@taiwilson8966]

@@samspezza8328 actually joke is being continued that it didnt need nos to blow up

[@infidel24]

Man, I wish I lived close to you. I'd bring my old touareg in for you to work on. I'm running out of patience with it...lol

[@dorkultra]

i pulled my JB4 from my 7.5 R. Recently got a TVS TCU tune and it's the best thing I've done to date, responsiveness is dialed in exactly how I want it. TVS claims the TCU tune is stealth, but I'm not worried that much because they are true experts in TCU tuning. Also helps that it increases the clamping pressure and changes the shift points so that it doesn't bog down the engine and destroy the fly wheel

[@ikarovibritania8432]

MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS PLEASE !!. AMAZING JOB . THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@ismarmeskovic]

Like that direct old school approach.Mechanical old fashioned proven compression test.Straight to the piont

[@HumbleMechanic]

Thanks.

[@ismarmeskovic]

@@HumbleMechanic Could be leaky injector,cylinder washed out or crank bearing/lubrication issue?

[@CatonsvilleCentralRwy]

Just bought an Audi A3 with the 2.0 TFSI. Gosh man you’re scaring the living crap out of me lol

[@CatonsvilleCentralRwy]

Hitman naw it’s the same gen 3 EA888. Audi calls it TFSI, VW calls it TSI. Same engine. The car is a 2015

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@CatonsvilleCentralRwy change the oil every 5k miles on that Triple-Eight. There is a design flaw with the pistons which wasn't fixed until 2017 (at least over here in Germany). The boreholes above the oil collector ring which should transport oil from the cylinder wall through the piston back into the oil sump are too small in diameter and can potentially suffer from clogging due to carbon deposits and oil sludge if the car ran on the 15k-20k oil service cycle. When these clog up, you will notice severe oil consumption.

[@CatonsvilleCentralRwy]

@@svenschwingel8632 Well fortunately I was planning on 4-5K Liqui-Moly oil changes. So far over 3K miles the oil level has not dropped the slightest bit from the max mark. Is this something you think somewhat regular "Italian Tuneups" to burn off the carbon buildup in the combustion chamber could help with? Lol typical VAG product where the harder you drive it the longer it lasts.

[@svenschwingel8632]

@@CatonsvilleCentralRwy every once in a while, I would recommend to put the engine under a prolonged load period. Those TSI engines don't really like to be lugged along all the time. And I would also try out different oil brands. Not saying that Liqui Moly is bad, but I had better experiences with other brands.

[@CatonsvilleCentralRwy]

@@svenschwingel8632 I definitely drive it aggressively on a fairly regular basis, so should be good there. What oil brands do you recommend?

[@jackking5567]

UK here. There is indeed a common issue with TSI engines - look at the 1.4 engine and it's very common. With the 1.4 TSI engine it's said that the piston rings just cannot cope with the whole engine set-up. Literally piston rings wearing out at 80k miles. Interesting video and showing the problem first hand. It's another reason for me not to buy a petrol! I currently drive the GTD.

[@indahooddererste]

Not only the TSI engines. I had the 75hp 1.4 16v Golf 4. Rumors say it was the worse engine VW ever produced. The Piston Rings were too small let compression through and burned a lot of oil especially at the autobahn. On the Piston Rings was building a lot of coal which damaged the pistons. Even though with proper maintenance. But i have to admit in 3 years it never let me down.

[@gravemind6536]

@@indahooddererste I've always thought VW were better with their Diesel engines, I prefer Toyot or Honda if I am having a petrol engine.

[@indahooddererste]

@@gravemind6536 i dont do long distance runs. diesels are taxed pretty high in germany but cheaper on refueling but not much anymore. Also u have a problem to keep up with the emission limits. they ban u from cities if your dieseln isnt so clean anymore. i usually take a downsized petrol engine doin 10 thousand kilometres per year. i looked after toyotas actually the hybrid ones are pretty cheap with some extras but they look weird.

[@mattmgarza]

The piston ring was in the oil pan? Wow.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Pretty cool huh

[@TubesWidener]

Hahaha, so the oil pan has another new function by VW! As a trash can for engine pistons, that is hilarious. I am beginning to be realy worried about my wife bran new Passat B8 2018 ea211 tsi european version

[@radumilici8157]

@@HumbleMechanic Hi. I have a problem with a 1.8 tsi engine CDA. At idle i have low pressure, under 1000 rpm i have 0.6 bar, but when i accelerate over 1000 rpm preasure is good. I switch OIl pomp, but stil low pressure at idle....can you help me ?

