What's Wrong With The Stock Tensioner?
All 06A 1.8T 20V engines are factory equipped with a hydraulic style timing belt tensioner. This hydraulic tensioner has a gas-charged piston that provides tension on the tensioner roller, designed to increase/decrease tension automatically. Unfortunately, this design has been a constant source of complete timing failure and one of the weakest links on the 1.8T platform. The piston arm on the tensioner is sealed with an under-spec o ring that commonly wears out, cracks, rots, or leaks leading to the instant discharge of the hydraulic fluid resulting in complete engine failure. Many of the available non-OE tensioners worsen this issue further with cheaper components, lack of quality control, bad tolerances, and awful surface imperfections that further lead to rapid degradation of the hydraulic o ring.
Save Your Engine From Timing Failure!
All 06A 1.8T 20V engines are factory equipped with a hydraulic style timing belt tensioner. This hydraulic tensioner has a gas-charged piston that provides tension on the tensioner roller, designed to increase/decrease tension automatically. Unfortunately, this design has been a constant source of complete timing failure and one of the weakest links on the 1.8T platform. The piston arm on the tensioner is sealed with an under-spec o ring that commonly wears out, cracks, rots, or leaks leading to the instant discharge of the hydraulic fluid resulting in complete engine failure. Many of the available non-OE tensioners worsen this issue further with cheaper components, lack of quality control, bad tolerances, and awful surface imperfections that further lead to rapid degradation of the hydraulic o ring.
Optional Kit Add-Ons
Integrated Engineering Gates Racing 06A 1.8T Timing Belt
This performance timing belt upgrade is highly recommended on a large turbo and/or high-revving engines. Made from HNBR elastomeric kevlar composites this belt is over 3X more heat resistant and 300% stronger than factory style timing belts making it the perfect match for any high powered engine build.
2-Pin Timing Tool
Required to easily tension your new manual tensioner, this 2-pin timing belt tensioner tool mimics the factory VW/Audi tool with 18mm spaced pins and a radius cut-out allowing the use of a socket to tighten the tensioner. Refer to the IE Install Guide for usage instructions.
Check Your Timing Often
The IE manual timing belt tensioner is a much more reliable timing upgrade over the stock hydraulic setup, however, this is a performance timing setup designed for performance engines and requires maintenance to ensure proper long-term operation of your timing system. Timing belts tend to "stretch-in" after installation, IE recommends you check your belt tension often (every oil change) and adjust if necessary. Timing belts may also increase/decrease in size minimally during seasonal temperature changes, always check tension and adjust as necessary during heavy temperature fluctuations.
Follow Factory Timing Intervals
Although the IE manual timing belt kit is an upgrade over the OE setup, be sure to follow the factory timing belt replacement intervals. The timing belt and manual tensioner unit at a minimum must be replaced during scheduled maintenance intervals to maintain reliable and safe operation.
