Cactusjack

Same situation at night? They are notoriously dim so seeing them in anything but darkness is almost impossible... Unless mine are knackered also!

Aux water pump on this engine is below the oil filter, between sump and rad. I put a link on a recent thread here about my cracked head, same engine, same symptoms as yours... Small crack in exhaust side to water jacket, closed when cooled down and kept pressure in header tank.

Only sign whilst driving was low coolant, so I was topping up every 200 miles or so. Never overheated, no smoke signs from the exhaust... Extensive testing was carried out by a previous owner and a Skoda delarer but never found anything. Head gasket, and all coolers were replaced by them with a lot of warranty work but problem was never sorted. Previous owner quickly got rid and I bought it from a local garage during COVID so I didn't realise a problem until after the warranty ran out! Sniff test showed exhaust mixing with coolant only after extensive use when hot... So off comes the cylinder head! No harm in getting it tested properly as gaskets need changing anyway. All running smooth after head replacement with no further coolant issues, that was 4 years and 31k miles ago.

Have a read through this thread reference my cracked head. Useless dealer couldn't diagnose and wasted a lot of the previous owners money making up faults...

2018 280, 13k 😂

Sounds decent for the price to be fair, a bit louder in general with a hint of drone when cruising, full throttle is a blast with the "DSG farts"!

Done it... 2nd cut was an absolute pig, cheap exhaust cutter blunted really quick! Fits well, sounds a little better at idle,with a bit more burble under load. Will do a proper listen tomorrow on the way to work.

Yes it will fit, just the natural break forward of the box is a bit further forward here so you have to make 2 cuts rather than 1, then rejoin it behind the existing clamp on the right of the pic.

My mistake, missed your post on previous page and concentrated on the pipe you linked! Thanks for your reply though. I'm confident it will fit, I'll do it tomorrow when the extra clamp arrives.

Did you have to cut behind the clamp forward of the resonator and use an additional clamp? I've just mocked mine up (Cupra Formentor pipe) and it sits some way behind the natural break with the hangar in the correct position. Guessing OEM has a bit of extra length due to the size of the car compared to the smaller hatch's...

Not sure about in the menus... Just hold down the menu switch button on the steering wheel to close it down and use stock software.

Hi, apologies but I have no idea where the instruction manual is! If I remember rightly, it wasn't much help anyway...

Done this on my old MK2, needed seat out and the cover is attached with hog rings which needed special pliers as they're unbelievably fiddly! Struggled to get the cover back on as tight as before too... I don't think a MK3 would be much different.

The standard phantom fault for long crank times at random startups that can't seemed to replicated or diagnosed... Some say ECU update fixes, some mechs say random parts changes to line their pockets... I say live with it, we all have it sometimes...

Could be blown head gasket, leak in egr cooler as above or charge air cooler, or at worst a cracked cylinder head... If there's definitely no leaks visible on the outside of the engine, or no coolant/oil mixing then it's getting into the exhaust gas from one of the coolers, or a gasket fault from water jacket to exhaust, or a crack inside a cylinder to the exhaust manifold... Buy a sniff check kit from Amazon/eBay and let it run at temperature for a while, a small leak will show eventually if you have one! I had a hairline crack in number 2 cylinder on my VRS TDI and would need to refill the expansion tank every few hundred miles, it never overheated but would blow the exhaust gas temperature sensor in the manifold overy so often, I lived with it for almost a year!

https://procarmanuals.com/pdf-online-skoda-octavia-iii-2013-octavia-iii-2014-1-6-66-77-81-2-0-105-110-135-kw-tdi-cr/ page 185 onwards.

You get a special cap for the reservoir with quick release fitting on the top. The vacuum fill kits come with various caps for most cars.

You don't have to vacuum fill, however it makes it so much easier! Without it, you'll be chasing air out the system for a while, but might get lucky... All depends if you don't mind spending the time doing that! There are circuit bleed options on VCDS however that can help move any trapped air along.

Have a look through this https://procarmanuals.com/pdf-online-skoda-octavia-iii-2013-octavia-iii-2014-1-6-66-77-81-2-0-105-110-135-kw-tdi-cr/

There's no way of knowing what the new ECU has been coded with without the info from the seller, and without plugging it in and checking via ODIS unfortunately. I had my car taken a VAG specialist who got a new ECU from Germany via TPS and freshly coded it scratch to my car, no problems since... I shorted mine by fumbling the rachet when changing the battery and arcing it of the ECU case, ended up with a fully dead car! Dealers and other specialists said I was stuck as changing an ECU couldn't be done... BS!

Give CJ Mechanical in Notts a look up, he's down by Lady Bay Bridge. Great specialist indy, very knowledgeable and trustworthy, he's sorted some difficult issues for me that puzzled many dealers and "specialists".

I changed my ECU at the start of the year, absolute nightmare to get right... Went through 3 2nd hand ECU's and couldn't get them coded correctly via ODIS, best chance for 2nd hand one needs to be an exact match for your car with same engine code and gearbox code, they're locked once they're set... In the end I bit the bullet and got a brand new blank ECU for £1300 to start fresh 😞

Stock works fine when it works... If that makes sense? Receiving calls and voice replies for messages are good, however if I'm making a call then it can take a while for the mic to connect even after the call is answered, so some people hang up on me... More bluetooth related than mic though that part I'm guessing!

I replaced my cracked cylinder head about 2 years ago, absolute pig of a job on the floor in my garage! Just steer clear of a dealer as they seem to lack the knowledge for correct diagnosis and you'll end up out of pocket replacing stuff that won't correct your issue... A VAG specialist will see you right more often than not.

Balance shafts are present on both the CUPA and CUNA 135kw EA288 engines. Crankshaft and balance shafts will be replaceable with the right equipment and knowledge, manual says not however it's likely related to them being installed once and the designers thinking there's no need to replace... Probably easier to get whole 2nd hand crankcase though!