[@stealthg35infiniti94]

@@HumbleMechanic So you said "Tune" maybe probable cause, what parameter of the Tune may have cause the Fail? Too lean? Detonation?

[@Samp-xe7yy]

I'm have a serious oil leak and codes . P0100 p0300 p0303 p0304 p2293 come up and a serious misfire have you any direction you can point me in please

[@porschef387]

The guys over on speed academy is hosting a KZbinr track challenge and I thought you and Jason go on a head to head battle. Please with a cherry on top.

[@HumbleMechanic]

That would be awesome.

[@johnlivingston907]

It only had 35k miles? Thats crazy! Here I was thinking about going stage 1 on my gti tsi with 70k miles but now you got me paranoid

[@mikeroy9528]

I feel the fear. I have a '15 Mk7 with 60,000 and keep thinking of getting a stage 1 mod.

[@kevinjgwilson]

One of the commenters mentioned it looked like LSPI damage. My understanding of LSPI is that it's basically a random diesel like event caused by excess gas droplets mixing with oil that effectively lowers the octane. Manufacturers counter this effect by spraying excess fuel to quench the cylinder temperature during pressure spikes. This damage could be related to the tune or just bad luck.

[@tedjohnson64]

Really enjoy these "how to" (eg, test compression) explanations! Also, your video quality and lighting were phenomenally good in this video. Suggestion for a future video: how to check the status of carbon buildup without removing the intake manifold. I've heard it's possible to use a $30 Chinese borescope (hooked to an iphone or Android), and peek at the valves by taking out a spark plug. But not sure if this is actually a practical/feasible method. Seems like it would be hard to really visualize the back of the intake valves. Do they really extend far enough down into the combustion chamber for the borescope to see?

[@brianwatt2348]

I have owned an mk7 gti for two months now ( and like it) but these videos make me want to sell it

[@Flumphinator]

I love how the oil pump has an Audi logo on it.

[@KRAUSER0130]

It gets even better when you look under the Porsche's hood and see VW logos on pretty much every part ;)

[@tomg6284]

The valve cover has four rings on it as well.

[@officialspaceman1190]

VW makes Audi

[@steveguest8028]

It’s VAG group

[@zr2jake]

Thank you Humble Mechanic 2011 gti APR stage 2+ 125k. Motul oil every 5K-6K, ceratec every 6th oil Change after 90 K. Runs strong and no issues!

[@HumbleMechanic]

Nice

[@zr2jake]

148K now and still hums smoothly!

[@phillipjones3439]

I think this is due to over speed. I have heard of four examples of piston failure in these engines. The engine is built as a 1.8 and 2.0 capacity. The 1.8 is already a longish stroke engine 3.25 in Bore x 3.31" Stroke. The 2.0 uses the same Bore but takes the stroke to 3.65". This is a long stroke motor. The rev limiter remains the same in both engines but the piston speed in the 2L engine is much faster. In untuned engines the system copes but seems to have little in reserve when engines are tuned and slightly higher crank speeds used. The failure where the skirt breaks away below the Oil Control Ring is typical of a speed overload on a piston. As if to confirm this, I, and people I know have never heard of the 1.8 failing in this way. Very interesting.

[@solidsnake6803]

Phillip Jones this is interesting Information for me because i dayly drive a Polo GTI with the EA888 1.8 TSI - just hit 100.000km and hoped for it to last

[@desertsoldier41]

DSG would not allow an overrev. We had a few 5.0 JLR engines break pistons like this, it was found to be an assembly issue due improper ring installation. An engine like this could last 50,000 miles + then it would eventually break a piston. Forged internals are not Vibranium they can break under stress just as much as anything else.

[@williamegler8771]

I used to be a serial VW owner. Each one was less reliable than the one that preceded it. My last one was a Passat that was in the shop 26 times during the warranty period. Traded it for a Buick Regal , a rebadged OPEL Insignia that was even built in Germany, and the only none maintenance item replaced was a A/C condenser that was damaged by road debris. Never failed to start or left me stranded in 175 k.

[@MrBigbear1684]

Happened to my friends 2013 jetta at less than 70000 km dealer replaced the engine .

[@Uberragen21]

Cheaper to replace the whole engine than have the mechanic do a full tear down and rebuild. Good from a customer satisfaction standpoint too.

[@Chr49]

I think it's cool you are saving the engine. I found most mecs will opt for another engine. At least in my country. Iit's rare to see engine rebuild.

