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CRC

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    06 Skoda Superb 2.5 V6

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  1. There has always been a debate raging regarding when cam belts need to be changed, and I think a lot of it is driven by fear and, to an extent, greed. On the V6, the milage interval is stated as 80,000 miles and in Europe, that's it - no time interval. In the UK, somehow it came into being that all VAG engines should have their cambelts done every 4 years, though there was a big suspicion that this was due to water pumps with plastic impellors on higher revving petrol engines failing due to the bonding between the plastic impellor and the metal shaft failing. Some manufacturers suggest 10 years or 120,000 miles, and to be honest, judging by the condition of the belt and tensioners that I took off that would seem perfectly reasonable to me as I could detect no wear in anything. The belts will age due to UV, but as it's pretty dark down there behind the covers, that's unlikely, and the most likely cause of failure is failing bearings on the tension or water pump casusing friction on the flat side of the belt. The cam belt change on the V6 is no picnic, and in the past, I've been quoted between £600 and £1000 for the job, and this time, all up, I reckon it cost about £230 in belts, rollers, pump, thermostat etc and that was after getting a very good deal on components when the chance arose. There are no labour charges in there, and by the time the job was done, I reckon it took me about two days, but there was an awful lot of checking and double checking going on to avoid those costly " oh **** moments". The pump timing is very important to get within spec, as many a VP44 pump has been suspected to have gone to that great scrapyard in the sky due to a botched cam belt change, as, if the static timing is too far out (as set on the elongated holes), the suspicion is that the internals of the pump have to work overtime to get the correct advance and retard and it self destructs. Still, all done now and here's to another ten years or so of happy motoring
  2. Our other two cars are a 2003 Honda Jazz (great car, love it to bits) and a 1999 Porsche Boxster for sunny days, and frankly, the Honda and the Skoda leave the Porsche a long way behind in terms of reliability and build quality .... the Boxster goes well enough, but I always get the impression that it's going to break down, though in reality it never has. Both the Superb and the Jazz give you that warm, comfortable feeling that tells you that the car is going to look after you ..... odd really, but that's the way they both feel. I believe the 2.5 V6 was voted "Towing Car of the Year" at some time in its history ..... though mine has never been fitted with atow bar
  3. ...... I thought I'd just add an update for old time's sake. I still have my 2006 Skoda Superb Elegance 2.5 TDI manual which has given sterling service for the last 12 years or so. I realise that it's quiet on here now and I assume that that's because there aren't that many Mk1s stiil out there .... a quick search on E-Bay revealed that there are no 2.5 manuals for sale, and only a few 2.5 autos which a few traders are asking silly money for. I suppose that most of the 1.9 TDIs were "taxied to death", most of the 2.0 TDIs succumbed to the dreaded oil pump drive issue and that most of the 2.5s were autos that succumbed to the £2.5k issue that any automatic box will cost to get fixed these days, and any 2.5s that didn't get auto box problems and moved onto vey high mileages probably succumbed to a VP44 issue. Mine is still only on 118k miles, and is going like a good'un. Changed the cam belt, water pump and thermostat last weekend ( last done 67k miles and TEN YEARS ago), and couldn't see / feel any wear in any of the components - belt looked good, all tensioners fine, water pump fine but the two auxiliary belts had seen better days (they were original and had never been changed) and three of the deflection idlers on the auxiliary belt side need changing as they were starting to show signs of noise / roughness. Even better, the car flew through it's MOT a few days later with no advisories. Checked the pump timing with VCDS after the engine had warmed up, and it had changed from the 2.4 degrees BTDC that I'd had measured before the cam belt change to 0.4 degrees BTDC after the belt change. VCDS says that it's "in spec", so tried it and think I'll leave it there as the engine starts easily, ticks over very smoothly and seems to have a bit more "grunt and growl" than it did before. There is no noticeable smoke at all and the the MOT emissions test stated that there was "no value to measure", which I assume means no smoke at all. Things I've done to the car over the years Bilstein B4 shock absorbers - about £30 per corner on average. Bosch discs and brake pads - about £30 per corner on average. New front spring after I hit the mother of all potholes on a dark, rainy night. New strut top mount as I think the impact from the pothole messed with something in there. Two new drop links - trying to find the noise that was eventually pinned down to the strut top. Great car that's worth almost nothing these days, but really good to drive still.
