Jono

By "Optimized" do they perhaps mean "Utterly Ruined"? @CookieMonster87Do you have anything funny going on where S mode has stopped behaving properly? Not downshifting when you go into it? It also feels to me like E is slow to upshift on my car since the update, it's happy to sit at higher revs.

Thanks for your condescending response, it's ace having such a helpful member of the community on hand. I'm sorry that you had difficulty understanding the problem. Perhaps I should have used more direct language. I noticed the car drove slightly differently - which I put down to the ECU update, and the car usually lives in D/E modes. Not that it's any of your business, but since then I've had more important things to do than posting on a forum thanks to hospital admissions and a potentially fatal illness in the family so , yeah, thanks for the snark matey, just what I needed. Is there anyone with any helpful input perhaps?

Hi All, A couple of weeks ago I had a service that included both an ECU update and a DSG oil service at a main dealer. It now seems that the DSG modes don't work. i.e., I can be sat at 1250rpm in Economy and changing to Sport does nothing, no downshift, no hanging onto gears longer. E still allows coasting where other modes do not, but that's it. Very weird. Anyone have any experience or knowledge of this happening. I know the obvious answer is "Speak to the dealer", but if there is an easy fix, or a known explanation I can pre-emptively give to the dealer, that would be good! Thanks in advance!

when you’re in E mode and coasting I believe the clutches may still be slightly engaged just enough to put the engine into overrun mode and keep it running with no or hardly any fuel usage.# I strongly suspect this isn't the case. Coasting in neutral does burn tickover-amounts of fuel, but provides no engine-braking so is still more efficient overall than engine-braking with no fuel burned. I'd also put money on the reason for advice to not coast by shifting the lever to neutral is one of keeping proper-control of the vehicle and not a valid mechanical one.

Same here. They couldn't tell me what the update was for, or if there were any potential unforeseen effects. Not sure if it's a coincidence, or as a result of the DSG oil change they also did, but the DSG driving modes now do nothing i.e. pootle along in E at 1250rpm, pop it into sport, no downshift, nothing, behaves exactly the same. Economy also seems slower to upshift through the gears too. I'm unsure if fuel economy also adversely effected, seems like it, but not enough data yet to confirm.

Ah great, I see it now. Thankyou.

Thanks - my brain is struggling to parse where that is on the engine though! I'll have to have a root around!

Found it as per Sadly, much too small for my endoscope 😞

Hi, I'm being a bit dim and struggling to locate this and would appreciate tips for it's removal I want to pass in an endoscope to look for coolant as I see this has been a slow-leak culprit for others in the past. Thanks in advance!

For the past few thousand miles, my 2015 2.0TDI 184 Scout has been losing coolant at the rate of ~ 0.5ml/mile, and may be getting worse rather then better. I have failed to identify where from. Dealers have conducted a coolant system pressure test - Fine. I've done a sniff test which is inconclusive - there are no bubbles rising into the tank and after aaaaages there is possibly some colour change as the coolant , but no clear result like vids I've watched. No apparent super-pressurisation or contamination in the coolant. I suspect false-positive and I obviously want to eliminate everything else first! No traces of leakage around bottle, cap, hoses, or bits of the engine I can see, or collections in the undertray. I haven't pinned down if it's worse during any behavior (regen etc.) My waterpump failed early, so pump and cambelt were changed ~4 years ago, In an ideal world the leak would be from there and I'd get them replaced a smidge early (the plan for the car is to keep ~5 years) I have read *a lot* about coolant leaks on this engine and haven't sussed it. So..... My question is - Is there anything bad I should know about putting UV tracers in the coolant? Plan is to check everything first, in the dark, with a UV torch, clean everything up, then add a small amount of UV dye, increasing until I find the leak, or it's apparent that I'm not going to. If the leak is post-engine, EGR cooler or something, would I get the faintest trace in water vapour out of the exhaust? If I ran through an absorbent filter? Or is that a non starter?

If you want a workaround to stop you creeping too fast, you can set the winter-tyre max speed alarm to shout at you once you reach a chosen speed.

My nerdy spreadsheet suggest that eco saves me no more than 5%. Active eco-ing is likely a smidge slower too, so that might explain where the savings happen. It's more effective on my commute where I have the prior-knowledge to micromanage the coasting zones. Definitely a different drive and there *sorely* needs to be an option to easily flick from E to D, rather then E to S.

@Cactusjack Where did you use to do the work? I'm in Nottingham too and on the look out for a trustworthy independent since Dave at DSB in Bulwell closed the shutters 😞

Dear mods! I cant seem to delete this topic. I've reposted on Tech forums, so this can be pruned please.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen! I've had my coolant level alarm periodically, but very little apparent actual coolant loss. 65kMiles, ~6yr old 2L TDI 184 DSG Scout. Dealer has pressure tested the coolant system (2 bar for 30 min IIRC) and found no issue. Sometimes the level in the expansion bottle is low enough to alarm (but still some present). Sometimes this resolves after a warm restart (I guess due to expansion) I discovered that the expansion bottle was pressurised and opening the cap allowed the coolant back into the vessel. Coolant and oil both appear clean. Timing belt and water pump done early ~30k miles thanks to sticky valve. I have ordered a sniff-test to try to check for exhaust gases heading into the coolant, but since it's so slow I wouldn't necessarily trust a -ve result on this. My main priority is trying to avoid having any unnecessary work done. I don't want a new EGR, or new /skimmed head, or headgasket unless that's the solution, and I want to inform myself before it goes back to a dealer, so I'd value your advice. Depending on what's wrong, I'm not sure if there is a case for a grump at Skoda, I did report the problem a while ago, but might have been >5yr and/or >60k miles. Feels like they should be life-time parts, not consumables!