[@nothanks3462]

2016? Even with some violence and lack of care that's a lot of damage! Possibly beyond everyone's favourite tape?

[@arielatom03]

No Thanks THATS A LOT OF DAMAGE.

[@cb500ferreira2]

A vw in is natural habitat... in the workshop being repaired

[@mattmgarza]

When I go to the junk yard and see a car about ten years newer than mine in there--it really makes me wonder. Do you think a lot of people just don't change the oil regularly, or? Some cars go into the yard in like-new exterior condition. The other day I saw a beautiful 1996 Chrysler LHS, and yesterday a Ford Windstar wit leather interior that looked brand new. It's amazing what you find out there.

[@Uberragen21]

I have two coworkers who told me they waited 20k miles between oil changes. 😱 And they were men too. I wouldn't be surprised if the women I work with have never changed the oil in their cars. I was chatting with my local service advisor about this very thing and he said it's common for women and some men to completely ignore basic maintenance for years at a time until something fails.

[@mattmgarza]

@@Uberragen21 Well, that sucks, but, cheaper parts for us junk yard rats, lol.

[@skylinefever]

I find that some people will change their oil every 3000 miles, but they don't change any other fluid. The result is that old antifreeze corrodes the internals of the engine.

[@lorenzobeckmann3736]

I started watching and my interest increased greatly ( me with 2011 2.0T VW ). Often I think of a tune for?70 more HP? Already the car runs fast enough! Another note: I saw an engine apart fron a 2016 Golf ( 1.6 ) it came out of the car because below the pistons are valves spraying oil which open at interval related to the piston location; one of these valves was stuck open causing low oil pressure/engine light and then limp mode. So many tiny passages for oil to pass; it need BE CLEAN

[@DeejayP999]

Having seen the multitude of issues that these engines can throw up I think it's fair to say that they are best avoided. Poor design and cost cutting on components is never going to end well.

[@shawnreems493]

Honestly I have owned 1jz, sr20, rbs etc... Easiest engine to get power out of. Pretty much people that don't know what they are doing will be blowing these engines up. Other then that 130k on mine so far and not having a problem with 300ft/Ibs of torque

[@zr2jake]

Maintenance maintenance maintenance and good oil!

[@blockbertus]

2016 and already engine failure. Yeah, VW...

[@matttl903]

the guy tuned the car, so no surprise. Tuning is a hit or miss

[@Uberragen21]

These TSI engines have forged internals. This is rather surprising. 🤔

[@matttl903]

@@Uberragen21 Well only R has reinforced one. I dont think GTI one holds up too well beyond 270 bhp

[@Uberragen21]

@@matttl903 - That's interesting. I read otherwise. But I guess it would make sense that only the top engine would have the better forged internals.

[@TheClement402]

@@Uberragen21 yes only the golf R has forged internals from factory

[@harwoods11]

This is very common on early tsi engines because vag used cheap products to make pistons... 160bhp from a 1.4 is just too much for this material. Add that to cheap unleaded fuel and perhaps poor or high miles oil changes = catastrophe and engine rebuild. Just don't get your pistons from vag! Great clear video. Thanks

[@michaelblacktree]

Since you have the engine out, this would be a great time to swap in a K-series. 😛

[@HumbleMechanic]

LOL, we talked about a full engine build. Not for this one.

[@michaelblacktree]

On a related note, I'm curious to see what caused the piston to fail so early in the engine's life. Design defect? User abuse? A little of both?

[@benturner4774]

@@michaelblacktree it was tuned with no support mods

[@AdemJashari56]

@@michaelblacktree i am almost 100% shitty tune

[@jasonfoster8871]

Probably had that tune that makes back fire noise like a race car

[@LEX-ff4gh]

Unfortunately experienced the same damage with my Astra J GTC/OPC..... It molded probably due to poor mapping... deffo restocking the ecu when the new engine comes

[@awesomefacepalm]

I had the same problem with my tractor. Rings fused with piston and piston cracked. But yeah it's an engine from 1957

[@phillipjones3439]

And Diesel? That can still happen.

[@awesomefacepalm]

@@phillipjones3439 yep, a fe35 with the infamous 23c Diesel engine. Just imagine how hard it was to start with a one bad cylinder

[@takeomack2782]

Thank you! Teacher of the year award...?!!!

