Javaman

I have a 3-month old L & K Octy 11 estate 2.0 TDI which has developed an electrical fault. This may have been present from new and I've only now latched onto it but I could do with some advice. The first time it did something strange was about a month ago; I had just arrived at my destination and switched off the engine. I had placed it in "park" and my foot was still on the footbrake and the headlights were on. I heard a high frequency clicking sound coming out of the dashboard. It sounded like a relay clicking in and out but the dashboard lights started to flicker at exactly the same frequency - the headlights were apparently unaffected. I turned off the lights and removed the key and it stopped. A short somewhere???? I've heard this sound once or twice since but additionally, the car has taken to randomly unlocking the doors whilst I'm driving along. I have the trip computer set to lock all doors when driving. Sure enough there's a reassuring clunk as I pull away and the door lock light next to the cigarette lighter turns amber. Then, completely at random, there's another clunk, the door lock light goes out and the doors are all unlocked. They only lock again once the car is stationary and I pull away once again. This might not occur for two or three days, with everything working correctly and then again, might happen two or three times on a single twenty mile journey. So - do I book it in at this stage or wait and see if it gets worse?? I know how difficult intermittent faults can be to trace. That said, I don't want to get stranded anywhere and I am also nervous about having all the trim pulled out of the dash and getting my new car back with poorly fitting fascia, scratches and scuffs etc etc etc, particularly if the problem isn't solved. Ideas anyone??

I thought QG0 was variable and QG1 fixed??

I agree with everything that's been said. The DSG saps fuel and the 2.0tdi isn't a patch on the 130 1.9 on fuel either . Add the two together, throw in an estate for a bit of extra lard and you're burning serious quantities of extra fuel. It's not bad though when all said and done but I did kind of convince myself that it would be better than it is with economical driving. The energy sapping nature of the DSG can be better understood when you consider it holds 6 litres of oil for starters:eek: When lifting off at 60mph in top, the decelaration in the 1.9 manual was barely noticeable and it would just roll for ever. Do the same with the DSG and the brakes are almost redundant as you find yourself peeling your eyeballs off the windscreen!!

I also stick mine into neutral when stationary for anything other than a few seconds - might not do any good but it certainly won't do any harm and can only prevent wear. When all said and done, a disengaged clutch will still drag and wear. I'm generally happy with mine - up changes can be very smooth, down changes less so, particularly if the throttle is feathered. 4th to 3rd is particularly jerky. I also find that up-changes in the lower gears are smoother in manual than allowing it to do it's own thing. I agree about the slipping in 2nd thing - I drive mine in tiptronic a lot of the time on the open road and only stick it in auto in town. Have knocked it into neutral a few times when changing in up manually in auto mode . . . duh!!!

Changing the oil is a PIA. Don't forget that the long-life oil is a fully synthetic oil of better quality than the stuff recommended for 10K service intervals. My 1.9 needed it's first variable service at just under 20K so I just set the service interval indicator to fixed and changed the oil myself every 15K but used long-life oil. Seemed like a good compromise to me. It meant I wasn't spending my life changing the stuff, the car was getting it's lub changed more often than it otherwise would (but only just) and I wasn't paying through the nose for the privilige. Do bear in mind that a bucket of long-life oil is damned expensive and whilst it does not harm to change the oil more often than necessary, I genuinely believe all you're doing is wearing out the thread on your sump plug more quickly - nothing more and nothing less fellas!!

I've just traded in my 1.9 130 hatch for a 2.0tdi estate with DSG - driven in the same manner, I would get 60mpg from the 1.9 ans I struggle to get 42-43 mpg from the 2.0 over the same regular journey. The two cars a chalk and cheese and a country mile apart in the economy stakes. I would also say that the 1.9 manual felt every bit as powerful and torquey as the 2.00. As for running in - no experience with this but I would be inclined to get the break-in done without towing - surely this has to be the way to go. The whole point of the break-in is to avoid excessive revs and excessive loads. If you tow a van, you're subjecting the engine to highl loads for sure. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with my new car and 42mpg is good by any standards other than . . . my previous steed which blew it away no problem at all. Some folks will give me a load of ****e about how much more economical it will be when it's run it - O.K - add about 2mpg to the above but I bet it won't be any more than that!!!

