We have seen several premature timing belt failures on EA288 engines causing catastrophic engine damage with no obvious cause for the initial failure. (Foreign objects, sheared bolts, bearing failure or contamination).
It is very common to hear a rotational chafing noise from the cam cover area while the engine is at idle but on inspection no fault can be found with any components relating to the cam belt drive. A technical service bulletin has been issued regarding this noise advising replacement of certain parts used in combination from Gates, Conti, Dayco and Litens or using a specific lubricant on the belt.
No bulletin has been released regarding belt failure but we have seen this happen on on a Tiguan just under 5 years old (2019 model), all other vehicles have been well within the new cambelt change intervals which vary but have been significantly extended. (24 Years / 140,000 Miles – Tiguan R 2019).
The cambelt also drives an electronically controlled coolant pump that commonly fails causing overheating. We recommend sticking to the old recommendation of 5 Years / 80,000 miles with coolant pump replacement.
