1.2 TDI engine (EA189): faults and reliability

The 1.2 TDI is a turbocharged three-cylinder diesel engine of 1,199 cc that Volkswagen built between 2009 and 2014 with a single homologated output of 75 hp (55 kW) and 180 Nm of torque. It uses common-rail injection with the Delphi Multec system and is part of the EA189 family, the same one that groups the four-cylinder 1.6 and 2.0-litre TDIs: in fact, according to the technical documentation consulted, this engine derives from the block of the 1.6 TDI of the same family, retaining much of its architecture cut down to three cylinders.^[3][4]

It was fitted almost exclusively to the low-consumption versions of the group's smallest models: the Volkswagen Polo V as the "BlueMotion" from its launch in 2009, the Seat Ibiza IV as the "Ecomotive" from May 2010, and the Škoda Fabia II and the Škoda Roomster (after its 2010 facelift) with the same mechanicals. The engine listing for the Audi A1 (8X) on Wikipedia includes only the 1.4, 1.6 and 2.0 TDI, without this 1.2 TDI, and we have found no sources placing it in the Seat Leon (see more detail under "unknowns").^{[4][6][7][8][9]}

A technical particularity of this engine is that the timing belt does not just drive the valves: the same toothed belt also drives the water pump and the high-pressure pump of the common-rail system. This makes the condition of the water pump especially relevant to the health of the belt itself, something the Spanish specialist press also documents for diesel engines with this layout.^[3][5]

The emissions scandal known as dieselgate broke in September 2015, centred on the 1.6 and 2.0-litre EA189 TDIs; according to the Spanish Wikipedia, citing the press of the time, the list of engines affected by the software that manipulated nitrogen oxide emissions was extended to include this 1.2 TDI a few days later, on 6 October 2015. Volkswagen offered a free software update from January 2016.^[1][2]