My TPM went bong tonight on the way home from work. . . . .the first time it's gone off since I had the car new erhh . . .1500 miles ago. I kicked all four tyres and concluded that none of them looked flat and carefully drove home the remaining 7-8 miles. I put the car in the garage and checked the pressures 2.4 bar in both rears and 2.3 bar in both fronts. An hour later and they had settled to the correct level of 2.2 rear and 2.1 front:( So, I had a false warning - I've reset the thing and will see what happens. Do folks get false warnings with this system?? Have I got a fault somewhere???

Phew!!!- had me worried there for a moment!! Still, I wouldn't be surprised if she's been parked up on an airfield somewhere for a while but not for 5 years hopefully!

duh . . I'm such a dope. I need to change that!! I p/exd the 130 for my L & K . . . I sure hope it wasn't made in 2004 - I've only just registered it as brand new having bought it from Rainworth:eek: I won't charge headlong into buying this kit but I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff on here to read through, learn and then make an informed choice. Thanks anyway. One problem I have been having is driving up a small ramp into my garage in a smooth and controlled way. At least I've sussed this - turn the ESP off. Makes life soooo much easier. The problem was that each time I applied the brake in order to stop and check I wasn't about to rip off the mirrors, the wretched discs were grabbing and not releasing immediately - made for a series of staccato lurches into the garage instead of a smooth operation with me feathering the brakes - turn the ESP off and the Hill Hold function is cancelled - life suddenly becomes so much easier!!!

Can anyone help me with the following - that section of the VIN that is 1Z3, 1Z4 OR 1Z5 - what does this relate to and what is the difference between the above three For the record. My car VIN includes 1Z4 and is a 2.0pd L & K Octy estate. And a totally unrelated question -VAG-COM or VCDS - I'm thinking that I might invest. Ross-tech feature a cheaper version called the MICRO-CAN which is for cars based on the mk5 Golf platform. I believe that includes my car but that said, having had a look at the U.K distributor sites they only seem to list the KEY series of USB HEX-CAN (I think I have remembered this correctly). Only the latter is any good for my car and appears to be the fullblow bells and whistles pro jobby. So - would the Micro-Can be good enough?? Indeed is it available in this country as no-one seems to have it on their site or should I resist the temptation to be tight and just splash out on the full monty. As far as the latter goes - I will only ever be using it on my 2.0pd until such time as I trade it in which won't be for at least 4-5 years, in which case would the more expensive interface be out of date anyway??? Any advice appreciated

I've been looking on e-bay at workshop manuals. Only thing is, you need to buy an OBD2 cable (I think that's what it's called from memory). Now, I've asked a few other questions and this turns out to be a "freeware" version of VAGCOM by Ross-tech. So, here goes. Would this be enough to enable me to carry out simple diagnostics on the car such as gear oil changes on a DSG for monitoring oil temp etc and where the hell do I buy the cable and how much? What limits would be imposed by having a freeware version of the software:confused:

Just press the trip computer button on the end of the windscreen wiper stalk for 2 seconds and then using it as a rocker switch, scroll down to Setup and select it using the trip computer reset button on the underside of the wiper stalk. Select the Conv menu and you have the option of All, none or driver only. Select none and the job's a goodun. The water will no longer leak in through open windows - it will come in through the bulkhead instead!!! LOL

Well, I just p-exd my 1.9 Octy Elegance hatch 130 for a PD 140 with DSG. I don't know if it's the same basic engine bored out or a completely different animal. What I can say is that the 1.9 was a whole world apart on the economy stakes. The performance would be about the same but I could easily achieve 60mpg on a run in the 1.9 with a light throttle. Stick a gallon in my current car and I would have to push it the last 15miles or more!!! There have been a few comments on here about porous heads and blown turbos on the pd140 - I don't know if these comments apply in equal measure to the 1.9- if not, I wouldn't even think about it - get a 1.9!! If these issues are not model specific, with the exception of economy where the 1.9 excels, I would just but the best car for the money whichever engine it happens to have!

