My wife has a pretty well mint 2005 (55) Octy VRs Mk1 with just 16500 miles. We've owned the car from new and its never been treated badly and only does a few short journies a week as a second car.

On the 24th of September of 2008, whilst the car was still in warranty the CEL came on and a trip to the local dealers revealed the Coolant Temp Sensor was the cause of the problem There were no issues with the car and temps were rock solid so they reset the sensor and off we went.

On the 13th of Oct 2008 the CEL came back on so we popped back in and they changed out the sensor without question.

The car then went out of warranty on 7th Nov 2008.

This week we booked the car in for its variable service and a few days before it was due to go in the CEL came back on again. So we popped into the dealer who said, leave it until the service if the car is performing okay and we'll take a look.

So in the car goes this morning and a few hours later, we get a call, yup you guessed it.

"The coolant temp sensor has failed, oh and you need a new thermostat too. That will be £291 inc VAT"!!

So I complain and say hang on a minute, I've done less that 1000 miles since you last replaced the sensor and I have to pay for a new one?

Technician comes back "Yes, we don't warranty parts on warranty claims, you'll have to pay for the whole lot"

So where does this leave me? Surely these bloody sensors last more than 6 months and 1500 miles? Or am I realistically going to have to fork out this much every 6 months. The fisrt sensor lasted 3 years!

Did they even bother changing the sensor the first time I wonder? And if not, would the faulty temp sensor have caused the thermostat to fail?

I should just point out the car still runs and drives spot on.

Any advice would be appreciated?

Nathan..

i had this same issue with my fabia, i fitted about 5 new sensors before i realised it was a dodgy wire in the harness that goes to the sensor

I just ignore mine when it chimes. Normally happens after a damp night. Trouble is I could end up with the "crying wolf" syndrome and get caught out one day.

And if not, would the faulty temp sensor have caused the thermostat to fail?

No - absolutely not. The sensor just tells the dashboard computer and the engine computer how hot the water is (with two separate sensors in the one part, so one might be fine and the other faulty). The thermostat is completely mechanical and couldn't care less how hot the computers think the coolant is...

I should just point out the car still runs and drives spot on.

Is the temperature gauge still spot on? If so, then the thermostat can't be too far gone... The gauge doesn't exactly tell the truth, and points exactly in the middle as long as the coolant temperature is pretty much normal, but if the thermostat had completely failed then I'd expect the temperature gauge to often be below normal.

What makes them think that the thermostat is faulty? Presumably they can't trust the temperature sensor's readings, because they've said that's faulty too....

Surely these bloody sensors last more than 6 months and 1500 miles? Or am I realistically going to have to fork out this much every 6 months.

I guess the one consolation is that if you pay for the repair then it is guaranteed. Maybe even for two years I think, so you won't have to pay every 6 months.

I think the sensors used to be really dodgy (mine failed on my 2002 TDI), but the replacements are made of green plastic instead of black, and are meant to be improved. At least, that's true on the TDIs, and I guess it might well be the same on petrols.

If yours is still a black sensor, then I'd guess they maybe never replaced it. If it's in the garage for the work, you could at least ask them to give you the old faulty one they take off, and ask some questions if it turns out that it's black plastic.

Edited 22 April, 200917 yr by AJB

I just ignore mine when it chimes. Normally happens after a damp night. Trouble is I could end up with the "crying wolf" syndrome and get caught out one day.

Different sensors mate, you're talking about the coolant level sensor whichis in the exspansion bottle.

Clean the prongs or replace the bottle (about a tenner brand new)

Different sensors mate, you're talking about the coolant level sensor whichis in the exspansion bottle.

Clean the prongs or replace the bottle (about a tenner brand new)

Is the bottle the same as the MK4 golf? I have the warning light and beep on most mornings and have tended to ignore it. However, I'm getting a bit annoyed now and want to replce the bottle. The nearest Skoda dealership is a 45 mile round trip, the VW dealership is on the way home, hence my long winded post.

By coincidence I was in the VW dealer at the weekend (arb bush bolts) and the guy in the queue in front of me says that his CEL light was on and that his temp gauge was a bit out.

Without blinking, the guy at the counter reaches down and picked up a green temp sensor from under the desk. Reckons they sell so many of them that he can't be bothered walking out to the store room to find them on the shelves and so keeps them under his desk instead!

Good news is that he acknoledges that the old ones were bad but reckons they don't get nearly so many of the new green ones failing.

So, if yours has failed again really soon this might just be plain be bad luck but it's only a £29 part and takes seconds to fir so shouldn't be too much of a disaster provided the next one lasts a bit longer. If it doesn't last then it's time to look at the wiring harness.

The thermostat seems a bit young to have failed but this can happen at any time really and can't be related to the temp sensor for the reasons that AJB has already listed.