[@BigHeadClan]

Engine out in under 2 hours? Man it takes me nearly an hour just to do the spark plugs on my G37. There may be no replacement for displacement but man are they a pain to work on. XD

[@andrewcrandall2123]

Literally just lost my built block on my 2016 golf r and it’s about to get torn into tomorrow :’(

[@lennys.4588]

Great video as always 👍 Are there major problems of the mk7 GTIs showing up yet? Just wondering since there's a little age on them now. I have a 2015 with 41k and haven't had any issues at all.

[@wellingbadboy]

I wish you had a garage near me. That would be so awesome. I would definitely use you.

[@firstname6165]

Hollysh#t I'm planning to buy one of these October, well Toyota it is.

[@gunterification]

toyota. Only thing they're good for is hybrid cars for old people who think they're saving the world.

[@MegaNinjaMonkeyZord]

New Corolla is quite fun but Mazda 3 is the Golf ( non GTI) alternative, regular Civic and Veloster are pretty good to if one likes their styling

[@kart1241]

I assure you Toyota’s can have the occasional engine failure too. Like he said, it’s not common. There are a crapload of these on the road.

[@killer_vette351]

First Name the car was tuned and guy probably didn’t take care of it, this is the first time I’ve heard of this happening to a MK7, you’ll be fine this guy jus got a bad tune I bet

[@clintchrystie6727]

hahaha good 1.

[@fartman10284]

Same happened on my 2016 Tiguan. I blame LSPI and stopped using vw certified oil and started using Amsoil Signature Series 0w40 on the replacement engine VW doesn't recognize LSPI as an issue so oil specs are not geared towards preventing it

[@dragospahontu]

What is lspi?

[@ferrumignis]

@@dragospahontu Low speed pre-ignition. This is a problem that is specific to gasoline direct injection engines, and an aggravating factor is the presence of certain oil additives.

[@ThePlotDevice]

Should have taken it to the dealer, oh that’s right, the warranty was violated by tuning the software,lol. It’s probably not even the customers fault.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Yea sadly the tune pushed the warranty on this part out.

[@TylertheGeek28]

I would be pissed if this happened as possible result of a tune.. also kind of find it odd no other mods were done to the car

[@stevenjr6582]

You can restore factory map ,if the dealer is aware of this will try and find any exscuse so that takes the warranty from the engine. They even can test the petrol ,oil for degradation,etc. Best it is to leave it as it came from factory!

[@peterclayton4385]

Charles, this stuff is gold! Looking forward to more diagnostic work rather than plain 'nuts and bolts' videos which plague KZbin. There's only a select number of channels that do decent diagnostic videos and you can explain things very well. As I have a VCDS it would be cool to see you using more of this to support your diagnoses. Keep this up man!!

[@rockervdrive]

Not gonna lie, this is a little unsettling considering I have a Stage 1 tune for my 2017 GTI and no other engine mods. I didn't catch if you mentioned the mileage of that car. Could this have been caused by overdue oil changes or wrong type of oil (maybe lack of 502 or 505 rating)? The oil didn't look very bad though.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Car had about 35k on it. Be sure you are doing proper maintenance and good oil/fuel. Might even be a good idea to use some MOA or Liquimoly oil treatment

[@rockervdrive]

@@HumbleMechanic I change my oil early at around 5-6k miles with Liquimoly fully synthetic. The factory recommended 10k intervals seem too high to me for a higher strung turbocharged 4-cylinder car. It's got 38k now and still running solid. Thanks for the video and reply!! Looking forward to any kinds of updates!

[@SageTrimarco]

@@rockervdrive Honestly, it depends on your driving habits. If you rev up a lot then it's good to have a shorter interval, but if you always shift low for good gas mileage you can go the full 10k

[@zuestoots5176]

@J CR Fuck off. Its not really a shit engine. It hurts all makes.. Its to due with the extremely tight tolerances for emissions, stupid thin oils and long intervals. high strung, high revving turbo charged engines need care and most people dont give to shits.

[@olegknowsbest4971]

@@zuestoots5176 Nope. TSI is shitty.

[@kaulincurtis9665]

Had a similar failure on a 6.2 gm diesel. The skirt had broken off on one side on the #6 piston. The engine ran just fine, and had okay compression, the only sign of a problem was the awful loud piston slap it made at all rpm. I put it back in service with a new set of pistons and a hone.

[@90invalid]

vw diesel engine only. having to mutch problem with gas engine. intake leaks, n75 valve problem, oil leaks, throttle body problem.

