Volkswagen GTI Engine Problems
02gti
Member Posts: 1
in Volkswagen
if i tap the throttle..it raises and holds for half a sec instead of the RPM dropping immediatly.. does anyone know why it might be sticking?
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For that reason, with the exception of my first VW (1975 Scirocco Mk1), every VW I've owned (1987 Golf GT) or currently own (1997 Jetta Trek w/performance chip) and (2003 Wolfsburg Jetta 1.8T) have run on premium fuel exclusively.
Your GTI will run fine on 87 octane gas.
I read the brochure on the gti last night,...the premium it reccomends is 93, but it says that it can be run on 91 (midrange) with a slight performance decrease. Kinda interesting, seeing as how around where i live, midrange only reaches 89 and premium is usually 91 or 92
I beg to differ (based on my 25+ year mechanical background), and the experience of many master VW mechanics, engineers and technicians that I have worked with over the years. The manufacturer specifies (requires) the use of premium fuel on a given engine for a reason.
The GTI's engine incorporate two knock sensors. A knock sensor monitors noises in each cylinder and "listens" for any signs of knocking. When a knocking condition has been encountered (or is about to occur), the knock sensor sends a signal to the engines computer, or electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU automatically retards the engine timing of that particular cylinder in small increments until the knoocking condition disappears. Retarding the engine's timing will exact a power and fuel economy penalty. This issue is much more critical with forced induction engines (turbocharged or supercharged) engines than with naturally-aspirated engines.
I have performed this experiment on two of my cars:
1) 1997 VW Jetta Trek - 2.0 Liter 8-Valve, normally aspirated engine with a 10:1 compression ratio
2) 2003 VW Jetta Wolfsburg Edition - 1.8 Liter, 20 Valve turbocharged engine with a 9.5:1 compression ratio (pretty high for a turbo).
I ran each car with regular until empty, took note of the mileage/amount of gas used, and repeated the process with the cars running on premium.
Each car averaged 3-5mpg higher running with premium than regular. Keep in mind that VW recommends regular for my 1997 Jetta - but with a high 10:1 compression ratio, it runs much better on premium. As for the 2003, you are playing with fire by running a turbocharged engine on anything but premium.
Direct injected, turbocharged engines like the current GTI don't change that equation - it only allows turbocharged engines to run at a higher compression ratio than normal.
When in doubt - go with the manufacturer's specfications. The only current engine that VW recommends the use of regular fuel is the 2.5 liter 5-cylinder engine. All others require either diesel or premium.
You may run regular if you like, but my parents have a saying:
"Those who won't hear - must feel"...
The manual for my 2007 GTI recommends 91 [(R+M)/2] octane, but requires an octane rating of only 87.
If you live at higher altitudes, gas stations offer lower octane gasolines because a car is less likely to knock due to lower atmospheric pressure.
Actually, octane won't be the only additive used to increase the "octane" (or Anti Knock Index) of a gasoline. In almost all cases it is a mixture in which iso-octane is a component. There's really nothing special about octane, it is simply a flammable chemical that burns at a higher temperature than gasoline. This helps reduce gasoline's tendency to ignite before it's supposed to. This is the cause of knocking. The octane measurement is not an indicator of how well your car will perform, just how likely it will detonate (explode) at a certain temperature. High performance engines are more likely to knock and therefore require a higher octane gasoline at full throttle only.
However...the only instance where an engine will run less efficiently on a lower AKI gasoline is a high compression engine under load where, as you correctly stated, the engine's computer retards timing (and decreases the air/fuel ratio) to a point where the knocking disappears.
But this instance is relatively rare (depending on your driving habits) and almost non-existent on flat highway driving.
I would never run anything less than 93 octane in my '71 Datsun 240Z because it knocks with even the slightest load on the engine and because there is no computer to make the knocking disappear.
But modern engines don't have this problem. This is partly the reason that it is rare that a manufacturer actually requires the use of a high octane gasoline instead of just recommending it.
you see this is what i don't understand. according to the literature that i have on the gti,(its the booklet that comes with the dvd) mentions that 93 octane is reccomended with the 91 being the other choice with reduced performance. Thats the whole reason why this had me confused to begin with, since very few gasoline statins have anything higher than 92 around here; otherwise i'd be good to go if i had a gti, i'd do regular all the time. But something tells me that if i do put regular in it, i'd be in for it in the long run, like golfgt said.
"Do not use any fuel with an octane rating lower than 87 AKI or 91 RON. Using lower octane fuel may cause expensive engine damage may occur."
Perhaps you are confusing the RON with AKI? RON is a European unit. In the USA we use AKI which is synonymous with [(R+M)/2].
Yes, a higher octane fuel will result in better performance of your GTI. But don't confuse performance with engine damage.
Iso-octane (and other anti-knock chemicals) is considered an additive because it is added such that a specific "octane rating" is acheived, unlike the base blend of gasoline in which the specific blend of hydrocarbons is not as crucial.
The octane rating of gasoline doesn't mean that the only anti-knock component is iso-octane, just that it has the same anti-knock characteristics of a reference blend of, say, 87% iso-octane and 13% heptane (to refer to an "87 octane" gasoline). This is what you were getting at when you said the octane rate was a reference to the proportion of different octanes in the fuel (but this is incorrect).
Also, all gasolines in a high performance engine will "burn at the right moment." But a fuel with the proper octane rating for the engine means that it will combust when the cylinder is at its highest pressure. That's where you get your engine performance. Lower octane-rating gasolines will work fine, because the engine's computer will alter the timing so that it prevents any knocking.
I still use premium because a) my BMW requires premium and b) my SAAB engine runs a lot smoother and quieter on premium.
"VW requires premium-grade fuel for the 2.0T and recommends it for the V6."
F.Y.I.