Cheers,

iep

Is the bottle the same as the MK4 golf? I have the warning light and beep on most mornings and have tended to ignore it. However, I'm getting a bit annoyed now and want to replce the bottle. The nearest Skoda dealership is a 45 mile round trip, the VW dealership is on the way home, hence my long winded post.

I'm 99% sure it would be the same.

I've just checked and the part numbers are the same on the golf and the octy so I guess it will do.

The last part number I have is 1J0 121 403 B, if it's been updated they will let you know.

HTH

Thanks for the reply guys.

I'm still fuming that its gone so soon after 'allegedly' being replaced.

I may give Skoda customer care a bell and whinge to them about it, you never know, but at least it would make me feel a whole lot better.

No - absolutely not. The sensor just tells the dashboard computer and the engine computer how hot the water is (with two separate sensors in the one part, so one might be fine and the other faulty). The thermostat is completely mechanical and couldn't care less how hot the computers think the coolant is...

Is the temperature gauge still spot on? If so, then the thermostat can't be too far gone... The gauge doesn't exactly tell the truth, and points exactly in the middle as long as the coolant temperature is pretty much normal, but if the thermostat had completely failed then I'd expect the temperature gauge to often be below normal.

Yup - the guage is still absolutely spot on, it rises gradually, then stops at 90 and doesn't move.

What makes them think that the thermostat is faulty? Presumably they can't trust the temperature sensor's readings, because they've said that's faulty too....

I have no idea at the moment - the technician wasn't available for a chat yesterday. The fans still kick in without any problem though, so I can't see the termostat is faulty. I'm not mechanically minded though - so I could be missing something.

I guess the one consolation is that if you pay for the repair then it is guaranteed. Maybe even for two years I think, so you won't have to pay every 6 months.

I think the sensors used to be really dodgy (mine failed on my 2002 TDI), but the replacements are made of green plastic instead of black, and are meant to be improved. At least, that's true on the TDIs, and I guess it might well be the same on petrols.

If yours is still a black sensor, then I'd guess they maybe never replaced it. If it's in the garage for the work, you could at least ask them to give you the old faulty one they take off, and ask some questions if it turns out that it's black plastic.

I can understand that if the sensor is replaced and I pay for it, its covered for 2 years. But I really shouldn't have to pay for something that was done only a few months ago. I know its only a sensor but if the engine had let go last Oct and had been fully replaced, you'd never expect to have to pay for it to be replaced again now.

To be honest I've not been able to open the bonnet yet to see if the sensor has been changed or not. Where is the sensor anyway? / goes to search forums for location of sensor.

Nathan..

I think that you will find that under the terms of the new car 3 year warranty, any parts that are replaced are only covered until the end of the three years, even if they were replaced after 2 years and 364 days and failed again at 3 years and 1 day.

Having said that, I would still have a go with Skoda Customer Care and see if they will sort it as good will as the car is only just out of warranty and presumably has full Skoda sevice history.

Yup - the guage is still absolutely spot on, it rises gradually, then stops at 90 and doesn't move.

That sounds like the thermostat can't be too bad then... I guess it could still be on its way out because if the engine is running at, say, just over 80 then I think the gauge will report exactly 90. VAG COM or their diagnostic software will be able to report the actual temperature measured by the gauge's sensor before the gauge gets to lie about it.

But once the thermostat has properly failed, then the gauge often won't reach 90 in normal driving.

I think if it was my car I'd want to know why they think the thermostat has failed. If it's just that the engine has put up a fault code saying that it's running too cold, then I'd have thought that that fault code could just as easily be triggered by the failed temperature sensor they also say you've got. As in the engine computer might think it's too cold, even though the thermostat is fine and the temperature is actually spot on.

If they've checked the dashboard computer and it's reporting a temperature slightly too low, but not low enough that the gauge moves, or if they've used a separate thermometer of some sort then maybe they've got a point...

The fans still kick in without any problem though, so I can't see the termostat is faulty.

The fans aren't anything to do with the thermostat. There's normally a separate temperature sensor on the radiator, and if the radiator has got too hot (normally because the car is stationary so there's no air going through it), then it turns the fans on.

The thermostat decides how much water gets sent to the radiator to try to keep the temperature inside the engine constant. They normally fail cold, so too much water gets sent to the radiator for cooling even though the engine isn't quite up to temperature. Whether the thermostat is healthy or not, the radiator will get hot in traffic and its fan will kick in. It's just that if the thermostat is faulty, it lets in too much cooled water from the radiator into the engine to try to keep the engine a bit colder than it's meant to be.

There are 2 sensors on the car

059 919 501A 4 pin green one , superceeded from 059 919 501 which was black

06A 919 501 2 pin blue one

So it could be both sensors that have failed

Sarah