[@actorzone856]

My theory about the VW issue's with engines after talking to dealer mechanics who rebuilt 40 engines and working on one myself seems to be the fact that they were not run in properly when new, DSGs transmissions are too easy on the engine, you need to give the car a good run from time to time on a windy road with a bit of throttle to build maximum heat in the engine over a few hours, also use the proper 5w 30 syn oil made for VWs, there is nothing wrong with the quality of VW engines, they also burn out the valves due to excessive oil usage.

[@TwentytenS4B8]

The piston ring ends probably butted together, lifted up and busted the ring lands. Happens in higher boost applications when cylinder pressure is higher.

[@byteoncomputerservices8054]

It's called LSPI and is an issue regarding all GDI engines, not just those made by VW. It's the reason you always use top quality SN plus grade oil and never lug turbocharged GDI engines in top gear at ~2200 RPM. My 2006 Mazdaspeed 3 just ticked over 250,000Klms and it's perfect as I always use top quality SN grade oil, change it every 5000Klms due to oil dilution as a result of direct injection, fitted a quality catch can designed for the vehicle and never lug the engine in top gear at ~2200 RPM.

[@mattg6]

Love your videos, Charles keep it up

[@HumbleMechanic]

I really appreciate that. :)

[@_multiverse_]

Only VW..... Fingers crossed our 08 FSI Passat is still running strong. Minus the boost leak.

[@sagensourman]

Seems cylinder 2 is always the one to fail on these mqb 2.0's. Any ideas why? In the process of building a short block for the same issue.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Good question. I haven't examined enough to really make the call

[@svenschwingel8632]

On the CAVD engine (1.4 Twincharged TSI), it was mostly cylinder 3 that failed due to piston damage. It might be a thermal issue with hot spots.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

Sven Schwingel :

[@kevinjoubert9538]

Going throw the same issue at the moment ! Hade turbo failure..replaced the turbo and 200km after that this happened ! No pressure on cylinder 2 2016 golf 7gti

[@RS-to2eb]

I have an issue aswell at the moment, zero compression on cylinder 2, leak down test points towards the intake valves though. 4 years old.

[@ABCD-eg5ky]

Very cool! Would have loved to see a time lapse of you taking the engine out in an hour!!! That's crazy amazing!

[@vwr36]

Hey Humble Mechanic. Love your vw stuff mostly. That said! People post with ignorance regarding vw engineering.. Maybe you could include in your videos how vw stacks up against the competition in engineering and reliability. Thanks!

[@trizkial7592]

That’s because on their lower end vehicles like this they are engineered like trash

[@cajunspike]

I'm still driving a 2008 GTI with FSI engine...its looking better and better compared to the TSI engines.

[@olegk455]

We too have a 2008 FSI in our Passat with 150,000kms with a strong running engine. The only thing that upsets me, is high oil consumption, right from the start of its life but I guess its the piston design downfall. And I change my oil every 12-13 thousands, due to the fact that I have to top up so much in between. I basically put two litters of top up oil between oil changes.

[@diegotobar6839]

This looks like ringland failure.. and its not a Subaru?? Interesting

[@piotrmalewski8178]

Typical VW quality, their enugines since TSI came in are known for dying very quickly.

[@alkevinzmedia]

Just ideas but here it is. 1.) He or she did not let the car cool down on idle after running hard. 2.) Oil caught trash jamming the debris on the piston. 3.) Rev launch control map timing off due to tune. 4.) Starvation of engine oil and overpassing the 5k miles oil change on stage 1 and 2 . Just some thoughts but I do hope the owner announces what he did wrong. This will help us all tremendously

[@dustin9035]

7:45 Love the custom metallic silver paint on the top of the Pistons. Is that ppg?

[@HellenicVanagonTheSyncroHeresy]

Excellent video. In the next few days my g60 Passat Syncro, (1992), clocks 300.000 km, (in 27 years), without the slightest engine repair, which, (engine), is totally unopened and works perfectly at ~ 200 bhp, (chipped with plasma ignition, using the best synthetic oil but just for the last 50.000 km.). All this marketing about the so much better new cars is so naive! The Syncro Heresy

[@StefanSkyman]

I sold my golf mk4 r32 dsg a few years ago... a very rare car in Europe... I will regret that decision for the rest of my life

[@blakes3820]

Look into low speed pre ignition or LSPI. A lot of direct injected engines are having issues like this.

[@roly947]

Did the owner explain what he/she was doing before kaboom?

[@HumbleMechanic]

Sadly we didn't get this info.