  4. When mine did the same, it was a question of taking a cold chisel to the door lock from inside the door covering to allow the door to open and fit another lock / motor assembly. Not a lot of fun.
  5. Hi, Haven't been on for a while, but still driving the old girl (2006, 114,00 miles), with no real issues apart from the head scratching every time I pay the Car Tax (Superb 2.5 TDI average 50 mpg = £300, Porsche Boxster 2.5 average 35 mpg =£265 ..... go figure) Anyway, the other day I started notiicing that my display mpg over a 26 mile A road journey that I very regularly do was down by about 5 mpg and the car was feeling like it needed a bit more throttle all the time to keep up to cruising speed. I'm used to the mpg dropping in winter by comparison with summer, but this seemed excessive. Suspecting the brakes, I hand checked the temperature of the wheels after the run and found that the nearside front was really quite warm to the touch and "smelt hot", while the other three felt cold. Took the caliper off, cleaned up the pads and runners with copper grease to lube the pad runners and things improved, but the wheel still felt warm after a run, albeit not as warm. Took the caliper off again, carefully pushed the piston out a reasonable way and cleaned the piston and seal up - no rust visible, just some normal black dirt, and while I was in there, used a vacuum bleeder to bleed that caliper - fluid was OK, apart from a little dirty. Piston retracted smoothly and easily. Car mpg is now back to normal values, but head scratchingly, that wheel still feels warmer than the offside front after a run, but not excessively so. Discs and pads are all by Bosch and were all fitted at the same time and have been excellent with minimal wear. Car feels fine when braking, with no pulling to one side. Am aiming to clean up and bleed the other calipers soon, but am puzzled about why that nearside wheel always feels warmer than the rest .... any ideas? Thanks
  6. If you've never played with this before, then this pdf file will come in very useful (not mine ... another forum member's). Skoda Superb Pump Timing.pdf
  7. How long does the glow plug light on the dash come on for when it's sub zero? It should be about six seconds or so. If not, then suspect the temperature sender that sits down in the V of the engine. Very cheap and easy to fix. First to second very occasionally proves impossible on my V6 manual and I have to go back into first or third. Have no idea why, but it happens perhaps once every 500 times and has always done it and is not getting any worse. If you're having the belts done, then the static timing on the VP45 fuel pump may need checking with VCDS. There are threads that detail how do this and a PDF that can be downloaded showing how. Mine use to sound like yours when cold, but all my glow plugs had failed. Starts perfectly with no smoke now.
  8. Just as an update, I looked around at the price of new steel wheels and tyres, but wasn't too keen on spending the £600 or so that it was going to cost as I had no real idea if I was going to like the outcome, so had a look at the local Gumtree ads and found a set of 16" alloy wheels fitted with almost new tyres from a Passat ( the owner had just bought some "bling" wheels and low profile tyres) that were on offer for a bargain £90. So I checked all the numbers, went and had a look and the wheels were 7J x 16, ET45 fitted with 215/55/R16 tyres. The number of bolts, pcd and bore diameter were identical to those on the Superb. I know that the ET45 meant that the wheels would sit 8 mm more in to the car than the standard wheels would, but, after checking the tyres and wheels over very carefully, thought I'd give it a go and find out. At the worst case, I could just re-advertise them. The wheels needed a bit of re-furbing as they had come with that strange "chrome" finish that seemed to have been glued to the spokes, so I used a scotchbrite wheel on my drill to easily take the glue etc off the spokes, then just used some "Rub'n Buff" silver finish to very quickly tidy them up. That stuff is quite amazing ... it costs about £5 for a small tube, but goes a long, long way. It's a carnauba wax heavily impregnated with silver particles and is very good to rub onto cast aluminium to make it look clean and almost new. Lasts a long time and can be re-applied whenever you feel like it. The wheel centres were sourced on E-Bay for £8 and while of good appearance, I felt they need a little more to hold them in place, so just applied a bead of clear Bostick, which is like a rubber solution glue that stays quite soft, but grips well. They should come out fairly easily when the wheels need to be balanced in future. One of the tyres was a Yokohama, but the others were .... shock, horror .... Chinese, Far Road make to be precise. I was dubious to say the least, but looked them up ... state of the art factory, 20 million tyres a year output, 97W rating on the tyres and they were there in front of me, all new, all fitted and balanced, so I thought I'd try them, albeit with a fair amount of apprehension. After a few weeks and a few hundred miles in wet and dry conditions, I've come to the conclusion that the Chineses are producing tyres that should really worry the mainstream manufactureres. They grip well and are smooth and quiet. But the main conclusion is that the Mk 1 Superb must have been designed to run on 16" wheels with higher profile tyres, because the ride quality, steering and overall feel of the car is just so, so much better than on the 225/45/R17 tyres that were fitted when I got it. I really am amazed at the transformation.
