davidbird

50mpg jeez my 1.8 Tsi 2 wheel drive does circa 30mpg driven sensibly 90% of the time and never thrashed

I have read often about coils failing ,given that should i have spare spares at the ready even kept in car , what type should i be going for is it an item that you want to be a branded item rather than budget . what brand and at what price should i be looking at i would prob buy all at same time .Are they easy to change at roadside ? i had diesels for the last 30 yrs

It must be a widespread octavia if not more models problem as the three octavias i have had have done the same ,pull door handle and it stays out having to give it a nudge to spring back in ,A nuisance when you dont realise and get in and door will not shut into place without reaching round to nudge back in.

Since i had the Octavia 1.8 tsi i have had some strange things happen had it a few weeks now and when i start car and put lights on The low oil warning light and left indicator light up but not bright maybe half intensity ,if i put cruise control on the right hand indicator lights at half intensityas well as cruise control light normal intensity, by opening a door so interior light comes on i get battery light low oil and left indicator at half intensity..I mentioned this and a couple of chaps said they had similar happen and it was down to moisture somewhere in the car ,i thought that a distinct possibility as car had stood for best part of 5 years although i cant find damp anywhere Carpets ,boot etc etc all bone dry . Had my son in law round today he is a master tech at Land rover jaguar told him of the problem and he immediately said thats not damp its an earthing problem could even be a faulty battery ,i told him a new battery has been fitted ,also a couple of weeks ago most times i went to start car just one click turned ignition off and retried car always started I was on the verge of having new starter fitted and the problem seemed to go away ,My son in law thinks its an earthing problem and maybe the main eart strap to chassis and that seems logical to me as underside of car is quite rusty .Anybody had earthing strap problems.

never had the problem with my octavia estates 05 and 08 and this is 09

yes i did wonder where water might be hiding as i said all carpets are dry but i still have one of those water soakers in boot and a different type on dash (like a pillow about 6 inches long if it changes colour you microwave it to dry out, i did wonder wether doors could have water swilling about inside them ,wheel well is dry - how would water get near the dash clocks ??? .I do wonder whats going to cause problems next ,car looks fantastic and interior is immaculate and hardly looks used ,i do wonder wether car was valeted just before i bought it including seats and carpets shampoed they look so clean i did pull rear seat squabs forward and signs of unclean so pretty certain its been seriously valeted ,could this have caused dampness somewhere.Just approaching 69 thousand miles rather low for a 14 yr old car.Still got the intermittent prob go to start car and just get a click ,second attempt car always starts up to now ,i checked battery lead tightness and they were fine so now i get to thinking is it a bad connection on starter solenoid or maybe even bad connection on earth strap as car is quite rusty underneath very flakey ,I need to wait for some better weather to try and improve that .

My 1.9 Tdi PD had awful trouble passing emmisions i always took it for a normal mot before putting it in for stricter taxi test to spot any problems because it was over 5 yrs old if it failed taxi test it was red rubber stamped not to be tested again as a private hire /taxi .Anyway it failed on emmisions so did the usual clean up attempt added forte and blasted it round for a while took it to a pals to just test emmisions it failed badly again getting near to taxi test so had the Terraclean treatment again another pal cost me £100 took it for emmision test failed badly ,by this time taxi test was due so i readied myself for a big fail and would have to get a different car ,blow me the tester brought car out from test and said yes everything just fine ,i could hardly believe it had he done me a favour and meddled with things to get a pass reading ? ,i did wonder wether a partial blockage was the culprit ,i cant remember why but my mechanic took the end of a large bore pipe think it was to do with turbo or recirculating system runs along back of engine near windscreen and it was prob a third blocked with a hard blackish substance

thing is the condensation seems over the top like i said i cant find any damp inside the car but inside of rear screen can get quite wet overnight under certain weather conditions and i have even had a foggy speedo clock and demister sometimes struggles with condense on inside of windscreen . most days glass is clear and if not the max demist normally clears things in a couple of mins .How did moisture get into car is it just months of changing conditions especially rain that cause condensation thats not cleared because car is not being used .as for combination of air con and heater i can never be sure aircon is working ,this car only did about 1000 miles in 4/5 years,i am expecting other things to fail including exhaust .How do i know if car has climatronic , its an 09 car Elegance spec with Bolero radio .I need summer to arrive quickly to dry out naturally.

just to add i cant find any damp anywhere all carpets are dry as is boot but water must have got in somewhere

Well done about 400 miles in the 1.8 TSi not the most frugal at 31MPG mixed driving ,spent a few quid so far 3 new tyres one coil spring new rear discs calipers and pads + a couple of brake pipes,new key fob as car only came with one key £100 plus i bought all new wheel bolts and caps so almost £700 so far . Various problems dash lights up left indicator not full brightness and low oil again not full brightness whenever i put headlights on if i use cruise the other indicator right lights up half brightness ,boot lid seemed to clang when i shut it so adjusted the rubber bungs now and its a bit better , today low coolant light came on i investigated and it had lost about half a pint so topped up see how it goes i did notice some pinky water on the engine undertray ,does this point to waterpump .I love driving this car its very quiet and quite quick although i rarely put my foot down . Is this car going to be a nightmare after my last 2 skodas being outstandingly reliable and trouble free,Car has a new battery but a couple of times i went to start car and just a click turned key off and it started no problem on next turn Starter motor ?.

so where was the leak and how did you sort it,my back screen gets moisture on the inside where is that coming from ?