Thanks for that. I will keep the floor and probably have it installed most of the time. I just wanted to know from the off, how to remove it if necessary. I'd better ring the dealers to double check on removing the sidewalls - I wouldn't want to turn the things the wrong way and risk any damage:( These manuals on e-bay are less than a tenner so it might be worth a punt. Will question a few "sellers" to see if I get any sensible replies and then bite the bullet.

Thanks for that - I half suspected the rear cargo net hoops as I can see that there is some connection between those and the sidewalls. I tried turning them anticlockwise by hand but didn't want to force them incase something broke - that said, I used quite a lot of force and they didn't budge. I don't think I will need any extra floor covering as the felt up the sides of the boot space extends down and under the side walls and protrudes into and over the boot floor by a few inches and then the "felt" covered hardboard spare-wheel cover lies on top of that. When the sidewalls are out, it will just look that same as my old Octy boot. The rearmost loops holding down the sidewalls are too big for the cargo nets to attach to properly, I would guess that small diameter units are fitted into cars without the raised floor so that the nets attach. Not that it matters cos I probably won't use them. Loads of manuals on e-bay. I get the impression that some of it is pirated main dealer stuff. Will sit tight and see what others have to say before I go for it. Thanks for your advice - much appreciated

Definitely down to water-based paints. It's not just Skodas that are like this. That said, any paint will chip if it gets hit hard enough - all you can do is keep your distance and touch up regularly if it bothers you. My car's black as well so I guess this wasn't a wise choice other than I shouldn't have to look too hard to find them when touching up!!

Hi, I've now covered the grand total of 350 miles and the daily commute has improved from 40-41mpg to 44-45mpg so things are looking better already with only a fistful of miles on the clock. It's taken me this long to "interpret" the owners manual - it contains a number of errors and can be very confusing in places. That said, I now have only two questions. 1. The car comes with the raised boot floor which is held in place with a couple of quick-release fasteners. O.K - No problem, I can just lift this out but what about the two side pieces?? Can these be removed so that I end up with a single low floor without the runners up each side? I wouldn't have thought these are standard fit and assume they are part of the raised floor kit but for the life of me, I can't work out how to remove them, or indeed, if they are removable??? If they come out, could someone please enlighten me 2. I want a workshop manual just for bread and butter jobs like oil and filter, disc and pad changes etc and was intending to put the car into the dealers for the big stuff. There are loads on e-bay but most seem to come on DVD and cover a whole spectrum of cars going back years. Would this give enough detail "specific" to my car?? Any recommendations gratefully appreciated. Very pleased thus far and am learning to chill out with the DSG. The combination of this with cruise control definitely makes for a less frenetic driving style and dare I say, I even pay more attention to speed limits now. Hmm!! . . .I think I need a few outings on the Triumph Tiger:D

Thanks for the advice about feathering the brake with my left foot which makes sense but I will practise it away from the garage - I might try it with a couple of bricks up against the front wheels and see what happens. I just assumed that when stationary, if I even touched the footbrake, the clutch would immediately disengage fully??:confused: I think I'll go for some botox injections in my left leg to stop me pressing the "clutch" !! The other observation that I would make is a little neutral. The L & K comes with Zenon lights which can be a very expensive option on a lot of cars - standard on the L & K . . . not worth paying for in my opinion despite all the rave comments I've heard. O.K, I've driven cars with projector lights and have a Triumph motorcycle with these fitted and they are garbage so I will have to upgrade it but a standard halogen headlight is pretty good and the improvement of the zenons is minimal if you've previously had these on your car. The zenons on the L & K are limited to dip beam as I understand it and there is a noticeable difference in colour temperature between dip and main. Sure, the dip beam is very bright and appears to have a much more defined cut off than a standard halogen. The hedgerow on either side of the row is immersed in "daylight" but . . . . that ain't where I'm driving. The view of the road ahead is limited by the cut off just as with a standard dip beam - both allow a pretty good view of the road. The bottom line is that I wouldn't want to drive any faster on dip at night with the zenons than with a standard halogen, so what's the big deal with these things unless you're trading up from projector beam headlights garbage luminous flux output??? Again, thanks for the advice re feathering the brake - my left leg is gonna get really confused now!!!!!!

