classic

I do know that Octavia front pads min thickness is 10mm and rear pads min thickness is 9mm. That figure includes the backplate. I can’t remember the minimum disc measurement but I’m sure it was 3mm less than the new disc measurement, therefore a 1.5mm lip on both faces meant they were at minimum size. If it has passed its mot then the brakes work ok, If there’s no vibrations or noise, I’d run until the pads reach min and then change the discs and pads.

That sounds like a lot ! There are places that repair them, such as these ; http://www.blueengines.co.uk/mechatronics.html https://www.gearboxnottingham.co.uk/dsg-mechatronic-units I have used a breakers called Synetiq before, they have a complete gearbox for £960, obviously that might not be the correct one but it gives an idea of prices. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GEARBOX-Skoda-Octavia-2013-2017-2-0-Diesel-QMM-6-Speed-DSG-WARRANTY-7341417/143090590546?hash=item2150dd2352:g:g9EAAOSwEcdcPJLM Sounds like you’ve got service history, might even be worth taking it to a Skoda dealer and seeing if there’s any goodwill to be had.

What is it on yours that fails, is it the electric actuator for the wastegate or the mechanical part siezing ?

I don’t want to tempt fate, but my 2014 1.4 is on nearly 77,000 miles and original turbo. No issues with anything in fact, just servicing, tyres and rear brake pads is all it’s needed from new. My car probably did as much mileage in the last year alone than yours has done since 2015. It shouldn’t make any difference, in an ideal world, but maybe more use is the reason ? My theory with the turbo though is that I never use the stop/start and let it idle before turning off. I always give it a blast towards the red line at least one a month to try and make sure the wastegate gets a workout through its full range. Mine is a manual and I wonder if the dsg models are basically just working through the same limited Rev range most of the time ? Also, it’s never gone longer than 10k miles between oil changes. I believe the later 150 version of the 1.4 is just different software/mapping and the actual turbo is the same as the 140.

Yes, confirmed. I have the same engine which I service myself and use this https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-713-castrol-edge-titanium-5w-30-ll-fully-synthetic-car-engine-oil.aspx?VariantID=98269&vehicleid=24337&yearfilter=2014&providerpartid=98269&genericpartid=1862&providerpartlinkid=131117&partsgroupid=2354&genericpartname=Car engine oil I had an oil change done at a Skoda dealer last year and they used 5w40.

I think some of the vRS petrol models may have a plastic sump, but mine is a 1.4 and it has a steel sump. It looks fairly straightforward to take off if it had to be replaced. I wonder if yours has been scraped they only seem to have a thin spray of black paint on them. You might be able to clean yours up and put some paint on to preserve it.

I replaced the rear pads on mine last year and got them from the Skoda dealer. They aren’t that much more expensive and you get the right ones, and new bolts for the calliper sliders.

I watch a channel on YouTube of a mechanic in the US, (he’s a brilliant mechanic some of the repairs he has to do in the middle of nowhere are insane), and I’ve seen a video of worn out cam followers so it’s definitely an issue with them. Can’t quite tell off your photo if it’s the same fault though.

Yes it is

That does look like a pcv valve, but I don’t know for sure on your engine. What I do know is I’ve just repaired a Vauxhall Astra that had high oil consumption and the fault turned out to be the pcv valve. It was drinking oil, and took only 200 miles to chug 1 litre of oil. On that car the pcv valve is built into the cam cover and I had to buy a complete new cam cover. Try removing the dipstick whilst your engine is running and listen for a hissing sound, then replace the dipstick and try removing the oil filler cap, on the Astra it was not possible to remove the oil filler cap with the engine running as it was being sucked on by the vacuum through the failed pcv valve. The engine was basically sucking oil straight out of the top of the engine into the inlet manifold, and the owner had been told the engine needed replacing ! On your tdi with a vacuum pump, it may be a case of disconnecting the pipe on the engine side of that pcv valve and see how much it’s sucking, it should be less than on the vacuum pump side at idle.

I think that is because the intervals are actually in km, and the default fixed service interval is 15000km which is actually 9320.5679 miles. The program in the car displays that as 9400.

Mine (Manual not dsg) is averaging 41mpg, with a pretty much 50/50 city centre and dual carriageway A roads. That equates to 350 to 400 miles from a tank, so I think you may have a problem. I don’t thrash it, but I don’t try to eek out mpg either, it’s in normal mode and just gets driven. In fact I always turn off the stop start and make sure it gets a decent regular dose of heavy right foot as I believe this is good for the turbo operation. I don’t know how anyone gets 60,70, 80 mpg, out of these without some serious effort.

