Had a problem, Not what I expected- ? + China tensioner

[rollerton]

So, did a head gasket on this A4 for a friend a couple /three months back. Buttoned up and it ran damn well for a pile of shit. After a couple three weeks it started doing an idle rattling noise. It did NOT sounds like any tensioner noise I had heard before and it didn't do it on cold start at all. I was guessing door #2, which was in my mind a sticky lifter? The noise went away just off idle. So I says to them, "keep your ears open and let me know if it does anything different" . It ran fine, but the noise was reported to have gotten slightly louder, still quiet always while driving. Then they say one morning on start it fired up and died instantly. So very lucky it wasn't rolling down the road when it died.
This resulted in only 4 bent exhaust valves, which again is a relative blessing.
Feast your eyeballs on this:



And so I've got it almost together again with new valves and headgasket and gravel and lube sauce. The girl who owns this car is budget restricted...so...we get parts off Ebay. I got a tensioner, assuming it's origin is one of Apples' factories in China. But lo' and behold it's stamped with the rings. $39 for this. I've used these (w/o any legitimate markings) on other engines and so far all those installs are still running great with no issues. So I'm taking a chance.
I guess anyones' opinions on these aside from the usual "you get what you pay for" b.s . ?

Timing-Chain-Tensioner-SET-For-AUDI-A3-A4-A6-TT-VW-Jetta-Golf-Passat-Beetle-1-8T

[Spike00513]

But lo' and behold it's stamped with the rings. $39 for this. I've used these (w/o any legitimate markings) on other engines and so far all those installs are still running great with no issues. So I'm taking a chance.
I guess anyones' opinions on these aside from the usual "you get what you pay for" b.s . ?

but it has the rings
ad says '28 sold'
and seller has 99.4% Positive feedback rating

how many miles when this happened?

[rollerton]

but it has the rings
ad says '28 sold'
and seller has 99.4% Positive feedback rating

how many miles when this happened?

I'm mostly just curious about the thing because it's still branded. I know that you can get OEM parts with the branding ground off, just not sure how they're getting away with this one. Or it's just 100% counterfeit. Doesn't change what I have to do really, as usual 'roll the dice' . The tensioner that was in there last was OEM and I do believe didn't have a ton of miles on it. Previous owner had replaced it maybe 20k miles back? Or something like that..
I think the last repair I did went 400-500 miles and the noise started; and maybe 150 miles until the tensioner failed. Hopefully she gets 1000 miles before I have to tear it apart again. LOL?

[customa4]

I’m having this exact issue right now. Still have CCT from old head(no rattle issues) that I plan on putting in but have been procrastinating. This does not make me very comfortable. I did buy the gaskets necessary yesterday but still have to pull two CCT’s and install one again. Do you consider it a hard job? I’ve done plenty of work on my car but hate touching mechanical parts of the engine if not bolt on.

[rollerton]

Do you consider it a hard job? I’ve done plenty of work on my car but hate touching mechanical parts of the engine if not bolt on.

It's not really hard, I'd say people overthink the tensioner job a little too much. Granted, there are times that seems like people follow the instructions perfectly and still have problems. Once I've got the timing belt off and everything is still set right where it was with no problems I mark the chain to each cam thoroughly. My job isn't quite as easy with this since everything was out of time when I took it apart. But if it's all still timed right and you mark the chain to each cam and reinstall it with those marks on the chain lined up to the same marks on the chain links I don't see how you can screw it up. To follow it up I do the usual counting of links between the cams and all that. But I've done a dozen or so tensioner jobs, this is the first one I've had to repeat.
So MARK IT a million ways before taking it apart, for reference, and don't overthink it. It's likely to look like the timing is off by half a tooth or something but remember that the tensioner isn't pressurized; that changes things. If it looks real close, but *off a little* for some reason you can't account for it's probably fine. Also, careful with the tensioner tool. it's plastic. Don't crank it down super hard. I always have a spare tool just in case I break one I'm working with.

[old guy]

Here's what the markings look like on an OEM one. Slightly different but it could be legit.

[IMG][/IMG]

[old guy]

I’m having this exact issue right now. Still have CCT from old head(no rattle issues) that I plan on putting in but have been procrastinating. This does not make me very comfortable. I did buy the gaskets necessary yesterday but still have to pull two CCT’s and install one again. Do you consider it a hard job? I’ve done plenty of work on my car but hate touching mechanical parts of the engine if not bolt on.