Been a taxi driver over 30 yrs had a few vehicles and strangely all have been amazing started out with a Skoda Estelle Then Sierra, Nissan,3 Transits and two Octavia 1.9TDi Estates well over a million miles over 300k in the octavias alone . I just cant see a 1 litre car being suitable as a taxi/private hire car ,it may well be ok with driver and occasional passengers but to be hammered day after day after day with multiple passengers and luggage ,shopping etc i think i would want a minimum 1500cc

what was your reason for replacing and did it do what you wanted it to do .i do wonder wether its rubber thats worn out with it being a low mileage car or wether some adjustment is needed

Is there somewhere that supplies the rubber seals for skodas particularly for the mk 2 saloon tailgate , surely there cant be that many types i would imagine most cars use a similar product like tyres are not made for a particular model of car ,my tailgate seems to clang down as though the rubber needs renewing to puff it up (i know what i mean) lol

just done a little reading re aux socket in armrest it seems its an input rather than taking power from it i am useless with tech stuff ,is it something you would connect your phone to so your music comes through car sound system

i keep looking for a usb socket somewhere i am used to having two working cig lighter sockets with my estates but now down to 1 choosy socket i will need to add something similar to what you show above,there is an AUX socket in the elbow rest but not sure how that would work its a single hole like a headphone socket unless i can get a cable that plugs in there a phono type plug with usb at the other end.

strangely my o8 octavia estate 1.9tdi just developed a similar issue ,key fob for its last two days would not unlock the car i had to place key in lock and manually open and had to put key in ignition and turn ignition on to prevent alarm going off and to press the unlock button in front of handbrake . wasnt too bothered as i have stopped using the car now and parked it up .I wonder if some gremlin has got in as i kid you not i was driving with drivers window open about 3 inches and without touching anything driving along the window just shut itself .i also had some noises coming from fronty passenger door some kind of actuator kept trying to do something for several mins and then stopped it did that several times over the two days.

I bought a set of 20 black bolts and 20 black plastic caps to go with them think it was about £45 i also purchased wind deflectors for the 4 windows i need to fit them yet ,had them on my 2 previous octavias it stops water running of the roof and into the car drenching the electric window switches . Cig lighter socket works when it wants it works perfectly with one charger but tried others and cig lighters and cant seem to get them to work.

Had car since 31st oct its been at mechanics place untill thurs evening just gone .Its had new rear spring found when dismantling brakes ,new discs and pads and 2 calipers and pipes ,Oil and filter change , drove it to work and back today with a detour and it drives nice ,brakes could be better but i expect them to improve over next few days as rear pads bed in . Car has been stood for getting on 5 yrs only being started and moved now and then , it has 2 tyres with cracks in the sidewalls one was punctured yesterday i had to put the new spare on.I went to purchase 2 new tyres today but tyre bay was shut,Car may have an issue with damp as windscreen took a while to clear inside of tailgate glass was wet and even had some mist on dash clocks .Car has only done 68k and its an 09,I wonder where to start with moisture ingress i do wonder about tailgate rubber as it doesnt seem cushioned enough when closing it makes a sound as if no rubber present .I did worry about this car being stood inactive for a long period there is visible rust on the underside components but car is pretty much mint internal and external ,there is a scratch on rear wing that i may be able to tcut out and on rear bumper another scratch that mat just touch in.I wonder whats next ?

will have to try it over a few days but mechanic drove it back to me and said brakes were normal as you would expect i am driving it for first time in the morning to work at 6am good job i noticed the flat tyre tonight while swapping some things from one boot to the other,on changing it in semi dark i noticed more rust than i would like brake backplate etc and in general dont think the standing idle for 5 yrs as done it any favours . Will have to address removing the rust and treating.

went to transfer some stuff from one car boot to the other and noticed a flat rear tire so before i even drive it anywhere i get a puncture ,spare was brand new unused so put all new bolts in wheel and removed locking wheelnut replaced with straightforward bolt and also put on new plastic bolt caps ,.hope it behaves going to work at 6am in the morning.

Odd one i could see a few problems so i paid a visit to post office that issues tax ,not supposed to be able to buy tax without insurance but he took log book off me and said did i want 6 or 12 months i said 12 he said £255 card or cash i said card i paid and he said all sorted . i then went online to change my car with Ageas they said that will be an extra £111.00 i paid so new fully legal in newer car but cant drive it yet as i am going for an eye test where they put drops in your eyes and tell you not to drive so taxi it is till later .Thanks for inputs chaps

if i change car re insurer online will i be able to tax online or do i have to go to a post office with green slip off registration ,if i have to go to post office i will have to drive there in an untaxed car.and how do in know i am insured by changing details online i dont have some person to say thats all done for you

Got my recently aquired octavia and it comes to stopping driving one (my 08 Octavia 1.9 Tdi estate) and start driving my 09 1.8 tsi saloon i was hoping to ring insurance tomorrow tell of change of vehicle get it on cover and then go online and tax it . Something is telling me i will have problems just read something re insurance that it can take 72 hours for policy to appear online on database so then i wouldnt be able to tax untill car does show on database .also they now ask are you owner and registered keeper ,i have log book but have not sent it off yet .I do just wonder wether i could press the insurers to get it on database and then i could go to post office and get taxover the counter and hand logbook in to them to return . Am i missing something

Mot runs untill august 25