[@MrWilburlandaverde]

Stage 3 with no support mods lol

[@James-ns6jm]

@@MrWilburlandaverde It's not stage three then if it has no supporting mods lol. You can only give it soo much fuel and air and compression/timing with added boost with no supporting mods before kaboom which is still stage 1. I'm going to guess a novice tuned this car because TSI/DSG cars require carefull tuning to extract the power unless you're very conservative. This tuner wasn't and here's the result.

[@yondaimehokage3343]

detuned?remaped?

[@roly947]

@@James-ns6jm in which, I've seen someone accidentally put the wrong octane in and you'll get detonation city on heavy acceleration.

[@noelaguirre7104]

Hey guys remember when Mitsubishi was tracking amateur racing events, Mitsu was sued over the practice but the suit did not hold water. People abuse their engine then claim it's rubish.

[@juanmedina4780]

Yikes! I gotta sell my GTI fast before I fall into the MONEY PIT 😂💀🤣

[@vavo4902]

This is exactly why I bought an FA20DIT WRX.... Well, that and AWD. Loved the GTI on the test drive, but I just don't trust VAG enough to commit.

[@juanmedina4780]

My intake manifold and pcv valve failed so had to repair for around $1000 on a 2015 gti so I’m BEAT 😂💀🤣

[@MeltingRubberZ28]

@@vavo4902 the price on the WRX actually essentially made me buy my GLI. I could replace my motor twice out of pocket and still have money to spare over the price of a WRX premium

[@silverfalcon068]

This gave me horrible anxiety. been stage 2 for about 6 months but im hoping with regular oil changes an a catch can i can kind of mitigate any carbon buildup i can prevent something this crazy from happening. Fully plan on doing proper cooling (oil and coolant) as well as doing forged internals before i even think about throwing a big turbski on it.

[@dumbeezy5480]

Can’t prevent it. Still gotta clean your intake valves

[@obiwankenobi8506]

NOW Everyone whos crying and saying that this is a bad engine Remember that it was tuned and not tuned properly.

[@NSB25445]

You cannot possibly do that kind of damage with a bad tune. How can a piston break with a different map? It physically cannot over rev, so even if it was running lean that can't cause a break.

[@MeltingRubberZ28]

@@NSB25445 you clearly have no idea what kind of damage you can do to a motor when boosted if it is heavily detonating

[@jetstream454]

@@NSB25445 Pre-detonation, map also changes ignition timing

[@Domnaek]

This is engine ringing. Very common on tuned TFSI engines. Had a 1st gen rs3 in our shop where exactly the same happened. New pistons from CP pistons were installed

[@HumbleMechanic]

Ouch. On a RS3 doesn’t sound cheap. Lol

[@Domnaek]

@@HumbleMechanic You Bet :D If I remember correctly it was a 10k€ repairbill at the end. In my opinion the Stock Pistons are Not even Designed to handle slightly advanced Timing and Higher boost than stock. The Material between the compressionrings is far too thin. CP Pistons are stronger in this area and can handle a Lot. Pistons are the week Points of These engines

[@OldDirtyCollector]

I have a 2019 mk7.5 and seeing this makes me extremely hesitant to do a tune. Maybe just wheels, tire, and suspension is in order. Just leave the motor alone

[@Maroco918]

The dealership just bought back my 2019. It kept soft stalling when coming to a stop. They couldn't get it fixed. Good luck with yours!

[@ethanmeans1215]

My 2018 has been tuned for about 8 thousand miles now and not even a single problem. Go do it! I recommend cobb accessport with a tune from MAPerformance. Dealership had no problem doing my first maintenance on it being tuned as well.

[@703sprout]

@Ethan Means Of course they had no problem doing the maintenance. They aren't going to say no to your money. Try going in to get something done under warranty, I'm sure their tune will be MUCH different. Usually flashed tune=voided warranty.

[@Drazzed]

Ethan Means I had mine tuned with cobb and a stage 1 93 oct and now I have the “same” issue as the one in the video. VW won’t fix it under warranty “because it is tuned” so here I am looking for a new engine.

