PeterGAH

My 20 valve 1.8 Turbo seems to be using too much oil. After an oil change service I managed 6000 miles before the light came on. It has come on again after adding 3/4 litre at 8300 from the service. That means 3/4 litre burns off in 2300 miles. When new this car ran 14,000 before needing oil. Now it has done 108,000miles Any thoughts. I have been using Shell Helix Ultra X 0w 30 Has anyone re-ringed one of these engines? Or is it just a case of using a thicker oil? PeterH

My auto 20valve 1.8 turbo has developed a whine when accelerating at high revs in top gear D. As soon as the pedal is relaxed the whine stops. It doesn't sound like the typcial crown wheel and pinion type noise, it is much higher frequency. We have 108,000 miles on the clock and have had the 53 car from new. Any thoughts. Anyone else experienced this? PeterH :confused:

Very good LOL Rephrasing rapidly "What is life expectancy?"

My Octavia 1 has an automatic gearbox and I am told it is "sealed for life". The 20 valve engine will apparently manage 500,000 miles and the body is guaranteed for 10 years, so what does life mean Automatic gearbox wise? Peter:confused:

My automatic transmission is approaching 100,000 miles and still on the original fluid. I notice a few rough changes here and there. There is no filler tube or top up. I think the fluid will be about ready to be changed. How is this done? :confused:

Thanks for replies and Sorry Yes it is an Automatic

Immediately after a cold start my brakes will not apply, the pedal is locked up hard. Very interesting when reversing after start up in a tight spot. Spoke/written to Skoda UK who have no clue about this. 1.8 Turbo 150 BHP engine. Car has done it from new. It seems the servo completley fails. It is ok after a minute or two but very scary on starting. Any ideas?:confused:

Thanks. Weird however as I just had the car serviced and scanned and service light code cleared. Seems I had better take it round there again.

Both came on as I was cruising with cruise control ON in a 50mph zone. The Engine stopped. I freewheeled to a halt and after stopping, restarted the car. It ran fine to continue my journey OK. Does anyone know what that is all about? Brake lights are coming on OK on braking. Everything seems to work OK. Just embarrassing plus wife doesn't want to go out in it now. PeterGAH:confused:

Go back to the people who did the service. Tell them a ton of knowledgeable people have told you its to be done at each 40k and get them to show you the evidence which supports their view.

It could be brake judder caused by the disk not being replaced with minimal runout after the wheel bearing job. I am not totally familiar with the Octavia set up but it is highly likely disk/pad related and not the strut. The other thing could be that the pads are not quite sitting as they were or in the inside pad is now outside and vice versa if that is possible. It needs attention or it will put lots of strain on the whole front suspension. Get the shop who changed the bearing to do it FOC. (Well try anyway!)

No! They perform artificial replication.

My Octavia 1.8 Turbo Elegance 2003 53 had Leather MFSW as an optional extra but the car was made at least six months earlier. The Aug 2003 Price list states MFSW was an option at £350 inc VAT and not a retro fit accessory item. On L and K again it was an option but lower priced. Sorry it is not going to help you much, but its better than nothing perhaps. Peter

You may be talking about Skoda Dealer prices. Try an independant. The parts are less from an independant I had an engine warning light fixed today. £135. The skoda dealer would have probably charged £300 as the £135 included fitting a new MAF sensor. Peter

Always do the cam belt earlier if its school run type miles. Its the stopping and starting, not the motorway miles that gets them. My pal a Land rover service engineer says "Always change the adjuster pulley as well".

TV Adverts are louder than programmes so you can hear them in the kitchen or wherever else you go to avoid them. Wait till they have HD adverts. They will probably reflect the pictures into the bathroom!

Good old Microsoft forgot some people in the Security business who created business CD's which ran fine in XP but would not load up in Vista. You cannot do this to business people. If a CD with valuable data says Windows 98 or later or Windows Millenium or Later then thats hopeless if it sticks on Vista. The Service Pack 1 for Vista addresses this now various Software security companies have taken issue with Microsoft. Well thats my understanding. Peter

A FEW DAYS LATER So I took my Octavia 20 valve engine warning light problem to him He scanned and found two faults. 1) Weak mixture He finds a split breather on the manifold and replaces with a reinforced one. 2) Mass Air Flow sensor is faulty. He orders a new one from the local factor and the car is reapired within 6 hours. The invoice states he did all the work and cleared the faults and road tested and double checked the fault codes were clear. The light is gone. Cost £135.10 inc VAT. At a SKODA Dealer (he tells me) it is £60 just for the scan, £70 to fit the hose (if they find it, they didn't find another split breather last year) and the MAF. Then its £160 plus VAT for the part. Bill probably in the region of £290 plus VAT. Ooh I forgot the hose. Also they fit the original flimsy thing. The Dealer is 20 miles away so thats another £20 on petrol for two cars one as a taxi. Also my local independent advised he can do all work even if the car is in Warranty and doesn't even have to use Skoda parts, only parts of OE quality. Also I am sure if you have Kangaroo petrol the split hose on the inlet manifold is probably the cause. The hose is pathetic material. Mine was split in three places. This is why we always go to independents for service.

