Alasdair1

Wonder if the belt snaps or the waterpump fails etc will Skoda repair or give you a new engine if it happens before 180,000 or 15 years?? Reckon you might have trouble claiming that from them. Still do mine 60,000 or 5 years. Do it myself so costs less than 0.5p per mile. Alasdair

Had a word with an old mechanic friend and he always used ATF and acetone mix 50/50. Said to drain oil first and let mix drain through pistons and out of oil drain. Do a few times then flush engine and refill with new oil. Not sure if its suitable for newer engines. He is very old school diesel mechanic. He said he always did it with engine warm. Alasdair

Sorry didn't realise where you were. Alasdair

Thats a fair mileage and if the clutch hasn't been changed in a while the 200HP might shorten what life it has left. I have a mate who took his to 230hp on a high mileage one just to see what it was like and ended up with new DMF and clutch quite quickly plus he went through front tyres like nobodys business. He demapped it back to sstock after wards.

I have seen it on Amazon if its the same stuff. Alasdair

They seem to be missing on all my cars that I changed bearings on. I assume they have either disintegrated or not been replaced. I didn't replace them as I didn't know they were there. Are they needed?? The drive shaft on the left looks sturdier/heavier. Difficult to tell if the length and diameters are the same. It might be my imagination or eyesight but the left one looks just slightly longer.

Sons got an 06 plate MK1 which was terrible but polished lenses and upgraded bulbs and its not too bad now.

Not sure. The glass ball type are like my Ocatvia. One is probably pre facelift and the other post or perhaps VRS The headlights arent that brilliant but I use Phillips extreme vision 150% brighter bulbs and they have made a big difference. Not sure if there is an HID option. I have halogen in all my cars and quite happy as the price of HID is a lot more.#

Hi there have a 1.6tdi CAYC octavia and it had a couple of problems. 1. it took ages to reach 90C and tended to drop quickly when stopped for a short time and then take ages to get up to temp again. Rad fan would come on but only once engine was switched off even after a short journey with temp showing only 60C 2. It tended to rev high for a good while untill temp hit 90C which it would only reach on a longish run. Revs were sitting at 1000-1200rpm until 90c then drop to about 950rpm I changed oil plus filter and had a 200mile trip and now it warms up quickly and the high revs have disapeared. I only changed oil and filter and reset the service warning. Is this pure coincidence or is there something I am missing?? Not complaining but its puzzling me. I also changed a drop link,bearing and a couple of ball joints which shouldn't affect anything Anyone come accross this or should I just be grateful its cured itself On a sepearate issue who designed an engine that you have to remove electrics and stainless pipe so the oil filter will come out?? Its bad enough that they dont have a flap in the undertray for draining oil. Thats progress for you?? Alasdair

If the oil is the correct grade Mine is 5w30 507.00 it should be fine. Thicker oil isn't a good idea at all. If the only thing that was replaced was the injector then I reckon pretty sure it has something to do with it if there was no noise before it failed. I have a couple of bad glowplugs on mine but engine is only lumpy for 10-15secs then fine. It may need VCDS to correctly code rather than a generic scanner but I am not sure. Another long shot would be a break/fault in wiring loom or connector thats only causing fault when cold? There should be a calibration value on the side of the injector that has to be inputed into car to stop over/under fueling. I would ask him if he actually inputed the value or just told the ecu it had a new injector or just cleared codes Alasdair

Compression test seems pretty even. Not sure what it should be but they all are pretty near equal. Your engine seems from the photos pretty clean. As your losing/using so much I would expect a leak that is causing the problem to be pretty noticeable. I was thinking that it might be valve stems seals if not the piston rings. The plug looks pretty oily and worn. You could try a leak down test. Have seen cheap ones online. Alasdair

I agree with OE stuff lasting well. Problem is the new OE doesn't seem to last anywhere as near as long as the original even if you get it from Skoda. Never bothered on my old volvo 940 as they were non interference engines. Snapped one once and did no damage. I suppose if you have the car from new you know whats been fitted. Had a Toyota lucida which had a Sunny belt (I assume cheap chinese rubbish) fitted by previous owner. No way of inspecting it either. It was only 3 years old and completely cracked and worn. Dodged a bullet that day. Alasdair