[@malantra5730]

my mk7 gti just had this issue, stage 1 tuned as well, cylinder number 3 no pressure

[@ESPLTD322]

I think I’ll stick with my 2.5L. 335,000 and counting

[@ShortThrowShifting]

VW tech of 5 years here... This doesn't surprise me actually! The previous gen of 2.0 TSI engines were nightmare fuel. Carbon buildup in the intake ports, jumped timing chains, rear main seal leaks over and over... The first Mk.7 GTI issue I saw was a 2.0 TSI dropped a crankshaft shim after 500km in the car. Only made noise when pushing the clutch in to change gears. Couldn't find the issue until one of our techs happened to hear a rattling in the oil pan while dropping the trans. Pulled the oil pan and the shim was staring us in the face. Needless to say, VW shipped us a long block fast and was really curious about the whole ordeal. This among a list of other problems we had with brand new cars from the factory. I love VW, but they do have some of the most interesting issues/snags I've ever seen in the auto industry. I suppose you've already dealt with the urethane'd in sunroofs and leaky rear door speakers on Mk7 Golfs... and probably the leaky roof rail seals on new Tiguans as well... Hopefully they rectified that stuff by now.

[@christianteran]

Hi jake, I have the same issue with my golf vi 2010 . (Not mod) here in Australia. Now, I am not sure if it is a good idea to rebuild the engine as it is very expensive $5-$6k. The mechanic said that he is going to install much better pistons(better quality) and give me a 2 years warranty. Do you think it is a good idea to do that ?

[@paulwhite7475]

injectors stop atomizing properly and flame the bore

[@user-mb1yz3bq7h]

have you had the same before?

[@harrygatto]

I was often piston broke in my younger days.

[@retegoe]

New engine block???? Throw that junk away!!! All EU car makers are getting a terrible namen. Because the EU set rules fore the emissions and they are completly nuts!!! Engine breakdowns,rust after 4 years!!! Dodgy automatic gear boxes ( who needs goddamm 9 gears??!!! They are cars,no trucks!! ) And from the " old " one's they want to get rid off because those cars are the best build.

[@wysetech2000]

@@einfelder8262 That's funny as the clutch parts that constantly failed were made by LUK in Germany. The transmission itself was designed and built by Getrag also in Germany. Ford successfully sued them for the disaster. Ford paid out huge money because of lawsuits on them to try to keep it's owners happy.

[@BurbanOverland]

it is a super common issue. I've replaced about 2 dozen motors at the dealer for this issue. Primarily saw them go bad on the front wheel drive Audi A4, A3, and TT. Audi and Volkswagen redesigned the piston to reduce oil consumption. The ring thickness was increased, causing the ring lands on the side to be thinner. Freeze frame data showed the engine was under full load and over 100kph. The cvt A4's did not like the constant high rpm at full load.

[@zohanjames7793]

+Nathan packer do you think that this was the result of the tune or was this on VWs end?

[@BurbanOverland]

On the TT's and the A3's most of majority is the result of the tune. But the cvt A4's was a shitty transmission that when under full load would keep the engine at a constant RPM and full load causing the engine to come apart.

[@TermGeeZe]

Geez almost blew faster than a rotary

[@phillipjones3439]

Ah funny you should say that. Rotaries are fine until you over rev to 11500 RPM even momentarily BOOM!

[@phillipjones3439]

@Brad Viviviyal Snag is Brad no one else developed it. I got 100k out of an RX8 but i put oil in the fuel.

[@TheTardis157]

@Brad Viviviyal The main defect in most RX8s or 13B engines for that matter is that they only have 2 oil squirters per rotor. They fixed that in the 2009+ models and added a third which got rid of a lot of the wear issues. But it was too little too late.

[@johnnyturbo8460]

This thought is honestly a myth IMO... I have been racing Mazda rx7s for years... The car I am running has been a well maintained rotary. It has been a race car for YEARS with many podium finishes and never blew an apex seal( knock on wood) with that several guys I race with have had the same results. Like any car just maintain them and don't over rev them.. ( much over 9000 rpms)

[@SeanBZA]

Seen a similar thing on a Ford 1.6 CVH engine, would start, but only run with throttle held near full, and not idle. was looking and wanted to check if there was actually oil in it, so pulled dipstick with engine running. Idle dropped to near normal, with still full throttle, and on removing oil filler, it dropped stone dead. We could have rebuilt it, but instead it was quicker to instead send it to Ford themselves, and get a complete new engine from them in return. Not cheaper, but the engine was needed urgently as otherwise there would be massive delays and lack of critical equipment. This engine was used to drive a hydraulic pump, and this in turn was a specialised vehicle that there were only a very few of, so a missing one was somewhat of a crisis. Not over revved, as they all had limiters on them ( though often bypassed, so we locked out the throttle plate range instead with a welder, to hold that limiting bolt firmly in place), best we could guess is somebody ran it without oil, or with low oil level, and cooked the bearings and rings, or had not checked coolant, and the engine had overheated. Same end result. Otherwise those engines were pretty robust and gave little issues. Those VW 2.0 TDI/TSI engines also are the power plant on a lot of fork lift trucks, where they live a very hard life, long idle times, frequent stop starts, hard running when cold, and generally just abused. Amazingly they do survive that quite well. Saw them often at plants, pop that cover and the VW logo is there, while the outside is quite a different logo.

