aka_pseudonym

Hello knowledgeable people My Yeti with it's replaced engine still going strong but a lady decided to drive into my offside rear door while I was sitting still. Said she didn't see me so thereby admitting she wasn't looking out of the windscreen. Phone maybe? Anyway could anyone tell me if there are any differences, dimensionally or otherwise, between an offside rear door pre and post facelift models? It's going to the cheapest and easiest fix I think, but there seems to be much more choice if I'm not restricted to just early ones - my car is 2010. Thanks in advance.

I'm sure the original, badly designed parts would be unavailable. The VAG parts list would say "superceded by ....." The chain tensioner uses oil pressure to work. That's why the chain runs slack when the piston ring slots line up - as 2stroke said it's very poor design. Once the oil pressure gets too low there's a chance the chain can jump its sprockets and then armagheddon follows. The design of the chain tensioner was changed at the same time as the pistons so that should be replaced along with the chain too.

I'm coming back to this as I've so far done nothing more. I blame the weather and the thought of sitting outside with the car door open getting soaked. I'd like to replace the loom in the driver's door as, if it hasn't been the cause of the present problems (which I suspect it has), I'm sure it'll fail at some point. But new ones are silly prices (>£200), and a repair kit is just as much as second hand looms from breakers. So I'm going to attempt to spot one of the updated ones - longer bellows and drop fittings - and hopefully it won't have any issues. I have questions: I've decoded my car's option codes and I have "8RM = 8 speakers (passive)". Is that "normal"? Is there anything else that can vary between models which would affect the loom? Is there a "free" way of finding the option codes attached to a vehicle's VIN which breakers often quote? Is the same loom used on any other Skoda models - or even better models across the VAG range? All help gratefully received!

The kits fit any door - front/rear/left/right - cheap or expensive. I think it has to be a break somewhere because it's intermittent - the door is triggering the interior lights again today which it wasn't yesterday. I expect the day before I get around to sorting it it'll all decide to work perfectly! My Yeti had a brand new full engine compliments of Skoda only four years ago so it's worth the trouble.

Thanks for the reply JR. I'll get a repair kit and fit it when the weather is less wet. Are the Febi/Bilstein ones the best option? I have crimp tools etc - might as well do it properly. It happened after a hard frost when the doors were frozen shut - I wonder if that was a factor.

The offside rear door of my Yeti has lost all electrical communication with the rest of the car! The window no longer goes up and down, the dash display doesn't know if it is open or closed, it doesn't lock, it doesn't trigger the internal lights. All other doors are fine. I've looked at the wiring diagrams for it and it seems each section of the canbus (I²C?) has its own positive and negative so I don't know how all these things could have failed together. Is there a main earth connection somewhere? Or something else? I'm bemused. Any advice very much appreciated.

Thanks J.R. I will investigate when the weather improves a bit.

My Yeti's rear door sensor is intermittent, but I think it's just dirt because washing the car usually gets it working again. It can be annoying loading stuff into the boot at a supermarket because the car thinks the door is shut yet senses movement inside, so after 30 seconds the alarm goes off. That said nobody seems to notice so I could easily steal it! The boot light doesn't work either so the sensor must control both the light and the alarm. I've looked at parts diagrams and wiring diagrams but I can't find it shown anywhere. Maybe that's a Thatcham thing and Skoda have to keep its location secret? As it doesn't seem to like dirt I'm presuming it's either optical or mechanical as if it were magnetic a bit of mud probably wouldn't stop it working. Could anyone tell me where the sensor is and how it works please? If I knew where to splash a bit of water to get it going it'd make my day. (It's a '60 plate pre-facelift 1.8TSi if that makes any difference.)

For what it's worth here's something I've noted. When I leave home I have a 3.2 mile run, mostly downhill, on a forestry track, before I get to a tarmac road. And mostly in 3rd or 4th with a fair bit of foot-off-the-throttle for some engine braking. Prior to E10 I always expected my average consumption, shown on the MDI, to be 38-40mpg when arriving at the main road. And that's based on multiple trips over multiple years. When I started using E10 in September that started to go down. By midwinter I could barely manage 30-32mpg by the bottom. Now the weather is warming up a bit so my consumption is going back up. I'm in the 35-38mpg range now. It's not down to use of the heater! I do use it for demisting but otherwise I use coats! So it seems to me that E10 works better when the air it's mixed with is warmer. Or maybe the engine management system is upping the fuel/air mix - making it richer - because not enough heat is being generated in the engine. I don't know. But I'm sure something is different, and not in a good way.