"Test GTIs averaged 16.8-19.1 mpg with manual transmission, 23.6 with SMT, both in slightly more highway travel vs. city driving. VW recommends premium-grade fuel."
That is a complete aberration. I drive my GTI hard at 4-5000 rpm every day. I get 25-26 mpg with manual transmission mixed city and highway. EPA figures are 32 highway and 24 city. The FSI technology used in the GTI makes for the most fuel efficient engines in present time. It is the most fuel efficient car in its segment
just because your numbers and their numbers are slightly off doesn't mean its an 'aberration'.
"Test GTIs averaged 16.8-19.1 mpg with manual transmission, 23.6 with SMT, both in slightly more highway travel vs. city driving. VW recommends premium-grade fuel."
Check out this AutoChannel.com road test of the GTI:
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/07/07/014005.html
Fuel Requirement 91 octane unleaded premium gasoline
And from VW's own technical specifications:
http://media.vw.com/press_files/text/GTIT.S..pdf
Check the Fuel Requirement section: It will say 95 RON Premium for Maximum Performance & 91 RON for a slight reduction in performance.
Most VW mechanics I've talked to said that using anything other than premium (91 RON or above) in a forced-induction engine is asking for trouble ($$$$)...
Also, VW is technically saying that Mid Grade (91 (R+M)/2, not 91 RON) is the recommendation.
Lastly, if you crunch the numbers, you're still saving money by using 87 octane even if you get lower gas mileage using 87 octane. You'll have to get better than 2 mpg better using 93 octane gas to break even.
Ok. It's your money and your car. Ben Franklin has a saying about money, too. All I have to say is I wish you well... :shades:
Anyhow at apprx 3000 miles while driving on the interstate the CEL came on and came on and off intermittently until the car began to "Buck and Jerk" and try to die on us while driving.
I had scheduled several appointments for the car prior to the bucking and jerking and was told that maybe the gas filler cap wasnt tight emough etc..etc.. and I did not get the chane to actually drop the car off until it began to truly fail us.
So I dropped it off 2 weeks ago and after 5 days in the shop they told me the car had a bad fuel pump or one that did not generate enough pressure? They replaced it and I got the car back. two days later the CEL came back on and I called the dealership service dept and they had me drop thye car back off. That was 10 days ago and so far I have been told that they have been in contact with the VW engineers and trying to pinpoint the problem or find the correct fule delivery part to correct the issue.
Has anyone else had these types of issues with their new GTI's?
I love the car and they gave me a rental car (very creepy Dodge Caliber)but I have some concerns about the lenght of time that they have had the car. Its a lease so i'm not so concerned about the long term I just want my car back Fixed properly!
Way back in February my CEL came on so I brought it to the dealer a week or so later. They ran tests on it for 4 hours at which point I got sick of waiting. They said it was a problem with my 'low side fuel pressure was reading too high'.
After getting the car back I drove it just fine for the next six months (good performance, good mileage, check engine light still on). During my next scheduled maintenance in August I had them take another look at it. At first they thought it needed a new fuel filter, but then they thought it was the low fuel pressure valve. They apparently replaced both of those parts but it was still giving them problems. They then replaced the high pressure fuel valve and that did the trick.
The car was in the shop a full week while they did the work and waited for parts. From the way it sounds volkswagen fuel systems are moronically complex. Not mad at the dealership, but I would like to smack whatever german engineer who dreampt that design up! Car seems fine now.
The repair was totally under warranty with no cost to me. I had a free rental (a pos nissan versa) that I abused the hell out of for a week. That little skateboards tires would scream at the drop of a hat!
Is there any way to get around this? ...or is it me?
Keep in mind that installing after-market parts may void the warranty.
Turbo lag isn't a loss of power, rather it is just a delay in gaining power. It takes a little time for the turbo to spool up and force the compressed air back into the engine. The reason why you feel turbo lag between 1st and 2nd gears is because the engine has not produced enough exhaust for the turbo charger to have an impact.
Does this void your warranty?
Do you have to make any other adjustments to the car to be able to handle the increased HP?
Did you do it yourself and how much did it cost?
OK, that was 4 questions.
The other day I started my old rust bucket up after two weeks of relatively cold weather and oil started pumping out of the top of the oil filter housing immediately. And heavily. My question is: What's the problem and how do I fix it? I was about to just go buy an oil filter and try replacing that, but I don't really mind putting in a whole new housing if needed and only want to go to the autoshop once (I'm on foot). I included a photo of my filter and where the oil is coming from. Thanks in advance.
Thx
Darryl
I have a 2003 GTI with the 1.8L Turbo Motor. Recently after coming back from a 200 mile trip the engine started to overheat. I pulled over immediately and had the vehicle towed back to the dealer. Upon inspection the 2 middle cylinders were "washed", meaning coolant had made it into those two cylinders. This car has only 51,000 miles on it and so it should have been covered by the 5yr/60,000 mile powertrain warranty. However, the dealership and VW of America denied me the warranty because they stated that I had continued to drive the vehicle knowing that it was severely overheated. The dealership stated that there was "blueing" on the camshaft & tops of the cylinder bores. I went to verify their claims and upon my own visual inspection I found zero evidence of any "blueing" I took pictures and told VW I was going to sue them. They offfered to replace the entire motor on a 50/50 basis, meaning I would have to cover 50% of the costs (2600.00 roughly). The service department was never able to determine the cause of the overheating (the head had no apparent damage and there was no indications that the head gasket failed). My conclusion is that possibly the head warped and thus allowing coolant into the two cylinders. In my opinion, this is something that VW should have covered 100%. I am taking VW of America & the dealership to small claims court but I need to know the details of VW's Limited Powertrain Warranty. Can someone send me a link to this? Any opinions on this issue? Thanks! Gregory Berry