I do mine myself. Bought the locking tools etc. My Gates kit including pump etc was £90-00 plus new coolant and replaced alternatorr belt at same time. and an oil change etc Took a while the first time. Interesting to see what a garage will charge, When I changed it the old belt was still good but the tensioner/pully had a bit of play. Alasdair

Just remembered you can look up Sachs/ZF catalogue using numberplate. Not sure if it will work due to where you are. It may help narrow it down for you. Have come accross a few errors on autodoc in the past. I always double check with the manufacturer catalogue https://aftermarket.zf.com/en/aftermarket-portal/our-brands/sachs/ Alasdair

There seems to be a huge difference in cambelt changing advice. If it costs you £300 and you work out how much per mile its cost you its 0.5pence per mile over 60,000. I change mine every 5 years or 60,000. I have always used Gates kits. 0.5p per mile is a lot cheaper or in my case works out about £1-00 a week than a new engine. Alasdair

Dont suppose you have an oil cooler? The haynes manual is 1.8litres for the 1.9tdi. Doesn't cover the 1.6tdi but 1 litre doesnt seem right unless theres another fill point higher up or a lower drain plug? Alasdair

I use KYB shocks etc and have done for years and find their shocks/springs and catalogue pretty good. Their shocks and springs are on a few of my cars and no problems so far .https://kyb-europe.com/catalogue/ If I remember there were two types on my 1.9tdi. 50mm diam strut 22mm rod and 55 diam strut 25mm rod. The following came up for your car if I got the correct one on their online lookup KYB324703 50mm/22mm KYB325700 55mm/25mm The part number1T0413031JD comes up with KYB335808 55mm/25mm which is not listed in online lookup for your car but? In there pdf catalogue they all show up so I assume they are compatible KYB335808 55mm/25mm KYB334834 50mm/22mm KYB324703 50mm/22mm KYB325700 55mm/22mm Have a good look to see if theres an OEM label left on either of yours. Think its on or near the flattened section of strut. Had the same problem when looking for mine and as said was lucky. Managed to make one label from what was left on both sides. Alasdair

Maybe something to do with colour or finish? Alasdair

From memory its 9days or 2900 miles before service whichever comes first. Must be on an annual service program Alasdair

I would get top mounts as well while your at it. Not sure if the shocks correct but seems to match your build code. Just realised where you are. Hope you don't have to return anything. Alasdair

I was lucky and found a VAG label left on mine that I could just read part number. The PR code label is missing on my car and none in the handbook either. Alasdair

Few on ebay that are breaking with roof bars. Not sure what they want for them. You could also try breakerlink or similar. Alasdair

Are you sure its the cluster and not the connector to the cluster or wiring. If I remember you said the car was damp inside. Sounds like either a bad supply or earth somewhere unless its a dry joint etc. There a few companies that will check and repair cluster for you. https://www.autotronics.co.uk/ (have never used them but they are £125 at the moment. They should also be able to check the cluster for you and tell you if it needs repairing The spiral cable I think you can get a replacement flat cable for instead of replacing entire unit. Not sure how tricky it is to replace. Before sending cluster have you checked the condition of the fuses that supply the cluster. On my sons mk1 its fuse no1 I think. If theres corosion/loose it can cause the same fault. Alasdair

I picked up a cheap set of locking tools for my 1.9tdi off amazon. First belt I have done on a FWD. Had volvo940 for years before and was a bit worried it was going to be a huge job but not too bad once you get started. Just make sure you use a decent belt/waterpump kit. I generally use gates and have done so for years. Change them every 50-60k . I followed Haynes for mine and it went very well. Have done 3 now with no problems. You may have to get a set of triple square spline bits . I got this set off amazon and so far been pretty good especially fo the price. Managed to get very rusted bearing bolts off without breaking them.

Hopefully the smoke will gradually go. Had a volvo 940 with leaking turbo and it took a while for smoking to clear after I changed it. The DPF may have got too much oil into it. Hopefully it will regen and clear itself once cars back on road. I just ordered some wynns extreme diesel cleaner for mine as I had to move a pipe to change oil and it was pretty carboned up inside. Might be an idea to chuck an additive in the tank to see if it helps. Alasdair