No . . . It keeps trying to depress that phantom clutch when I'm coming up to a junction. . . . . finds the brake instead!!!!!

I picked up my L & K 2.0 pd DSG Estate today -a pre-facelift model. I spent a deal of time considering the DSG versus the manual having spent the last four years driving a 130 1.9 Elegance tdi hatch. Fuel consumption . . . O.K, the car's only got 100miles on it but there is a massive chasm between the economy of this car and my 130. I know that driven back from the dealers in the same fashion, my 1.9 would have easily returned 60-65mpg on the trip computer. The DSG managed 44mpg!! Even allowing for a tight engine this is disappointing. I was expecting poorer consumption but the difference is really rather surprising. Hopefully there will be a way to override the rain-sensing windscreen wipers. What an utter PIA they are!! This is a good example of engineers developing a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. They give a single wipe at the merest hint of moisture and a transparent if not slightly dirty screen is then morphed into a hideous smeary mess. . . . fingers crossed that this can be sorted out. I've never routinely driven an automatic but don't anyone underestimate the innate desire that remains within your left leg to involuntarily stamp on the brakes when you approach a junction. I did it so violently on one occasion that I stalled the car and nearly had someone run into the back of me. I'm going to have to either sit on my left leg for the next week or so or velcro my shoe to the carpet!!!! The biggest concern I have about the DSG is something that never even occured to me. When my house was built, the builders constructed the garage with two single doors instead of a double. Each entrance has a ramp of about 10 inches in depth at an incline of about 30degrees so that the garage floor is about 4 inches or so above the height of the gravel outside. Now then, the door frame is about 2 inches wider than the wing mirrors. With my 130 manual, I could slip the clutch and dribble the car forwards extremely precisely and slowly so as to ensure the car was centred in the doorway and avoid ripping off the mirrors. With the DSG, this is going to be heart-stopping each time I put the car away. Sure, in "drive" the car will creep forwards very slowly on a level surface but the moment the wheels come into contact with the ramp the car stops and requires a little use of the accelarator . . no movement . . . a little more. . . no movement . . . just a wee, wee bit more squidge of accelarator and the car lurches forward 10 - 12 inches suddenly and I stamp on the brake to stop it. This cycle repeats istelf 3 times until I have the wing mirrors through the door and then I just drive in normally!!! Unless I can come up with some way of accurately centering the car when driving into the garage, it is only a matter of time before I rip off the wing mirrors!!:thumbdwn: This also begs the question about driving up ramps when changing sump oil. I normally do my own servicing and would just drive the 130 straight up a pair of ramps so that I could get to the sump. I have visions with this thing of it sitting at the base of the ramps whilst I gradually apply more and more accelarator in a gentle and progressive fashion only for the wretched car to fly up the ramp and off the end if I'm not quick enough with the brakes. The implications of this are obvious and it is very bad news. In fact, I'm quite certain that attempting to drive up a pair of ramps to change the oil will end in tears. . . . so much so that I doubt I'll even attempt it. Driving it is actually quite good fun and slipping across into manual mode is quite entertaining. I really can't see any purpose at all for sport mode given that the standard drive programme varies according to driving style and there is always the kickdown function in any of the gate positions. On balance, the ramp and garage door issue are probably specific to my circumstances but represent enough of a problem so that if I can't develop a more progressive technique, I would have definitely gone for the manual if given the choice again. Otherwise it is a fine piece of kit and the car overall very well made and a nice place to be. Cruise control is fabulous to have and I'm quite convinced will make longer journeys far more relaxing. The brake stamping is extremely alarming but just needs a little brain realignment - hopefully this will happen before I acquire a DSG badge in the form of a reprofiled rear end on the car:D The car seems more quiet than the 130 and the handling more taught - probably due to nothing more than worn tyres and a 69000 mileage difference!! Very pleased with Alcantara seats and the general finish. Black cars!!! - it looked dirty when I picked it up - Still, it does look smart and the silver roof rails set it off nicely. Only other extrea is tyre pressure monitoring which for just over £80 has to be one of the best safety aids for the money that you can possibly get. I will check all the tyre pressures first thing tomorrow and calibrate the monitoring system. Only other silly design issue is that if you inadvertently forget that you've gone back to "drive" and think you're in "manual" mode, knocking the gear lever forward expecting to change up a gear will see the rev counter shoot around the dial as the gear lever will move forward into neutral. This is not good since you WILL do it sooner or later. It should at least require the gate lock to be depressed for this to happen but strangely, it doesn't. I know, cos I did this too!!!! The 130 had hydraulic power steering which I've always felt to be better than electric designs. I had a Civic Type R with the latter and the steering was horrid. The 140 PD has electric power steering and it has plenty of feel and is well weighted. In fact, I could tell no difference between this and the steering on the 130. O.K folks, that's about it. I'm just going out to the garage to lick my new steed all over and bend my good woman over the bonnet before I retire to the lounge to read all the Caveats in the owners manual Ciao from Sunny Lincolnshire

