Mizeria marca Volkswagen: motorul 1.2 TSI pe benzina

Desi se bucura de cele mai bune vanzari din Europa, Volkswagen nu face doar masini fiabile si aratoase. Se pare ca face si gunoaie. Asa cum este si cazul motorului supra-alimentat de 1.2 litri numit TSI. E vorba de motorul care produce 105 cp si 175 Nm cuplu, datorita unui turbo-compresor. Insa puterea variaza pentru motorul 1.2 TSI, el fiind insa acelasi, caii putere inmultindu-se numai din soft. Dar cazurile concrete pe care urmeaza sa vi le prezentam se refera la doua masini Volkswagen, cumparate de noi din Romania, cu motorul de 105 cp.

Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TSI fabricatie 2010

Una din masinile redactiei noastre este un Polo TSI cumparat de nou de la reprezentanta Volkswagen din Brasov, numita TESS. La un mers absolut normal, fara abuzuri si numai cu revizii la Porsche Romania sau la TESS, la doar 20.000 de kilometri la bord, a inceput un zgomot ca de motor diesel, la pornire, pret de cateva secunde. In timp, zgomotul s-a accentuat, prelungindu-se ca si durata, moment in care masina a fost dusa la Porsche Bucuresti Nord. Aici, stiind problema, cei de la service au spus ca trebuie schimbata distributia. Surpriza a fost insa faptul ca masina iesise din garantie, adica trecusera 3 ani de la cumparare.

Nota de plata: 1700 de lei pentru schimbarea lantului (fara intinzator). Asta e, am zis ca s-a rezolvat. Dar, surpriza: acum, masina are 34.000 de kilometri si la nici 10.000 de cand am inlocuit distributia, sunetul a reaparut. Acelasi zgomot, un tacanit puternic, ca in filmul de mai jos, la pornirea la rece.

Volkswagen Golf 7 fabricatie 2014

Acelasi motor, alta masina. Cumparata de un amic pe firma de la Porsche Bucuresti, 0 kilometri la bord, garantie, tot ce trebuie. Masina este variant, adica break. La 15.000 de kilometri, in timp ce mergea cu ea la o viteza absolut normala, a inceput un tacanit puternic la motor. S-a oprit, a tras pe dreapta, niciun bec aprins in bord de vreo avarie. A incercat sa porneasca si sa plece, la fel se auzea. Platforma, service, zi pierduta, bani aruncati pe geam.

Verdictul inginerilor de la service Porsche Bucuresti Vest 1: lantul (cureaua) s-a rupt in mers. Repet: masina noua cu 15.000 de kilometri la bord. Din fericire, masina este inca in garantie si i se schimba motorul cu unul nou, lucrare care dureaza 3 saptamani. Timp in care nesimtirea celor de la Porsche creste pe zi ce trece: "Ne pare rau, dar garantia masinii nu acopera mobilitatea dvs.". Cu alte cuvinte, timp de 3 saptamani sau mai mult, cat masina este blocata, omul care a dat 17.000 de Euro pe masina noua merge cu autobuzul, in timp ce plateste leasingul. Frumos, sau ce?

ATENTIE! Repet inca o data: cazurile mentionate mai sus sunt concrete, clare, pentru care ne asumam raspunderea si putem demonstra oricand ca asa s-a intamplat. Despre restul de mii de cazuri asemanatoare care se vehiculeaza pe internet nu putem baga mana in foc, dar ceea ce v-am prezentat mai sus este adevarat 100%.

Intinzatorul de lant care cedeaza din cauza ca nu are presiune suficienta de la ulei

Motor prost gandit, cu piese de proasta calitate

Propulsorul de 1.2 TSI are doua probleme majore de conceptie: lantul de distributie fabricat din materiale proaste si intinzatorul de lant hidraulic care este gandit prost si nu face treaba bine. Cautand informatii pe internet, am aflat ca zgomotul produs la rece de motor este cauzat de intinzatorul de lant.