Sorry it got on top of you today. Some drivers just see the test as something to be passed. They do not realise that what they learned to pass the test is the proper way to drive. They see the ripping up of L plates as the ripping up of courtesy and restraint. Of course we are all supposed to drive all the time as if on a driving test. I'll bet loads of people reading this are saying "I couldn't drive like that" Well you can, it is easy and whats more you don't get points on your licence and you keep more of your money. Plus you have the opportunity of getting a good feeling out of being nice to other road users. Actually to be fair, it is easier to keep to the 30 limit in an automatic car than a manual. In a 5 speed you probably need 3rd. However the government haven't spent zillions on road signs all over the place for them to be ignored. Sorry for a lecture, not intended as such, but I also get too much of Sharkriders grief aimed at me by the lunatic brigade. Fortunately today was not too bad. Only one huge Tractor thing and he made an effort to move over, plus another idiot doing a U turn in the turning to our road. Its not a roundabout you know. Wretched SAAB knowall.

If you get your car chipped great but don't forget to tell your insurance company first! They may have a view! Insurance is only valid as long as the car is as described to them and all questions are answered correctly. PeterGAH

Don't keep taking it to Skoda Dealer. Try an independent. they all have the diagnostic gear. It is against European Legislative principles for Manufacturers to withhold technical information. The independents are far more inventive and use initiative where dealer not interested in servicing your car just want to sell new cars. Buy a new car from a Car dealer, get it serviced at a service dealer. Get the yellow pages open there is bound to be a specialist near you. My Octavia, had it 5 yrs from new is serviced by the local garage. He also fixes my Triumph stag. Other thing is try Unipart car care centre. PeterGAH

Unfortunately the Skoda Dealers are not very good. I think they have to compensate you but if it was any older I would take it to an independant. My Octavia 20 valve was smelling of oil and it went into the dealer 3 times and they said nothing was wrong. I wrote to Skoda and got a free pollen filter but it still smelt. I took it around the corner to the garage that fixes my Triumph Stag and he found a split breather pipe very quickly. Ordered and fitted new one. smell gone. Now my engine light is on, guess where it is going? ECU has only about six inputs and as the engine is running fine my money is currently on the cooling temperature sensor. Yours fails to start. No fault showing. Hmmm. Well it is either blocked diesel filter or glow plugs if they have them. I am not really up on Skoda Diesels. Main point I am making is about Skoda Dealers not really having the basic nouse like the independants who fix lots of different makes. I have had experiences of Dealer incompetence at three different Skoda Dealers, including "we know better than the factory", and "we can't find out what is wrong with it", and downright lies. What would I be doing in your shoes. First check yellow pages and ask an independant if they can fix it. Then write to the dealer and state that if you get no satisfaction within 7 days , you request them to agree to pay for trailering to an independent diesel expert who will fix it and they pick up the bill. Copy Skoda at Milton Keynes. PeterGAH

I am struggling with this site. Who do you ask questions? I registered and got a nice welcome then tried to ask a technical question and got kicked out as "Not allowed" I was told I might have to be a freedom member. What a way to introduce that. What is it? The car is bad enough already and we will change for Hyundai because they have 5 years unlimited mileage guarantee. The Dealer had my Octavia two days and cannot fix it. Hopeless!

The Service manager is great. The problem is the owner doesn't believe in variable servicing and totally screwed up my cars computer so the light didn't come on and the car went 24000 on the same oil. Thank you Grey Gables if you stuffed my engine. The engine management software had to be reinstalled by downloaded from Skoda UK by Merritts Aylesbury for a complete reset. I cannot stand Dealers who think they know better than the factory. I will not be going back there until the management changes.

I support the suggestions that you do not get your Skoda serviced here. They lie to you and they aren't user friendly. I will never ever buy anything from them again. I go to Merrits in Aylesbury now, better but still plenty of room for improvement.