I'm picking up my new L&K Octy 2.0 pd Estate on Sunday and I want to get some Thule roofbars but The Thule site lists Skoda Octavia Estate 05 onwards - No fit Skoda Octavia Estate 98 onwards with Roof rails - Foot kit 755/757 Their current "catalogue" lists only the 755 and not the 757 feet. roofracks.co.uk list the Octavia 11 estate as - No Fit but curiously the have an Octavia 111 estate with roof rails that needs kit 757 with 761 roofbars. I'm totally confused. It looks as though the 761 120cm roofbars are the correct bars but why do Thule themselves list the car as no fit - it has roof rails!!!!! So, anyone out there have an Octy 11 estate with Thules bars?? - what kit did you use Thanks for any help

It might be a coincidence and nothing to do with the dealer. I've had two golfs and both needed new water pumps at about 70K. No issues other than the coolant warning light came on and over a period of months the cars used progressively more coolant. It never drained out visibly onto the garage floor. I did make a point of checking the oil and that stayed clean. I too would suggest that your clouds of water vapour on start up are likely to be normal - I'll go for the pump cos of my past experiences. There is no way I would have a new cambelt fitted without the pump being changed at the same time. Good luck in pinning it down. Let us know what it turns out to be!!:(

So much depends on driving style. When folks say they drive gently, even that is down to interpretation of the word "gentle". My 1.9Octy 130 hatch averages 53.5 on a tankful but if driven like a pussy it is quite easy to get 70mpg cumulative on a trip with one occupant. The best I ever managed was Chester to Boston - 160 miles and driving as tight as I could the whole way, I averaged 81.9mpg. Unbelievable but true. Took a hell of a long time to get to Boston. Also, when I checked, the fuel consumption computer is a little optimistic - 53.5 on the computer equates to about 49mpg using the good old-fashioned method!!! I would guess my epic journey equates to just over 70mpg. Correct tyre pressures, aircon off, dry roads, roofbars off, 40mph around roundabouts. Avoid braking and accelarating as much as poss, speed held to 50-55mph, slip-stream where possible and the above figures are achievable. These wretched trip computers make normal people behave like such t*ssers - I really must buy a car that doesn't have the wretched thing!!!

Oh hell . . why did you have to go and tell me that . . . that's even less than the cost of a friggin Mars bar!!!

Only one post on this thread acknowledges the point that even with the footbrake depressed the engine is under load when stationary in drive - Maybe it shouldn't be but it is -you can feel it. The wear this causes is bound to be minimal but the loading is certainly more than you sense if you sit at the lights with a manual in first gear and the clutch depressed. Mine will be going into neutral if I'm stationary for more than a few seconds. Necessary? . . probably not but can only help reduce clutch wear in my opinion!! To sit with it in drive and held on the handbrake is nuts and the quickest way to destroy a DSG before its time.