Design fault with 1.4 CoD petrol engine?
Discussion
Firstly, apologies in advance if this has been discussed before!
Anyway, Mrs JNW1's has an Audi A1 with the 1.4 Cylinder on Demand (CoD) petrol engine. Last weekend I was driving it and the EPC warning light came on but it seemed to clear itself and was fine the next time she used it. However, it came back on again yesterday so we took it to our local Audi dealer who has diagnosed the problem as a failed (or failing) turbocharger which will cost around £2.2k to replace. The car is less than 5 years old, has done around 46k miles and has a full Audi service history; the dealer is saying Audi may make a contribution but we probably won't have a decision on that for up to 48 hours.
Interestingly, though, our neighbours had a Seat Ibiza with the same engine and that also suffered a turbo failure at a relatively low mileage; therefore, is there a known design problem with these engines? Both cars probably do shortish runs as the majority of their mileage but when we bought ours I don't remember anyone at Audi warning us we'd need a new turbo at less than 50k miles if the car did a lot of short journeys!
At the end of the day if we have to pay the bill so be it - we could have taken an extended warranty and didn't and that was our decision. However, if there's a known problem with this engine I'm thinking it might strengthen our case for looking for a contribution from Audi.
Thoughts?
Anyway, Mrs JNW1's has an Audi A1 with the 1.4 Cylinder on Demand (CoD) petrol engine. Last weekend I was driving it and the EPC warning light came on but it seemed to clear itself and was fine the next time she used it. However, it came back on again yesterday so we took it to our local Audi dealer who has diagnosed the problem as a failed (or failing) turbocharger which will cost around £2.2k to replace. The car is less than 5 years old, has done around 46k miles and has a full Audi service history; the dealer is saying Audi may make a contribution but we probably won't have a decision on that for up to 48 hours.
Interestingly, though, our neighbours had a Seat Ibiza with the same engine and that also suffered a turbo failure at a relatively low mileage; therefore, is there a known design problem with these engines? Both cars probably do shortish runs as the majority of their mileage but when we bought ours I don't remember anyone at Audi warning us we'd need a new turbo at less than 50k miles if the car did a lot of short journeys!
At the end of the day if we have to pay the bill so be it - we could have taken an extended warranty and didn't and that was our decision. However, if there's a known problem with this engine I'm thinking it might strengthen our case for looking for a contribution from Audi.
Thoughts?
Alucidnation said:
Try waiting for the response from Audi first.
I will obviously wait to hear what they say but if they come back with an equivalent of "tough luck" it would just be nice to be armed with some information to try to encourage them to think again! Could be just coincidence but two cars fitted with this engine both experiencing turbo failures at a relatively low mileage seems a bit strange to me....
JackReacher said:
First issues I've heard of with this engine. I assume oil didnt get too low? Generally thought to be very reliable, much better than the 1.5 that has replaced it.
Our Leon ACT has done 85k miles no issues.
Like Jack I had the same 1.4 ACT (as it’s known by VW) in a Golf ‘til last month with 86k miles, all mine, no problems. Though with that mileage in 4.5 years it was mainly longer distances. Our Leon ACT has done 85k miles no issues.
acme said:
JackReacher said:
First issues I've heard of with this engine. I assume oil didnt get too low? Generally thought to be very reliable, much better than the 1.5 that has replaced it.
Our Leon ACT has done 85k miles no issues.
Like Jack I had the same 1.4 ACT (as it’s known by VW) in a Golf ‘til last month with 86k miles, all mine, no problems. Though with that mileage in 4.5 years it was mainly longer distances. Our Leon ACT has done 85k miles no issues.
Both you chaps have obviously done much higher mileages in your cars and one of the things suggested by Audi as perhaps contributing to the problem with ours is a lot of relatively short runs (which is true albeit the car does do some longer runs as well and therefore short runs certainly haven't been all it's done). However, our neighbour's Seat Ibiza - which suffered a turbo failure at around 30k miles with the same engine - also did quite a high proportion of short runs so perhaps there's something in that?
If that's the case my observation would be aren't a fair proportion of short runs to be expected with a 1.4 petrol engine? We deliberately avoided diesel (because we knew that wouldn't be well suited to the sort of journeys my other half does) but to me a something like we bought should have been ideal for the job; therefore, for Audi to imply this engine doesn't like short runs is almost saying it's not fit for purpose IMO.
Anyway, to their credit they have at least done the repairs promptly and we have the car back - how long we keep it is another matter entirely!
The 1.4 CoD in our A3 has been faultless in 5 years and 40k miles and I've never heard of other owners having any issues. I do follow a few Audi forums.
It used about a litre of oil in the first year but hardly a drop since.
It is mainly used for short runs to school and supermarket with the occasional long jaunt once a month or so.
It used about a litre of oil in the first year but hardly a drop since.
It is mainly used for short runs to school and supermarket with the occasional long jaunt once a month or so.
JNW1 said:
The engine oil level is checked regularly and, while it's needed the occasional top-up, it's been when the level was down to about half on the dipstick; it's never been low to the point of a warning light coming on!