Un intinzator de lant hidraulic intinde automat lantul de la prima cheie. Insa, motorul TSI este realizat atat de prost, incat intinzatorul este pozitionat gresit, iar presiunea uleiului rece nu este suficienta ca sa intinda maxim axul intinzatorului. Prin urmare, pret de cateva secunde, lantul este slabit si produce acest zgomot ca de diesel. In timp, lantul se largeste mai mult si se poate rupe sau poate sari, dand peste cap toata aprinderea.

Mai mult, ca tabloul sa fie complet, lanturile OEM Volkswagen care echipeaza motorul 1.2 TSI sunt realizate din materiale proaste. Ajutat de intinzatorul care nu isi face treaba, lantul se largeste repede in timp si provoaca problemele de mai sus. Din pacate, Volkswagen a fabricat un lot urias de lanturi originale de o calitate indoielnica, asadar si cei care inlocuiesc lantul cu unul nou, asa cum am facut eu, pot sa aiba parte tot de un lant prost care se va largi dupa doar 10.000 de kilometri.

Pozitionarea intinzatorului de lant

Scrisoarea romanilor catre grupul VAG cu privire la motorul 1.2 TSI

Cautand si alti semeni care au cumparat masini dotate cu aceste gunoaie de motoare ce poarta cu mandrie sigla Volkswagen, am dat peste un grup de posesori din Romania care a realizat o scrisoare deschisa catre Skoda, in care se plang de acelasi motor 1.2 TSI.

Dear Skoda representatives,

We are a group of Skoda Octavia 1.2 TSI 77kW owners from Romania. All of these vehicles were purchased in 2010 and 2011 through the national Romanian importer, Porsche Romania, and we would like to hereby officially inform you that we are extremely disappointed by our choice of automobile, because of the faulty functionality of the 1.2 TSI engine. Although it has been presented as “innovative”, “revolutionary” and so on, soon after the winter season had arrived, the engines were hesitant at start-up, in idle they were running unevenly and, in some cases, the rpms decreased to a grinding halt. As a result of previous complaints which we have already directed to you and your continuous studies and experiments which you have conducted on these engines, you have issued several software upgrades, each one more of failure than the previous. Over the course of one year, you have issued three software versions for the 1.2 TSI 77kW engine: 7425, 8620 and 9163 and despite these so-called “efforts”, the engine is still not working within reasonable running parameters. Not even the latest version, 9163, has not solved the cold start problem, as the engine manages to start only after keeping the ignition key locked in the “start” position for longer than normal. It is still difficult for the engine to run when the A/C is turned on, as the loss of power is tangible and quite significant. In all situations, engine noise continues to be extremely elevated, especially between 2.400 and 2.800 rpms. Also disturbing is the turbo lag present when the engine reaches its optimum operating temperature.

A very large number of owners have complained that there is a rattling noise at engine start, coming from the chain driven camshaft, an aspect of which Skoda CZ is fully aware of, claiming that it has made an “innovation” to solve this shortcoming. It is worth mentioning that this noise has not been present when the vehicles were new, but it has appeared after several thousand kilometers (regularly, after approx. 10.000 km.), so it cannot under any circumstances be considered as “normal”, as some services claim it should be or, as others say “Chain noise on start due to hidraulic tensioner which does not create tension up to a certain oil pressure level. If it worsens, please return to service.” Furthermore, one of Skoda CZ representatives mentions, in a letter addressed to a Skoda owner here in Romania that “I am persuaded that this fault with engine chain won't repeat in the future, because an innovation on the chain has been implemented”. What would be a “normal” time span for this rattling noise to worsen? Until our cars are no longer covered by manufacturer warranty? (which is, by the way, embarrassingly short, compared to what other automobile producers are currently offering for their products, both for the Romanian market as well as for the international one). We feel that, given all these issues, faults and shortcomings of the 1.2 TSI 77kW engine, the warranty is ludicrously short compared to manufacturers like Dacia, Renault, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai and others (in comparison to which the VAG feels superior to—in our opinion, unjustly so) which offer a full warranty of 4, 5 and sometimes more years. We are extremely concerned also by the failing turbines with which these engines are equipped. There are cases where these turbines, already changed, fell a second time and guarantee their standard warranty already expired at the end of the car. What if we warranty expires and the new turbine fails after 3 months?An increasing number of owners are confronted with failing turbines, in Romania as well as in other countries where Skoda models are sold (i.e., Greece, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands and UK etc.) where forums are simply flooded with disgruntled stories coming from users who have problems with faulty parts. Given the number of kilometers we drive every day, we are deeply concerned that the turbines in our cars will crash immediately after expiration of warranty, a part which should not create problems for at least 100.000 km. under normal circumstances and conditions of use.