No, sorry, I don't.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. It isn't a single part number. It's the list of parts to be replaced when a factory approved repair is carried out.

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I've just read through this thread and it's clear that it's not clear if/what could/would get damaged by E10. I have a 2010 Yeti 1.8TSi which should be OK, but everything on .gov.uk is based on the year a car was made - not the year the engine was first designed and produced - plus every other component on it of course. I think the 1.8TSi actually began life in 2006. So: And my question is - is there a known antidote? Can the E10 be "watered down" by occasional fills of E5? Is there a fuel additive that would nullify the effects of the ethanol - eg Redex? Has anyone read anywhere some sensible advice for a routine which would at least at reduce the effects of the extra ethanol? (The fact that there's a disclaimer on the government website makes me think that - as with everything else - they probably haven't a clue: "DfT and its partners will not be liable for any damage to your vehicle as a result of you using this service.")

Ah, good spot! The socket wrench did make me wonder, certainly not Snap-On. I actually have one like it in 3/8" and it has lasted for decades but it's irritating - you have to give a quarter turn to the plastic centre on the top to change from undo to do-up or vice-versa - but it's a clockwise turn to change to undo (anti-clockwise) and an anti-clockwise turn to change to do-up (clockwise). Unintuitive to put it mildly. I've often wished it'd bust so I could throw it away but it never has.

I like the oily hands in the picture on your link - proper mechanic definitely! You say "despite its grandad looks" but look what's being produced now - I'm not so sure that that shouldn't be "despite its long before its time" looks. What do these remind you of: 2022 Land Rover Discovery: 2020 Kia something-or-other: Both uglier of course but you'll get my point.

Fair enough. As I said before they seem to be selling for a lot now on Autotrader - possibly £7,500 or more for yours - so that'd be room for them to sell it on to someone who will do the engine rebuild and then still make a profit afterwards. In my situation four wheel drive is an absolute must and the petrol Yeti is about the only option available which is a proper 4x4 as opposed to a glorified chelsea tractor or something the size of a tank. Good luck whatever you do.

Well this is just my personal way of looking at it - I'm sure others might well disagree! Obviously with mine I was within the one month/six month window and Skoda eventually capitulated and it got a new engine, but I had a lot of time thinking about alternatives while they were all arguing about who should or shouldn't pay. 1) You'll have no idea whether the "reconditioned" engine is going to last. But if you get yours reconditioned you'll know what has been replaced with what, and therefore you'll have faith it'll last. I think "reconditioning" for some suppliers just means cleaning off the thing with a bit of gunk and checking cylinder pressures etc. It won't necessarily mean it'll be fitted with the revised parts which by all accounts are good. VW had so many of these engines fail - mainly because of the piston/rings design - that they did a good job of rectifying the early faults. 2) The engines are very common - fitted in VW's, Audi's, Skodas and Seats. They aren't some black-arts supercharged specialist unit with counter-rotating balancing shafts etc! It doesn't need a Skoda dealer to sort it out - that would really only apply if it were being done under warranty. There are far better independent mechanics about anyway! I have a garage 50 miles from me (mid Wales) who used to be an approved Subaru Service place - the mechanics there have probably forgotten more than a lot of Skoda Dealer mechanics have ever learnt. I would have given mine to them for a rebuild which they probably could have completed in a week (in between sorting rally cars). 3) The engine could probably be rebuilt in situ although some mechanics would possibly prefer to remove it from the car. It would only be a matter of head off and sump off to change the pistons and con-rods. I think the timing gear is accessible from under the bonnet. 4) I don't know how much the parts would come to - I'd guess around £500-£750. That particular garage I've mentioned charges £65 per hour, the nearest Skoda dealer to me charges £135 per hour. So all things considered the final bill might not be far off the cost of a "reconditioned" engine unfitted. But the big plus side would be that you'd know what had been done to your engine, know the work was good. 5) My brother once had an Alfa 145 Cloverleaf and blew up the engine. He bought a reconditioned one to replace it which was well down on power from the start and also blew up 6 months later. So I'm a bit biased where reconditioned engines are concerned. 6) Any independent garage that says it "specialises" in VW's or Audi's should be able to give you a quote for a rebuild over the phone because these 1.8TSi engine problems are so common. I'd certainly get a quote or two to compare with the £1,600 for a reconditioned unit. 7) I wouldn't procrastinate for too long! Just my way of looking at it obviously, but I hope that helps..

