Hi

I joined this forum several months ago and have been on the lookout for an Octavia TDI Estate.

Well at the weekend i finally got one off ebay (viewed and test drove before bidding though) it's a 2000 SLX TDI in white (probably not my preferred colour but very clean at the moment so looks very good). It has 157,000 miles on it but has full service history and drives very well, there are however a couple of small problems/queries that I have perhaps some of you can help.

1. Poor hot starting. From cold the car starts immediately but when hot cranks over for a wee while before firing, once it fires it runs smoothly straight away (no spluttering). Even if the car is fully warmed up and you stop it for just a few seconds this happens. I have the trial version of vag com and it showed an intermittant fault on a manifold flap which i cleared anyway and we'll see what happens. Can anybody shed any light on any likely causes?

2. Gearchange. Again fine when cold but when the car gets warmer the gears don't quite always engage, they appear to go 'half way in' and if you let the clutch up too soon it gives a grinding noise. it happens on more than one gear- 3rd 4th 5th definately, perhaps it's just a characteristic of the car that i will get used to, but again any advice/pointers

3. Towbar. The car has a detatchable towbar but the detatchable bit is missing, I'm trying to contact the previous owner to see if he has it but in the absence of that i'll have to beg, steal or make one. I've attached a photo of the bar, does anyone have the detatchable bit for sale or one that they could photograph or measure for me in the event that i can't locate it.

4 Roof rails. My car doesn't have them, i thought all SLX estates did, the only reason it bothers me is that i have some cross bars from a previous car that would be useful to use. Has anyone ever retro-fitted them or does anyone have some for sale from an estate that they are breaking

The above probably sounds nit-picky but you know what it's like with a newly aquired car! All these issues will be irrelevant in a few weeks, overall i'm very pleased with it

I look forward to your responses.

Many thanks

Frank

1. Anti shudder valve might be getting stuck shut. This used to happen on my TDi, but was fine after I cleared it out of oil (from the EGR).

2. Dogbone mount on the rear of the engine. Replacing this has been said to cure poor gear changes.

My 2001 TDi (110) is on 129k miles. I had the clutch changed at about 80k (when I bought it), along with the slave and master cylinders. Since then I have had 4 new tyres (fronts need replacing again now), 4 shocks, MAF, n75 and a new turbo (although the one the mechanic took off seemed to look ok - so something else was causing the problems). New disks and pads front and rear.

This MOT (just happened) said one of the front bushes (I can't remember which) needs to be replaced, but overall it is not doing too badly.

3. Pass

4. Pass

No roof rails on early SLX tdi's and mine has the same warm start problem. Garage looked into it changed temp sensors, still not fixed I now just live with it. Passengers always think it's not going to start but it eventually does(touch wood)

That sounds just like my anti-shudder..... you just hang on the key and eventually it starts.

Yep thats anti-shudder/egr issue.I bet its seriously gunked up if original.

(1) Agreed; shut-down/anti-judder/anti-diesel/stop valve for sure.

(2) First check the gear adjustment. If it's not that, whichever is cheaper of a dog-bone and a gear oil change. If that's not got it, whichever is left of the dog-bone and gear oil.

That looks like an OEM detachable towbar.

Regarding towbar :

I have the same towbar on my Octy and I seem to remember that the guy I bought the car from said it was original. Only thing I can see written on the detatchable bit is the number "132004".

Btw, you need to remove all that rust or else you will have a really hard time attaching the towbar.

Thanks Guys

Most Helpful! However, as often happens with these posts, a couple of reply's lead to a fresh set of questions.

Firstly the shut-down/anti-judder/anti-diesel/stop valve, is that all one component or a series of bits, & where do i find it or them, I've previously had a Golf TDI and had to clean out the EGR Valve so know where to find that but am puzzled at the rest.

Thanks regarding the dog bone, wouldn't have thought of that.

Have left a message for the previous owner re. the towbar, hopefully he'll get back to me.

Once again many thanks

I'll let you know how i get on

The shut-down...valve is a series of alternate terms for the same component. Which you'll get depends on which mechanic you ask.

I think the part number of the tow ball is 1UZ 898 807 and the locks for it 1UZ 898 888

Once again thanks for the help guys

Regrettably Stu the first number was not recognised by the local stealer and the second is obsolete, let's see if the previous owner gets back in touch.

Here's a pic of the car and one of the engine, is that the bit that i need to sort out?

I should have pointed out that I am the "mechanic" who'll be doing the job.

Is it just a case of strip it down clean it up and try it back on?

Once again thanks

Frank

Here you go Frank -

Octy1 Towbar.pdf

Thanks again Guys

Stu, Thanks for that Diagram, probably best if i print it off and take it to the dealer with me as he said that the number did not exist!

Regarding the anti shudder, stripped it down this morning- it was seriously gunked up, more in the egr part of the valve than the anti-shudder part. Nevertheless give it a thoroughly good cleaning out, refitted, it closes when i stop the engine and re-opens about 2 seconds later, it stays open during hot starting but still the car takes a bit of starting (to re-emphasise it is fine from cold)

Any further ideas?

I also removed the dog-bone while i had my tools out and it seems fine with no appreciable wear in either bush- refitted it took car for test run and strangely the gear change seemed better but it was a short run. I didn't want to mess with the adjustment as i was so filthy by this time if it hasn't imporoved this will be my next course of action

Do you get any white smoke on startup?

Do you mean hot or cold?

I don't get any smoke on hot start up, can't check cold till tomorrow morning

It's ok; not what I was thinking of anyway.