VAG EA888 - any recommendations

[wemay]

From those who currently or have owned a VAG with this motor. Any common issues, nuances or peculiarities I should consider regarding fuel, OCI, etc.?

For example, "beware of X brand oil filter because fitment is off when placing it into the plastic housing".

I plan on sticking with VW508.00 and 91-93 octane Top Tier fuel.

 

[MParr]

We run 93 octane gas in ours.
The OE oil filters that I have used are Mann. I would imagine Hengst, Mahle and Mann are pretty much the same. I haven't looked at the WIX filters but, they are probably Mann.
508.00/509.00 Whatever you can find for the best price. That might be at your local dealership.

 

[gregk24]

I do prefer to run premium, not because VW requires it but because it's a turbo DI engine and preventing LSPI and spark knock is one key to longevity.

As far as oil filters go, I have always used OEM VW and will continue to as long as they are easily accessible. Oil changes are done every 5K miles with 502.00 Castrol 0w40, this is the spec that the 1.8 TSI has. I know your EA888 uses 508.00. In my opinion 10K OCI are good for marketing and perceived ease of maintenance, if you plan on keeping your vehicle long term 5K intervals are more appropriate. You want to get that soot out of the oil, clean oil equals happy timing chain!

I do try to run a bottle or two of Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner through the tank before each OCI. It wont clean carbon off the valves but it may help keep the injectors and pistons cleaner than not using it. I have no proof, but for $10 or so every OCI it's worth it to me.

We use Top Tier fuel only, save for an emergency situation recently. Following that fill up put in a bottle of Techron and filled up with Top Tier again. Oil change will follow soon.

Every now and then when everything is up to temp, on a long trip for example, drop the gears down so you are in between 3,000-4,000 RPM. Let it rev there for...a while, 30 minutes maybe. Also, it doesn't hurt to do a couple pulls as well during this process. At one point VW recommended doing the high rpm driving to help burn off some carbon.

Enjoy! These are sweet little engines.

 

[Andrew1972]

We just drive ours with regular fuel and oem filters and Castrol 508 every 10k but drive tons of highway . We have 53k miles on our 2018 Tiguan.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted by madRiver
We just drive ours with regular fuel and oem filters and Castrol 508 every 10k but drive tons of highway . We have 53k miles on our 2018 Tiguan.



Wow, you pack on the miles! How is she holding up?

 

[MParr]

If you are going to do your own oil changes, buy a new drain plug each time.
I plan on 10,000 mile OCIs from now on. The OE/Mann oil filters look to be pretty robust.
Be careful with the oil filter cap. You don't want to over tighten it. There is a little green paint dot on the cap that lines up with a tab on the metal housing. I put some typing correction fluid at the same place on the filter cap. This will give you a clue how much to tighten it down.

 

[wemay]

Thanks guys

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by gregk24
Originally Posted by madRiver
We just drive ours with regular fuel and oem filters and Castrol 508 every 10k but drive tons of highway . We have 53k miles on our 2018 Tiguan.



Wow, you pack on the miles! How is she holding up?


Only issue thus far was drips in rear seatbelts from sunroof at 5k. Ton of pollen jammed up drains and recent TSB/ recall apparently helps it now.

Flawless otherwise, no rattles etc and 29 MPG average.

 

[LotI]

No problems with oil in my 17 GTI but the cooling system will probably be the Achilles. Many issues with these engines mating a plastic water pump to an iron block. It's the number one reason I sold mine.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by LotI
No problems with oil in my 17 GTI but the cooling system will probably be the Achilles. Many issues with these engines mating a plastic water pump to an iron block. It's the number one reason I sold mine.

GRAF water pump is the solution. Also, newer ones have updated water pump.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by LotI
No problems with oil in my 17 GTI but the cooling system will probably be the Achilles. Many issues with these engines mating a plastic water pump to an iron block. It's the number one reason I sold mine.

GRAF water pump is the solution. Also, newer ones have updated water pump.


Do you know offhand if the 2019s recieved the new water pump?

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by wemay
Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by LotI
No problems with oil in my 17 GTI but the cooling system will probably be the Achilles. Many issues with these engines mating a plastic water pump to an iron block. It's the number one reason I sold mine.

GRAF water pump is the solution. Also, newer ones have updated water pump.