It looks like Chris Knott have new insurers/underwriters who are making these demands. What a pain in the ass.

I mean that about sums it up. Is this a widespread new thing, or do I need to ditch my broker to avoid this fresh *******s every year? Sending license details via unencrypted emails is plain sucky and having to do it at all is a right pain in the ass. Interesting that they have waited the best part of a month to get in touch. I was lazy and busy at renewal time and If I'd know this inconvenience was coming I might have looked harder elsewhere!

Happened on this old post in the graveyard. Thank you for all the advice. In case anyone were interested it dragged on several months. I had Skoda e-sure (or whatever) handling a lot of liaison for me and they were very valuable. I used a repairer of my choice (VW centre) and a like-for-like hirecar - all of which meant I had to pay a considerable amount up-front. Nothing happened for a long time, insurers didn't request the police report, until finally at my insistence they did. In hindsight, I should have obtained it myself months earlier. I submitted photos of the roundabout's new layout (google was outdated) as well as photos of vehicle's rest location and a short vid of the other party's comments at the scene. I suspect the report differed significantly from the other party's account. Once shared, the other party's insurers immediately folded and paid in full for repairs, excesses, like-for-like hire-car and minor injury - just leaving me with higher premiums for 5 years.

I have anthracite/polished Nivalis wheels that predate my 2016 Octavia Scout and they look awful. Debating relegating them to winter-tyre duty, but it seems a shame. It's literally just the diamond cut bits that are corroded and the laquer is falling off in sheets, the anthracite is fine, I'm wondering the differential cost of just repolishing and laquering the diamond cut bits or if this is even possible... I'm hoping that turning up somewhere with loose and pretty much undamaged wheels is going to make it less expensive that it otherwise might be. Any thoughts?

I found a source of the workshop manual that pretty much answered this here: https://www.hypermiler.co.uk/skoda/skoda-octavia-mk-iii-2013-workshop-service-maintenance-repair-manuals-downloads-inc-vrs-free

Thanks Guys. As mentioned, I know the OEM spec but we know manufacturers usually approve different size wheel options etc. other than what the vehicle left the factory with, so OEM fitment is a guide, but not necessary the one truth. Since winters are usually lower rated (H-ish) and perfectly acceptable the argument that it's verboten to drop below the vehicle max speed doesn't hold much water for me. Using my personal risk vs benefit compass, I'm quite happy with tyres rated for a long run at 130mph for a vehicle that rarely passes 80mph *providing* the fitment is supported by the manufacturer. I've confirmed that my Insurers are happy with winter tyres, so that crosses that bridge for me. My point really is that we can speculate based on what we think we know and internet myth/rumour etc. but what I'm trying to find somewhere is the definitive answer.

Hi all. I'm wondering where on earth we might be able to find definitive information on tyre fitments, load, speed ratings etc. I know the OEM tyre fitment and lots of tyre-seller websites give a fitment, but whilst the owners manual specifies WHEEL fitments and axle weights etc, it doesn't state tyre load and speed ratings. I'm disappointed this doesn't seem to be in the manual! I'm aware that sticking with OEM values is by definition OK, I just want to get to the actual truth of what Skoda specify as minimum spec. In case anyone happens to know, I'm exploring used tyre options for a Scout on 225/50/17's. EDIT - Is I want to read it as such, you could take the manual to support the use of speed rating S+ as that's the minimum listed and there is no discussion of it varying by model. Likewise, the load ratings listed are 88 upwards and you can check your axle loading doesn't exceed the value, but it is no more specific than that. Page 208 ish, here: https://ws.skoda-auto.com/OwnersManualService/Data/en/Octavia_5E/11-2015/Manual/Octavia/A7_Octavia_OwnersManual.pdf

Yeah, I'm sure that would do it, but be nice to avoid having to take a trip to a dealer if the info is available elsewhere.

Yeah, all sound advice, thanks. I guess it all hinges on how far through their life the discs are so I should get the wheels off and get them measured. Is there a good, trustworthy, source for max thicknesses in the public domain? Looking at parts websites the min thickness seems to vary.

I've seen a lot of conflicting info and opinions on this. Pads have done 55k/5yr miles from new on an Octy Scout, not much of which as been 2020. There is no noise, significant scoring etc, but there is some pitting on the discs noted by indy garage on MOT advisory. They suggest pads and discs all around, but obviously we have conflicting motivations here, and I know how often not-strictly-necessary stuff gets done. In short, do I go pads-only acknowledging that there is a risk they have a reduced life? or is that half-jobbing a waste of time and get it all done at the same time? I don't have costings yet, I'm guessing pads+fitting are prob half the cost of pads+discs. I see it is common for people to expect 2 sets of pads before changing discs, is this a pretty safe rule of thumb? or is it pretty common to have to change discs after only a single pad? In the absence of problematic scoring etc. is it worth just checking the disc thickness myself and if I'm less than, say. two-third of the way through the wear, go for pads only? I've been bitten by aftermarket discs on my Mk1 Octy that died in 40% of the time of originals. What are people's thoughts on OEM vs various brands? Assume I'm keeping the car for 5+ years, so playing the long game. Cheers for your advice!