Tricky_b

Hi Skoda enthusiasts, Hoping to get some expert advice on an issue I have been having for some time now. Please be aware I am not a car person so I will probably use some inappropriate terms to label things, but bear with me. For about 12 months I have had what appears to be a coolant 'LEAK'. I turn the engine on in the morning and I get an emergency warning on the dash to check the coolant level. Lo and behold, the coolant in the reservoir is well below the min line. Occasionally the reservoir is almost entirely empty (which is strange because if it was a leak you would expect the sensor would pick it up when it falls below the min line right?) This only ever happens when I power up first thing in the morning, never during/at the end of driving. I have never observed any liquid where it shouldn't be in the engine bay or underneath the car. So I took it to the mechanic, who ran a pressure test (on two occasions) and did not find any external leaks. They couldn't get to the bottom of it and recommended I take it to Skoda for a once-over. Bit more backstory - not long after I bought her (purchased second hand with 70,000 km on the clock) she overheated on the freeway. Towed to the mechanic, they found out that the water pump sleeve(?) had become dislodged so coolant was not pumping around the system. That was replaced, and while correlation doesn't equal causation my coolant problem has happened ever since... Having also not found any external leaks, Skoda hypothesised that there was some air trapped in the system so they bled the line, expecting this would resolve the issue, though it has continued to happen every month or so. When it does I will top it up with water, which I have done in total 5-6 times, though she should be taking Valvoline G-40. About a month ago, it started overheating. This has followed a pretty predictable pattern - mostly happening on hot days (currently Australian summer). Engine will get up to temp, with the gauge sitting happily on 90C. After approx. 10 minutes of driving, the needle will continue to climb, jumping back and forth, but if I don't stop/slow down it will start creeping into the red. Then, it stabilises and comes back down to 90 C and won't go above again. Yesterday it happened on the freeway, about 15 mins into driving I got the emergency 'engine overheating' warning with the needle at ~120C. I pulled over without powering down, let it idle for a bit and it came back down to 90. When I popped the hood the coolant level in the reservoir was sitting at the max line. Note I've also had the AC running (because heat) and am sure this is contributing. I notice during these times the engine fan is running HARD, it is very audible. Lots of radiant heat coming from the engine bay too. An oddity worth mentioning - the fan will sometimes keep running when I have turned the engine off/key out of the ignition and will continue to do so for up to 15-20 mins after powering down. Not sure if this is a diesel thing, but I seem to notice that this extra fan running has coincided with the coolant depleting (i.e. I will get home at night, the fan will continue to run, and the next morning the coolant warning will appear). Any advice would be appreciated. It has stumped my mechanic and Skoda centre so far, so extra street cred if you can diagnose over the internet. Thanks, -Trick

Bump!

Looking for a new infotainment unit for my Octavia as my stereo completely shat itself. I had an intermittent crackle coming through the speakers for a little while, until one day it stopped producing sound from any inputs. Skoda diagnosed that the sound processor has failed - they quoted me $6600 for them to replace it, which for obvious reasons I wasn't overly keen on. Looking for suggestions for a replacement? Preferably Android, I'm in Australia if that is of any relevance. Cheers