Do you know offhand if the 2019s recieved the new water pump?


I just googled to see the differences in the old plastic one and the 2019. The '19 does appear to be aluminum.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by wemay
Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by LotI
No problems with oil in my 17 GTI but the cooling system will probably be the Achilles. Many issues with these engines mating a plastic water pump to an iron block. It's the number one reason I sold mine.

GRAF water pump is the solution. Also, newer ones have updated water pump.


Do you know offhand if the 2019s recieved the new water pump?

No I do not. But, VW did water pump updates since 2012 adding some enforcements to prevent cracking on one particular spot in housing. Definitely 2019 will be updated compared to 2011 I have in my Tiguan, but VW did so many small updates that I am not sure exactly what is difference anymore.
GRAF is complete aluminum housing. So, if warranty ended, GRAF is best solution. Some vehicles, including mine (I think up to 2014) now have 100k extended warranty. I got a letter at the beginning of December. However, at 83k, I still do not have an issue. I also made 116k with 2010 CC and never had an issue. On other hand, my friend had cracked one on 2012 GTI at 24k.

 

[edyvw]

In addition, rarely these water pumps suddenly fail. It starts with slow loss of coolant and coolant smell is present in engine compartment.

 

[splinter]

No recommendations to share other than our 32mm oil filter housing socket makes a nice addition to my drawer of specialty tools.

Sweet little engine and quite miserly with respect to hydrocarbon consumption in my experiences.

Found a solid retailer in DAP (no affiliation) whose inventory and technical expertise has proven useful on several occasions.

https://www.shopdap.com

 

[nthach]

Timing chain and tensioner seems to be the weak spot for the earlier EA888/CCTA engines. If you haven't done so already, install the updated OEM part.

I just helped a friend replace one. Even though aftermarket parts were used, the car seems to run fine. She dodged a huge bullet, when the tensioner failed CEL was on and the car was running rough but not severely so to keep it from limping home.

Other than that, run premium fuel and either VW approved oil or Rotella T6 5W-40 with a German filter(Mann, Mahle, Hengst). I wouldn't do 10K intervals with GDI, even if you used a high-efficiency/high-flow filter like a Fram Ultra or a fleece Mann.

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by edyvw
In addition, rarely these water pumps suddenly fail. It starts with slow loss of coolant and coolant smell is present in engine compartment.


Slow coolant loss, yes. But every VW i've owned has had a faint coolant smell from the engine bay and nothing was wrong. That smell is a VW trait in my opinion.

 

[pezzy669]

Originally Posted by wemay
Originally Posted by edyvw
In addition, rarely these water pumps suddenly fail. It starts with slow loss of coolant and coolant smell is present in engine compartment.


Slow coolant loss, yes. But every VW i've owned has had a faint coolant smell from the engine bay and nothing was wrong. That smell is a VW trait in my opinion.


I have had an '03 Golf TDI, '06 Jetta 2.5, '15 Jetta 2.slow and now my '12 Sportwagen TDI and can't say I agree with this. Maybe just at higher mileage?

 

[wemay]

Originally Posted by pezzy669
Originally Posted by wemay
Originally Posted by edyvw
In addition, rarely these water pumps suddenly fail. It starts with slow loss of coolant and coolant smell is present in engine compartment.


Slow coolant loss, yes. But every VW i've owned has had a faint coolant smell from the engine bay and nothing was wrong. That smell is a VW trait in my opinion.


I have had an '03 Golf TDI, '06 Jetta 2.5, '15 Jetta 2.slow and now my '12 Sportwagen TDI and can't say I agree with this. Maybe just at higher mileage?


Yes, you're right and I should have used that caveat. Every previous VW I've owned had significant miles when purchased.

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted by edyvw
In addition, rarely these water pumps suddenly fail. It starts with slow loss of coolant and coolant smell is present in engine compartment.


Funny you mention that (well not really in my case...). I've noticed the same thing with my GTI. During the summer I added a little bit of coolant to it and thought nothing of it. Recently started dropping again, so I figure it's time to take it in. I can get a faint whiff of coolant, not in the front center where the pump is, but on the timing chain side oddly enough. Still under powertrain warranty for a couple years, so I'm not fretting. Still should not be happening on a less than 3 year old car with less than 20K.