I would doubt it, sorry. Way too much time has passed I think. But there's a lot along the lines of "goods fit for purpose" in the Consumer Rights Act so I'd suggest a call to the RAC legal services just to check. It's a free service and you didn't have to be a member when I used them. Also beware - the chain tensioner needs oil pressure to function. If the chain starts jumping links the pistons will eventually hit the valves and that'll be it. That's what happened to mine. The repair "kit" includes latest spec pistons, rings, conrods, chain and tensioner and might be a cheaper alternative to a reconditioned engine. Good luck. And so all is not totally depressing - have you noticed that second hand prices for petrol 4x4 Yeti's are going UP? I reckon mine is possibly worth £2k+ more now than I paid for it three and a half years ago.

Fifth by the looks of it. Says "Škoda Yeti 4x4 (Haldex Fourth Gen), Škoda Yeti Outdoor 4x4 (Haldex Fifth Gen)" From this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldex_Traction

Good!

The RAC told me to put: "I have been in touch with the RAC Legal Services and understand that the problems with this vehicle are all covered under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 specifically "Section 9 - Goods to be of satisfactory quality", "Section 10 - Goods to be fit for particular purpose", and "Section 23 - Right to repair or replacement". Other sections might apply in your case obviously, but if your car went in with a perfectly good diff/haldex and came out with an exploding one that act will cover it because it covers both goods and services. It'll probably be in Section 39, it's here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted I'm almost certain it'll say somewhere that it's the garage's responsibility to show that it wasn't their fault, it's not your responsibility to prove it was unless a certain length of time has passed. So saying "it's a one off" simply won't hack it. Ring the experts at the RAC!

I had totally different issues (engine) but I did get in touch with the RAC Legal Services and they were brilliant I thought. You don't have to be a "direct" member to use them. Number one on the list is to do everything you possibly can via email or letter so you have a paper trail. I'd suggest going back to the service coordinator and requesting an email covering everything he's/she's verbally told you. But do ring the RAC a.s.a.p - they'll give you a rundown of all the consumer laws a garage has to abide by, there are a lot of them, and even suggest wording for your emails. It could be an invaluable phone call.

It's possible that the review was comparing an Outdoor model to the earlier pre-facelift cars. The older cars stick out quite a fair bit further at the front which means you risk sticking the nose in the ground when you come up against a sudden incline.

I do read what you've written! Yes - quite right - "... it just senses movement". And to do that it must sense that a wheel(s) is revolving you'd therefore agree, as only such a sensor could tell it it's moving. (I suppose its GPS could but hardly likely.) In fact it has to travel a distance, if short, for those sensor(s) to register a suitable number of pulses to send to the CPU - so there will definitely be a minimum distance involved. And even more to the point, it's highly likely using the speedometer's sensor, wherever that gets its signal from, because it says in the manual "The Downhill Drive Support is available in the speed range of 2 km/h up to 30 km/h." So if knew which sensor the speedo used; how many pulses were supplied per wheel revolution, or prop shaft rev, or whatever that sensor is sensing; how many pulses the CPU was programmed to require before it calculated a speed; I could extrapolate from that, knowing the circumference of my M+S tyres, how far the car needed to to go for the hill descent to turn on or off. Which would equate to wheel revolutions. Yes? Obviously the inclinometer (or possibly just a pair of tilt switches?) will need to register that it's over its pre-determined angle and the hill descent needs to be used. Incidentally the manual says "... the downhill gradient is at least 10%", so, to correct you again when you said above "no-one knows what angle is needed", there is a published angle even though my car seems nearer 7.5º which converts to a 12.5% slope. All of which actually answers my original question which was: why, when I come to a halt, is the hill descent system still pressing the pads against the discs. The answer being that it hasn't had enough distance to re-calculate that it's no longer (movement+inclinometer) on a slope and can switch itself off. So I've answered my own question which I now wish I hadn't asked in the first place. And I now know that the easiest way to reset the hill descent system when I've stopped is to switch off, switch back on, count to three, and switch off again. Voilà.

No. You are totally wrong on that. And I have read the handbook. If you sit still on a slope that's great enough to trigger the hill descent and turn it on it does NOT become active. The dash light is illuminated, yes, but not flashing. To trigger it the car has to move. In reverse it's something like 2-3 metres or a bit more. At that point the dash light will start flashing showing it's active. It's the movement which starts it working - the wheel revolutions - not the inclinometer. The angle on my car appears to be about 7.5º but it's hard to judge on rough surfaces. As I appear to be considered a bit of an idiot asking such questions, I presumed somebody would actually have the technical answers to hand that they could give me.