2.0 TSI / TFSI engine (EA888): faults and reliability

EA888 is the family of turbocharged direct-injection petrol engines that the Volkswagen Group has used since 2008 in the 2.0-litre displacement, under the commercial names TSI (Volkswagen, Seat, Cupra, Škoda) and TFSI (Audi). It should not be confused with the earlier chain-driven engine, also once called "2.0 TFSI", which Wikipedia lists separately as the EA113 (codes BWA, BPY, AXX, BWE, BUL, used mainly between 2004 and 2008 in the Golf V GTI, the Audi A3 8P or the early-series Seat León II Cupra): that earlier engine is not the one this file documents.^[1]

The first batch of EA888 (2008-2012) has no Valvelift variable valve lift system: it gives between 170 and 210 hp depending on the code (CAWA, CCZC, CCZD, CCTA, CBFA, CAWB, CGMA, CPSA, CCZB) and is fitted, among others, to the Golf VI GTI, the Passat B6/B7, the Scirocco, the Tiguan I, the Audi A3 8P/TT 8J, the Seat Altea Freetrack and the León FR. From 2012, the second batch adds Valvelift, raises the compression ratio and reaches 220-230 hp in its most widespread version (codes CAEA, CDNB, CAEB, CDNC, CESA, CHHB): it is the engine of the Golf VII GTI, the Audi A4 B8/A5, the Q5 I, the Seat León FR/Cupra and the Škoda Octavia RS and Superb of that era.^[1]

Around 2015-2016, coinciding with the Audi A4 B9, the Volkswagen Group added a second, indirect injection system (in the intake manifold, in addition to the direct one) to the most widespread versions of the engine: the stated aim was to reduce consumption and emissions, and indirectly it also cleans the intake valves somewhat on each combustion event. With this change and the successive revisions that the specialist press and garages know as "Gen 3B" or "evo", the output of the high-performance versions has risen to 300-320 hp in the Golf GTI Clubsport, the Seat León Cupra 300, the Cupra Ateca/Formentor or the Audi TTS, although we have not found an exact, uniform cut-off between "Gen 3", "Gen 3B" and "evo4": engine codes and production dates overlap depending on the model and the market.^[1][5][6]

It is an inline four-cylinder engine with a cast-iron block (aluminium in the latest redesigns), a single turbocharger and a single timing chain at the front, which drives two overhead camshafts. In the first versions the water pump is a separate part, driven by its own toothed belt; from the Valvelift generation, Volkswagen integrated the pump impeller into the thermostat housing, a part that has leaked coolant in several models.^[1]