Both you chaps have obviously done much higher mileages in your cars and one of the things suggested by Audi as perhaps contributing to the problem with ours is a lot of relatively short runs (which is true albeit the car does do some longer runs as well and therefore short runs certainly haven't been all it's done). However, our neighbour's Seat Ibiza - which suffered a turbo failure at around 30k miles with the same engine - also did quite a high proportion of short runs so perhaps there's something in that?
If that's the case my observation would be aren't a fair proportion of short runs to be expected with a 1.4 petrol engine? We deliberately avoided diesel (because we knew that wouldn't be well suited to the sort of journeys my other half does) but to me a something like we bought should have been ideal for the job; therefore, for Audi to imply this engine doesn't like short runs is almost saying it's not fit for purpose IMO.
Anyway, to their credit they have at least done the repairs promptly and we have the car back - how long we keep it is another matter entirely!
I would agree that all cars and especially petrol models should be able to cope with frequent short journeys. But at the same time I'm sure that it isn't good for any engine to rarely get up to full temperature, not that that should lead to premature failure especially at low ish mileage. It's to be expected that they do a lot of short runs. I think petrol is considered a better choice because they get up to temperature quicker and don't have the DPF clogging issues to worry about.Both you chaps have obviously done much higher mileages in your cars and one of the things suggested by Audi as perhaps contributing to the problem with ours is a lot of relatively short runs (which is true albeit the car does do some longer runs as well and therefore short runs certainly haven't been all it's done). However, our neighbour's Seat Ibiza - which suffered a turbo failure at around 30k miles with the same engine - also did quite a high proportion of short runs so perhaps there's something in that?
If that's the case my observation would be aren't a fair proportion of short runs to be expected with a 1.4 petrol engine? We deliberately avoided diesel (because we knew that wouldn't be well suited to the sort of journeys my other half does) but to me a something like we bought should have been ideal for the job; therefore, for Audi to imply this engine doesn't like short runs is almost saying it's not fit for purpose IMO.
Anyway, to their credit they have at least done the repairs promptly and we have the car back - how long we keep it is another matter entirely!
LeoSayer said:
The 1.4 CoD in our A3 has been faultless in 5 years and 40k miles and I've never heard of other owners having any issues. I do follow a few Audi forums.
It used about a litre of oil in the first year but hardly a drop since.
It is mainly used for short runs to school and supermarket with the occasional long jaunt once a month or so.
In that case perhaps both we and our neighbours have just been unlucky - does seem a bit of a coincidence though! It used about a litre of oil in the first year but hardly a drop since.
It is mainly used for short runs to school and supermarket with the occasional long jaunt once a month or so.
Our A1 has done 46k miles in just under 4.5 years so, while it's done its fair share of short runs, to average over 10k miles/annum it's obviously done some longer ones as well. Anyway, it's fixed now and we'll move on; with the wisdom of hindsight we should have taken an extended warranty but hey-ho...
JNW1 said:
In that case perhaps both we and our neighbours have just been unlucky - does seem a bit of a coincidence though!
Our A1 has done 46k miles in just under 4.5 years so, while it's done its fair share of short runs, to average over 10k miles/annum it's obviously done some longer ones as well. Anyway, it's fixed now and we'll move on; with the wisdom of hindsight we should have taken an extended warranty but hey-ho...
I've spent about £1000 on extended warranties for the A3 to date, which guarantees that nothing will ever go wrong.Our A1 has done 46k miles in just under 4.5 years so, while it's done its fair share of short runs, to average over 10k miles/annum it's obviously done some longer ones as well. Anyway, it's fixed now and we'll move on; with the wisdom of hindsight we should have taken an extended warranty but hey-ho...
I have to say I’m surprised by the issues you’ve had. Obviously there were well documented issues with the previous 1.4 and the twin charger one, but I’m not aware of any reported ones with the OCD/ACT. That said at least in the Golf it was only available in the GT so more rare.
I’d also agree petrol should be far more capable of dealing with short journeys, especially a small one.
Anyone aware if the regular 1.4 without cylinder deactivation (available at the time) has issues. I could be wrong but though the displacement is the same at 1395cc I think it’s quite different?
I’d also agree petrol should be far more capable of dealing with short journeys, especially a small one.
Anyone aware if the regular 1.4 without cylinder deactivation (available at the time) has issues. I could be wrong but though the displacement is the same at 1395cc I think it’s quite different?
JNW1 said:
Quick update, Audi have agreed to pay for all the parts so it leaves us picking-up only the labour cost; still not cheap at around £800 but almost feels like a result after the initial quote of £2.2k!
Hey! I’m having the exact same issue with my Audi A1 1.4 (5y/o) only 42,000 miles and the EPC light / ‘failing’ turbocharger. Can I ask how you managed to get Audi to pay for your parts? Did you have a service plan with them, or was it a customer service job?Gassing Station | Audi, Seat, Skoda & VW | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff