Carloski

Once mine stopped depreciating I was happy to spend what I saved on the car, whatever it needed. 5 years ago the turbo was developing 5% over pressure - 'that's nothing' said the garage, but try telling that to the driver behind when I suddenly go into limp mode when accelerating to join the motorway. It was an accident waiting to happen. So I had a brand new Garrett turbo fitted (£1000+) and when it was road tested it blew up and sent oil down the exhaust (I think new turbo must have been dropped somewhere along the way). Exhaust was stripped and cleaned but still dripped oil so garage gave me option of professional clean at their expense or new exhaust at half price, I opted for the latter - another £1000+. So to fix something that was 'nothing' cost me over £2000. But all's well that ends well, or so they say!

Looks a nice car, no wonder you don't want to scrap it. Oil pump balance shaft - have you tried KMBPartsDirect in Sheffield, they supplied mine about 5 years ago? Mine was replaced at 50,000 miles, as a precaution to 'future proof' it. I took it to an engine specialist in Darwen for the work to be done, not wishing to trust the work to a local garage. They said that the old hexagon part was already showing early signs of wear. The garage in Darwen had a works car Passat which had had a new balance shaft and so this oil pump went into more than one VAG model, so if you cannot get a shaft from KMB there may be one in another VAG model being stripped for parts. One final caveat - not wishing to be a wet blanket - but from what I have read, before the oil pump fails completely, they may have been slipping for years without triggering the pressure warning light. I have read that some owners had the oil pump repaired only to find that there was damage elsewhere in the engine. Not sure if there is anything you can do to check this, might be just a matter of biting the bullet. Good luck.

Hi - I have reluctantly decided to sell my 2009 Mk1 2,0 tdi (140) - probably the last one registered in UK - and wonder if anyone can advise what would be the right asking price? Has anyone bought or sold something similar? One owner, regularly garaged from new, Comfort, Black Magic, leather and Alcantara, 67,000 miles, never had body repair, full service history, etc. etc. etc. I don't want it to go to a dealer, I want someone who will continue to treat it with the care that I have lavished on it. Thanks.

Bosch Aerotwin - no brainer.

If this was me, i would start by doing a diagnostic check. You can buy one for less than £20. If you don’t go this route then i would begin to think about fuel injectors. BUT please note I am no mechanic, just a driver. Good luck. Carl

Perhaps they are not on ebay because people are keeping hold of them, I don't wish for anything any different. I've had mine from new, 59000 miles - series 1 - 09 Reg. 2.0 tdi 140 Comfort - no fancy optional extras. I call it my 'classic car', the design is after all more than 20 years old. Unlike a real classic car I don't have to endure unreliability, oil leaks, slow performance, etc. But it has had its problems, mostly related to towing the caravan all around Europe (Croatia, Italy, Alps, Spain, etc.). Few manufacturers seem to include to towing in their design consideration these days, not unless you go for a gas guzzling 4x4 that is. Problems - 1. Dropping into limp mode when trying to accelerate with a caravan in tow, in third gear to join the motorway - most embarrassing when the truck in lane 1 has just flashed me to come out, only for me to put on the hazard lights right in front of him! The problem turned out to be that the turbo was 5% up on pressure, but I was repeatedly assured that this was insufficient to cause limp mode. These assurances however took no account of what that pressure might have been when I had a caravan behind me. Eventually in the interest of road safety I opted for a new Garrett turbo, however they must have damaged it when fitting it because on the road test it blew up and blew oil all down the exhaust. Attempts to clean the exhaust failed to stop oil from dripping from the tail pipe and so I was offered a free professional clean, but with the environment in mind I opted for a full replacement after market exhaust system instead - the garage went half towards the cost. Total cost of all this was around £2000 but I consoled myself with the fact that many motorists pay that as they drive their new car off the forecourt, my car has averaged £1000 per annum depreciation over the 12 years I have owned it, so it owes me nothing. Problem 2 occurred whilst towing in 40+C near Le Mans. With hindsight the alternator must have been red hot, servicing the car, air con, caravan fridge, etc. My first sign of trouble was when the 'not charging' light came on. Inspection under the bonnet revealed the belt tensioner pulley hanging off and I only just managed to get the car to a garage. It turned out that the overheated alternator had stuttered, this threw the belt which snatched the tensioner pulley along with its support bracket off the engine block. 10 days later and 1600 Euros lighter we boarded the ferry for home. Problem 3. This year we have towed up to the north of Scotland, west of Wales, Norfolk and Cornwall and all has been as it should, except in Scotland the central door locking went awol - 2 hour round trip to Ullapool for a spare fuse, but it soon blew again. The fault was with a short on the boot latch, this is again related to towing, because whilst the car has done less than 60,000 miles, I reckon the boot lid has had at least 150,000 miles of use! Economy is second to none, 55 mpg solo and 35 mpg towing, I don't know of any other car that can match that. Our other car is a 2014 Honda Jazz 1.4 and it cannot compete with the Superb on mpg. MOT's show that my emissions are minimal which leaves me with 'one thought for the day' - If the government are so concerned about the environment and emissions then why not have a sliding scale of road tax dependent upon the actual emissions produced during the MOT (rather than the theoretical emissions according to the model)? This sliding scale would ensure that it was uneconomical to keep running a car with a worn/faulty engine, whilst at the same time rewarding those motorists who keep their vehicles well maintained.

I think I know what you are thinking, but there is no sign of water lodging in the well under the battery. I would be surprised if there would have been because some years back after finding water there I cleaned everything out and then put stn stl mesh around the underside of the battery to protect the drain hole from crud. Today I have poured water in the well and it drains freely, so where did the water come from? No sign of damp under the passenger door. The car is normally kept in the garage and when the water got in it was outside and raining 'cats and dogs' - 2" of rain in 6 hours. Perhaps that sort of deluge will not happen again, but next week it will be outside all week and rain is forecast. So, in short, if rain is not getting in via the pollen filter housing, where might it have come from?

Many thanks Taede and Gfinneran for your ideas. My latest thought is that some component in the circuit was affected by high temperatures in Scotland (no kidding) - I remember laying a towel across the top of the dashboard because you could have fried an egg on it. Since returning to England the cooler temperatures may have reset the problem. This may seem a bit daft but many moons ago a friend with a Vauxhall had problems when it stopped on hot days, after sitting at the side of the road for a while the car easily restarted. The problem was eventually resolved by putting the ECU in the oven (on a low setting I might add). At higher temperatures the ECU stopped functioning. Changing the ECU solved the problem. So I wait to see if the problem recurs on another hot day. With regard to water ingress, no sign was found in doors or under carpets. A few years back I did find water sloshing around under the battery, none had reached the car. After draining it and cleaning the channel I scrunched up some stainless mesh under the battery to protect the small drain hole from leaves. This seems to have worked. Thanks again, will keep you posted - here's hoping for a hot summer.

Wondering if anyone can throw light on this problem. My 2008 Mk1 Superb has done less than 60k miles, regularly garaged, no water ingress, ever. I just returned from North of Scotland (weather dry, cold at night, very hot in day) where the central door locking stopped working and I had to lock and unlock using the key. Replacing the 10 amp fuse rectified the fault for a short period, only for it to blow again. Within 24 hours of returning home and leaving it in the garage for a couple of nights, the fault rectified itself (IE 'door open' indicator light on the panel went out of its own accord). Its just spend a day in a VAG workshop where all the relevant wiring has been tested and everything is at it should be. Door circuit faults were recorded on the data logger, but that does not identify exactly where the fault might lie. Any ideas? Just one final comment if it ever happens to you. When the door fuse blows the fuel filler flap won't open which is not very clever when the nearest garage with spare fuses is a two and a half hour round trip away ... and you are low on fuel.

Hi Wishbone - I did this about ten years ago, it wasn’t easy but you know this already! If I remember right I had to get brutal with it. I think the back of the seat squab hooks onto some tabs. So after lifting the front you push back to unhook it. Use force. It goes back easier than it comes out. You simply hook it at the back, pull forward and press down at the front. Hope this helps. Cheers.

Sorry forgot to mention, there is no sign of smoke from the exhaust.

