Hi folks, it's been a while since I've been on here, so happy new year! :-)

We have an Octavia vRS 1.8T, 53 plate. We like it a lot - it is cheap to run and insure, surprisingly quick for an everyday estate car, and reliable. However, I've noticed a couple of things which I ought to get checked out, and will, but in the meantime thought I'd ask here just in case any experienced owners or specialists are lurking around...

The main thing is that, from cold, there's a definite tick-tick-tick from the engine. It's only really noticeable when cold, and largely goes away under a bit of moderate revving, but it's a little bit worrying in as much as it didn't do this a couple of months ago and I'm wondering if something is wrong. It may be nothing but if anyone has had this occur to them (either with this model or one of the VAG siblings which share the 1.8T) then please do say..

Second thing is that first and second gear are a bit 'choppy' in regard to the way that they deliver acceleration at lower revs (say 1k to 2.5krpm) - it can be a bit flat at a given rev, or it can surge ahead, and it seems uneven and inconsistent. This is most noticeable from cold, but is still there once the engine is up to temperature (albeit to a lesser degree). That said, the engine doesn't appear to be down in power and economy remains roughly as it's always been.

I'm wondering whether either thing is just a symptom of a car getting older (it's sitting at 48k right now, and was last serviced in November, so it ought to be okay).

Any thoughts? I can take it to a local specialist (Star Performance) and get them to have a look, but I'll feel silly if it's something I can sort/check myself. Also, I'm off tomorrow for a long trip with the car and so I don't want it all to go wrong whilst I'm away.....

Thanks,

John

The ticking sound is normal when cold, my old one did it all the time. The other problem could be a sticky or leaking dump valve, especially if its the original one.

For the hesitations I would clean the throttle body. Do a search.

:+1: TB clean is always a good place to start.. and the cheapest

Thanks for that question mate, I've got exactly the same on my 54 VRS estate, will get the throttle bodies looked at.

I have just made a post in this section about the throttle body clean up... what a transformation for less than a tenner