Given all of the above, we strongly urge you to carefully and thoroughly review these concerns and we expect a positive resolution on the following issues:
1. The permanent and complete resolution of all software malfunctions in other ways than on the expense of Skoda customers’ time, money and mental well- being;
2. Developing a fully-working software upgrade which has been properly and fully been tested prior to market release. It should address ALL of the issues which have caused us so many problems: noise reduction, a proper cold and warm start, a proper torque and engine power curve, compliance with factory communicated pollution emissions, lowering of consumption to fall within normal range);
3. A publicly announced, factory recall of all Octavia models equipped with the 1.2 TSI 77kW engine, which will positively solve the noise coming from the chain drive, by installing the “innovation” which the producer claims to have made;
4. A free verification of the turbine installed on current models, its degree of deterioration caused by faulty use as a result of improper software solutions, its replacement free of charge where needed with a newer, better version, if the supplier for this part has been changed or if it has improved the quality of its parts;
5. Due to numerous problems and the faulty patches (rather than proper solutions) applied by Skoda CZ (over the course of one year, we have wasted significant time and money by putting our cars in service and renting vehicles which should have been supplied free of charge, courtesy of Skoda) there have been not one, not two, but THREE software releases (7425, 8620 and 9163) which, apparently, have proved less than satisfactory both for users as well as for the factory itself, and because the factory has chosen to treat us, buyers of Skoda Octavia, as “guinea pigs” rather than customers, through its repeated experiments on these engines, turbines and chain shafts made at OUR expense, time and patience, we hereby officially request A FREE OF CHARGE PROLONGATION OF THE WARRANTY PERIOD WITH AN ADDITIONAL 3 (THREE) YEARS FOR THE ENGINE, GEAR BOX AND ALL THE COMPONENTS CONTAINED THEREIN. Seen how the “quality” and “reliability” of the Skoda brand is notorious, we feel that this request, along with the ones listed above, is not only reasonable, but reparatory and fair and does not imply significant expense on the part of Skoda CZ, as we are sure that you actually believe that the quality build of your vehicles does not significantly deteriorate over the time window mentioned before. Furthermore, this effort on the part of Skoda CZ would be perceived as a sign of goodwill and as a reparatory measure towards your clients. As a secondary benefit, we would have to continue conducting service inspections in authorised Skoda services, which would prove beneficial for the sale of required parts and components.

We would also like to mention that this is our final effort to reach an amiable understanding with Skoda CZ.

Hoping for a positive response and for an amiable resolution of all of the above, we, the undersigned, thank you for your cooperation and await your response.

Evitati motoarele 1.2 TSI!

Stim ca sunt multi fani ai marcii Volkswagen. Si noi avem doua masini VW in redactie, iar numarul cunostintelor care au Volkswagenuri este urias. Insa va recomandam sa evitati cumpararea unui model, nou sau second-hand, dotat cu acest motor de 1.2 litri. Din pacate, numarul problemelor a depasit de mult numarul admis in ceea ce poate fi numit "caz izolat" sau problema minora la unele motoare. Din pacate, motoarele in sine sunt concepute gresit, chiar daca sunt de fabricatie 2014, iar piesele pot fi ele imbunatatite, ca designul motorului le face ineficiente.

Alt sfat in afara de a evita masinile din grupul VAG, adica Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen dotate cu motoare TSI, nu putem sa va dam. Si daca noi am patit-o pe propria piele, nu doar o data, ar trebui sa insemne ceva. Din nefericire, inseamna ca Volkswagen a cam dat gres cu acest motor, care, in ochii nostri este o mizerie ce trebuie scoasa de pe piata sau, daca nemtii au asa de mare incredere in el, sa-i lungeasca garantia.