  9. Thanks mate. That information is really useful.
  10. That's interesting. So it seems that 205 tyres can be fitted to any 16" wheel that is between 6 to 7 inches wide, and that lies between ET37 and ET40. I was going to have a look at a set of winter tyres on ET35 alloys, but thought better of it when I realised the tyres were Chinese.
  11. I checked the size on my steel spare wheel for reference ( 205/55/R16) (7J x 16H2 ET 37) and was surprised to see it plastered with yellow 50 mph max stickers. I can understand that with one of those very thin space saver tyres, but it seems a bit extreme for a "normal sized" spare!! Puzzled .....
  12. Sorry, I should have said that my speedo reads 10% high (not low), so an indicated 30 mph is 27mph with a sat nav. I hadn't realised that they did 205/55/16 alloys on any of the MK1 Superbs and had assumed that all the alloys were 225/45/17 (and that all the steel wheels were 205/55/16), that's interesting. I see what you mean about the wheel arches .... I calculate that the tyres would increase the overall diameter of the tyre by 45 mm, which might get a bit close under heavy braking. 35k miles and still got 5mm left, that's amazing.
  13. My 2.5TDI is fitted with the 17" alloy wheels and has always run on 225-45-17 tyres, but looking at a new Superb (the estate version) yesterday, I noticed that while it still runs on 17" alloys, the aspect ratio of the tyres is 55, which gives the tyres noticeable increase in side wall height. Speaking to the driver, he said that the ride quality was a lot better than his previous Superb which was fitted with 45 aspect ratio tyres, expecially over pot holes and bumps. Having had a quick look around, I notice that 225-55-17 tyres are pretty common these days and wonder if anyone has tried these on the Mk 1 Superb's alloy wheels, what it did to the ride and did they like the mod? The diameter of the tyre will obviously be bigger, but as my speedo seems to read 10% low anyway, I can't see that the speedometer would be an issue. I have considered looking for some steel wheels to give a better ride, but am wondering if just changing the tyre on the alloys might be a better move? Thanks
  14. Having resigned myself to buying a new door lock motor, I decided to try a liberal squirt of "3 in 1 lock oil" into the keyhole, and it seems to be working fine again.
  15. A few nights ago, I realised that when I lock the car with the remote, sometimes the indicator lights flash and sometimes they don't. I figured it was just one of those things that would go away, but had a closer look today and realised that the drivers door "button" is trying hard to go down, but doesn't always make it. When it does, the lights flash and the car is locked properly, when it doesn't, the drivers door button is still up, though the red led alongside it is flashing. If I open the door in this "locked, but drivers door is unlocked" state, then the alarm goes off. It seems to unlock fine on the remote, but is finnicky about locking again. Have scanned the car ( 01 Engine electronics ) for faults and none are present. The mechanical engineer in me thinks that maybe a bit of lube somewhere might help, but not sure where to put it. As usual, all advice gratefully received. Thanks. Have just played with it a bit more and it seems to work fine when using the key in the door lock, but when stood alongside the door using the remote, I can occasionally hear a click coming from an area in front of the steering wheel which I assume is coming from a relay?
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