I stuck a few tips in this thread: Clicky click® As rollerton stated it really isn't a hard job. Just mark everything as you dismantle.

[BARRY]

i've gone through 4 chinese ones...the good ones last 8 months at the most before the death rattle appears.

gonna be purchasing replacement units from my indy's parts distributor to replace.

[customa4]

Thanks for the tips guys! Gonna at least try and tackle the removal from the old head right now. Need to get this done before it ends up costing me more money...

[Spike00513]

So what's the reason for this? Cost savings?

Before I look up the part number, I'm gonna guess one from the dealership is like $300+.

I heard someone found a low-miles (sub-50k?) original one on eBay for cheap, but maybe such a find is rare.

Thanks for the tips guys! Gonna at least try and tackle the removal from the old head right now. Need to get this done before it ends up costing me more money...

Is it time to swap on a Passat AWM head while you're in there, or later?

[5ktq]

You know what they say, if it's too good to be true...

I'd think best case scenario is VW China production (if the 1.8T there even has VVT) or a reject or third shift special from a VW plant there. More likely just outright counterfeit, I see lots of complete fake stuff on eBay and Ali that look legit. Like wheel caps and stuff

[customa4]

So what's the reason for this? Cost savings?

Before I look up the part number, I'm gonna guess one from the dealership is like $300+.

I heard someone found a low-miles (sub-50k?) original one on eBay for cheap, but maybe such a find is rare.



Is it time to swap on a Passat AWM head while you're in there, or later?

AWM head already in place.

[Spike00513]

You know what they say, if it's too good to be true...

I'd think best case scenario is VW China production (if the 1.8T there even has VVT) or a reject or third shift special from a VW plant there. More likely just outright counterfeit, I see lots of complete fake stuff on eBay and Ali that look legit. Like wheel caps and stuff

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...lic-debut.html

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chine...teal-sensitive

During the Taiwan Strait battles of 1958, a ROCAF AIM-9B hit a PLAAF MiG-17 without exploding; the missile lodged in the airframe of the MiG and allowed the pilot to bring both plane and missile back to base. Soviet engineers later admitted that the captured Sidewinder served as a "university course" in missile design and substantially improved Soviet air-to-air capabilities.[citation needed] They were able to reverse-engineer a copy of the Sidewinder, which was manufactured as the Vympel K-13/R-3S missile, NATO reporting name AA-2 Atoll. There may have been a second source for the copied design: according to Ron Westrum in his book Sidewinder,[12] the Soviets obtained the plans for Sidewinder from a Swedish Air Force Colonel, Stig Wennerström. (According to Westrum, Soviet engineers copied the AIM-9 so closely that even the part numbers were duplicated, although this has not been confirmed from Soviet sources.)

The Vympel K-13 entered service with Soviet air forces in 1961.

[ApexIt]

It's possible that the CCT you linked will work flawlessly. But I'd almost guarantee its not genuine. If it was, the seller would either state that its genuine or made at the same factory. When I replaced my original CCT, I bought one from EuropaParts, which was described as being manufactured at the same factory as the OEM unit. While it was a little more expensive (about $100 more than the one you linked on eBay), it did have a few positive reviews on their website. With jobs like these, I like to think its better to spend a few extra bucks and save the time and energy I'd have to expel to redo the job should the cheap CCT fail again. So far I've done over 10k miles on the replacement CCT and have no issues.

[rollerton]

believe me, on my personal car I spend a few extra bucks; especially for something that the engines' life depends on and is a part that should last 100k miles. But since I'm doing it free AGAIN and she scoops Ice Cream at the mall I'm kind of doing what I can for her.

I'll be back here bitching about it if it fails!

[rollerton]

So, put it back together, timing seems spot on. Have only run it briefly, but it runs fine.
SUPER F*CKING NOISY at idle, just like before the exploding tensioner. I've never heard anything like it. Totally quiet starting at about 1600-2k rpm. It's actually quiet on cold start, then gets noisy after 3-4 seconds.
So, whatcha think? Low oil pressure/ partially blocked pickup tube? That's my best guess. Everything looked fine and clean during install.

[Seerlah]

Put some Lucas Oil Stabiliser in it and see if it quiets her down. Despite the nay sayers, it works. I used this stuff in an OCI to even coat my turbo's bearings when I didn't appreciate a faint noise to them. Cured it.