That’s the one, worked on mine, you may have a fault.

Not sure if yours will be the same, but on my SE you can partially disable the front sensors. I have it set so the front sensors do not automatically come on. I can’t remember how it’s done, but in the settings it was fairly obvious, I’ll have a look later. The front sensors will still come on when you put it in reverse, and it seems that can’t be stopped, but they won’t activate by themselves when you’re going forward. Maybe with vcds it could be turned off completely, I don’t know.

Here you go dude, drivers seat second hand 👍 £120.84 delivered to your door. https://www.synetiq.co.uk/parts-breaking/details/seat-front-rh/-/284025/ Took me 30 seconds to find that similar one in the link above. If you spend a bit of time search breakers, eBay etc you’d definitely find the exact seat from a 2017 se l. Im sure you can buy a new seat from a Skoda dealer, but I bet they are expensive.

For £600 I would leave it. That’s typical dealership fitters - the mounting is part of the intake manifold, it’s broken, so new intake manifold required. Any decent mechanic could fabricate something, or use glue/plastic welding or something to repair that. Or if it was me, have the ability to say “It’s only one of the mountings, the others remain. The air filter housing is held together by screws so it’s air tight and the pipework and other mounting keep the thing securely in place.” In any case it’s either been broken by someone removing the air box or it’s failed in which case it’s a manufacturing defect so could be warranty ?

I do not believe it is needed for a full service history. I’m sure lease companies won’t be paying for it on fleet cars. Personally I think it’s good practise to do it every 2 years but if I had a lease car I honestly wouldn’t bother if it worked ok. (Armchair opinion only - check with your lease company before accepting my advice 😬)

If you buy it you’ll be the second member of Skippy’s club. 😁 As with all cars evidence of regular services is key and any history of whatever repairs it may have had. I have a 1.4 on 70000 miles, all good so far, and I have every intention of taking it well above 150000.

Sorry I don’t know Bedford, this place looks good if the website is anything to go by ? https://blackridgeautos.com/ At least you know what the problem is, hope you get it sorted easily. My 1.4 is 6 years old in December so I’ll keep an eye on the pump 😬

I think pointing MrSkoda to a specialist is a good idea. I suspect the possibilities are a leak in the area of the pump which is disturbed to fit the timing tool or a pipe in that area leaking having been disturbed, an air lock due to it not being refilled with the proper vacuum tool, or the water pump itself. 10 minutes in a decent workshop should yield the answer.

😂 neither will I !

I don’t know enough either having never done a cam belt change on one of these, but I’ve previously read the manual. I believe the water pump belt cover and possibly part of the water pump housing is removed to fit one of the timing tools - therefore the water pump is disturbed fitting the belt, so it wouldn’t take too much of a leap of imagination that if this is done wrongly a leak could be caused ! Also these engines are very prone to air locks as the cooling system should be vacuum filled, which a dealer should know about, but again it doesn’t take much imagination to see a dealer technician just filling the cooling system with a watering can...... and now MrSkodas car needs a few top ups as the air works out of the system.

The water pump on the 1.4 tsi is at the opposite end of the engine driven by its own separate drive belt. Therefore there is no reason for it to be incoperated in a cam belt change. The majority of water pumps on vag group cars are driven by the cam belt, and I suspect the service receptionist was initially ignorantly happy to carry out MrSkodas request to replace the pump with the cam belt. No doubt once the car was in the workshop the technician queried it as the water pump is nothing to do with the cam belt and is an expensive job in its own right. There have been some water pump failures of 1.4 tsi engines documented on here but not many, so it’s hardly an inherent fault. MrSkoda’s car is 6 years old and I don’t think we can diagnose it over the internet, although the water pump is a distinct possibility.

It could literally be anything, only way to find out is a proper inspection and pressure test. I would book it wherever you get the servicing done. Please don’t put radweld or anything similar into it.

I don’t know how to do it, and I would guess there is a safety/legal issue with disconnecting or disabling the handle especially as your car is a taxi. I have to use taxis a lot and the mind boggles that anyone would try and get in the front with the current global pandemic...... In all seriousness I would get a blow up doll, large teddy bear or shop window dummy, put a mask (officially approved face covering, not gimp😬) on it and strap it into the front passenger seat. Or pile a load of stuff on the front seat so it’s obvious it can’t be sat in. Tape over the outside handle with Duck tape in a big cross, just in case they don’t spot whatever is strapped in the front.