Hi - Skoda Superb Mark 1 on 09 plate, BSS engine 2.0 TDI 140 bhp, 51,000 miles. I had a new turbo fitted at the beginning of this month by a specialist VAG garage - replacement turbos and re-mapping is their bread and butter. We agreed that rather than a reconditioned replacement I would have a brand new Garrett turbo, seemed like a 'no brainer' as it was only £100 more expensive than a reconditioned unit. After fitting the car was taken out for a road test but things were not right and so a second replacement Garret turbo was fitted. All seemed well until I noticed a couple of drips of thick black oil from the tail pipe. The car was returned to the garage and the whole exhaust was stripped and found to be coated with a thin film of oil. The theory was that when the first replacement turbo had failed then it had coated the exhaust with oil. The exhaust was then washed out with proprietary cleaner and re-assembled. The garage took the car out for a 20 mile test drive. then left it standing over the weekend and then took it out again on the Monday for another 15 mile test drive and the problem was deemed to have been solved. I have just completed a couple of 20 mile trips over the holiday period and oil is again dripping from the tailpipe (about 2 drips per night). I cannot fault the response from the garage and they have an excellent reputation. I am now asking myself if this might be a bad bad batch of turbos from Garrett. Has any other member of Briskoda had a similar experience? Thanks for reading.

Yes, thanks Jimbof, that confirms what I am finding. Contrast this with my wife's previous Honda Jazz. When it was over 6 years old it developed a gearbox problem. It had never been serviced by a main dealer. I took the car into Honda's dealership in Stockport and the guy told me that it might still be under warranty. To say I was amazed is an understatement. He fed the reg into their computer and sure enough the gearbox was still under warranty and the car was repaired with no charge whatsoever. There was a known problem with that gearbox and I am not sure whether that was why they had extended the warranty on that item or if it was general. We are now on our 3rd Jazz and I know where I will be getting my next car from. Contrast this with Skoda and they will not even reveal to me if my Superb would be better if it had the oil pump replaced or not. NB _ I am not seeking compensation, an apology or a repair, just information. I don't remember them being reticent wen I was parting with my hard earned cash to buy the car.

Thanks Big John - No problem with the oil, I do my own servicing (that way I know it is done with correct oil) and I always use Castrol Edge and all filters are from a VAG dealer. The point that I was making was that I was not asking about an actual problem, I was just enquiring if my car has the old balancer type shaft which has proved troublesome. Also is mine a gear drive or a shaft drive? The answer to these questions has no relevance to which oil I have used. If the answer was that mine has a later oil pump of some sort then I do not need to take the matter any further. I see that there are a couple of specialists near me in Sheffield who can supply/ fit a modified balancer shaft. What I need to know now is, is that work really necessary? Cheers C

I guess by now we are all fed up of hearing about transfer shafts on oil pumps, but my main dealer who sold me the car 9 years ago refuses to enter into any sensible discussion. All I am trying to find out is - Does my ' BSS 014180 ' code engine (built 26.02.08) have an oil pump that is likely to have a transfer shaft problem? The car has just clocked up 50,000 miles and I spend most of my retirement towing a caravan abroad and so if I ever have a problem with the oil pump / engine then the car will probably be a write off (£3k) plus another £2k to repatriate us and the caravan. So it makes sense to consider a 'stitch in time' principle and change the oil pump. The car owes me nothing, I am paying zero depreciation and so do not mind spending money on preventative medicine. My uncaring main dealer tells me that he has never heard of any oil pump problems on any Skoda 2.0 tdi engines! I said that the internet is full of such reports. He asked me if I had ever had a headache and Googled the cause. I said that I could not believe that I had heard him say that. He then went on to tell me that since the car had not been serviced by a main dealer he could not help me because Skoda do not know if it has had the correct oil put in. That is totally irrelevant since as far as I know I do not have any current problems with the vehicle, I just need information to plan for the future. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO CUSTOMER CARE AND REWARDING OF BRAND LOYALTY ?? Skoda's have disgraced themselves on this issue and disgraced their proud heritage. Any information would be gratefully received. Cheers Carl