[@Van_frederick]

and it still had compression VW engineering :P

[@tt-rs1457]

Really good video..... My Dad and I have the 24.5HP Engine ( from his 53er VW Convertible ) disassembled. Next step, I will meassure the bore with an Bore Dial Gauge and an Micron....tapering of bore...... Because this is an interesting chapter......

[@nickkulon6154]

I will stick with my k series....

[@knightridder2002]

I have seen 2 k series blow up too. this is the first e888 engine to blow up under stage one tune I have seen a lot of them go under stage 3 with the GTI have not seen an R one go yet. I have had 2 cars with the E888 engines and both have been tuned the first one was stage3 and it was like that for well over 60000 miles I sold the car at 130000 and got an mk7 golf R and now that is stage 1 with almost 60,000 on it. my point on this is any engine can fail my brother had a stock 6.0 form chevy tear itself apart and it was stock and only had 40,000 miles on it and he did oil and all maintenance recommended by chevy done by the dealer. most people thank the 6.0 from chevy built proof. my point you can get bad lemon on any brand the key is to find the car you like and stick with it. realize that you may get a defect in the engine just like what this may have been.

[@jmrodri69]

Man I wish I had a VW because your videos are great. Now I need the Mazdaspeed equivalent of your channel :) One question, how much shop air do you need to do a leak down test? Can it be done with a pan air compressor?

[@zuestoots5176]

turbo engine with ring-land failure..who would have thought.. Probably ran 87 octane to save a few pennies,, now you bought yourself a new slug

[@mrpropredu59]

Oh my god a TSI with Piston Failure that so rare ! i don't know for you but in europe all the version of the TSI got big problem for all the car brand Skoda Wolkswagen Seat.

[@SkankHunt-fo5xv]

between vw and subaru i cant say which is a bigger money pit

[@HumbleMechanic]

Like a race to the bottom?

[@kellyspeppers]

I work on both, lots of work.

[@roly947]

I've owned both.... Subaru has been getting cheapy on parts that were never an issue in the past...oil pickup damage. However other than regular PM, everyone who owns either car feels they have a race car and over rev, constant clutch dumping/launch control and expect their cars to be flawless. I've only run into a handful of cars that came poorly assembled from factory that have failed at the hands of regular drivers.

[@SkankHunt-fo5xv]

Yes and constantly telling hot girls they have blown head gaskets and cracked cylinder heads and must pay more than the cars worth to fix it gets them on your good side

[@stevenyia2778]

Love your positive attitude buddy 🤷‍♂️

[@jamothegreat6052]

It's funny at the end of the video you mentioned the timing chain tensioner we have one in our shop right now that had it fail and it bent all the valves.

[@HumbleMechanic]

Ouch. Was it this same generation TSI? Their failure is not as common

[@JB73691]

Stay away from these engines. One failure too many.

[@phillipjones3439]

Stay away? other engines fail too you know at the hands of mechanically illiterate fools.

[@JB73691]

@@phillipjones3439 What you talking about Willis ?

[@phillipjones3439]

@@JB73691 Your reply makes no sense?

[@JB73691]

@@phillipjones3439 I will tell you what makes sense Audi and Volks engines have a big flaw and you see it right here in this video. please wath here :kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHmZoH59frOFaZY thanks.

[@therealderjett]

Super cool seeing the break down of how you test to track down a problem. When I was younger I would have gone straight to the oil pan and wouldn't have known the status of the rest of the cylinders. Would you recommend replacing the rings on the cylinder that had the slightly lower compression or even new rods and pistons with it being out and apart?

[@HumbleMechanic]

I don't think I would mess with the other cylinder. It was within 6% or so of the rest. It would have been a solid idea to run that cylinder with a wet compression test to see.

[@michaelblacktree]

Like Charles said, it was only a small variance. That's not uncommon. So I wouldn't worry about it.

[@Blazer02LS]

Probably give it a close inspection as well as the bore. Just to be sure it isn't coming apart. With 35K I'd likely replace all the rings anyway, as you will need to remove them to check the other pistons for signs of failure.