3 1/2 year old 2.0 FSi. One morning the exhaust/emissions warning comes on (yep, the liitle orange "engine"). Car drive s perfectly normally.

Goes to local stealer. An entire day later decides I need a new EGR and a strip of the head and new inlet valves. £1,600 please :eek:

Needless to say I politely declined (minus the politely bit).

The fault codes for those in the know were:-

17808 P1400 001

EGR vacuum regulator solenoid valve-N18-electrical malfunction in circuit

17887 P1479 002

Brake vacuum system mechanical malfunction

Any thoughts? :rotz:

Where are you located? Sounds like you need to find a good specialist.

Winchester. Maybe JKM would be a good bet?

jkm would be a good shout, but be prepaired for the same news(i'm not saying its right i'm just saying be prepaired just incase).

Winchester. Maybe JKM would be a good bet?

Did you got to Winchester Motors on St. Cross?

Yes I did. So far it's cost me £80 to get hold of the fault codes :(

Did the dealer carry out a compression test? The faults are vacuum related so burnt inlet valves might be the cause. I guess the dealer would change the complete head rather than replace the valves.

Unit 18.

Did the dealer carry out a compression test? The faults are vacuum related so burnt inlet valves might be the cause. I guess the dealer would change the complete head rather than replace the valves.

If they did they didn't say. I got the impression they just looked up the relevant technical bulletins based on the fault codes.

Yes I did. So far it's cost me £80 to get hold of the fault codes :(

I must say, although I bought the car from them, their aftersales service leaves a lot to be desired tbh.

You could try SJB in Basingstoke too: SJB Autotech :: VW Audi Seat Skoda :: Servicing & Repair

unit 18 is definitly worth the drive.

unit 18 is definitly worth the drive.

Unit 18 where?

unit18, one of the site sponsers. they are in northampton. a Mr.Clarke and his apprentice alison.

I'd say unit 18 will certainly be able to help you, but if you want somewhere closer to home try monks automechanical in chandlers ford. I've used them and they were very honest and fixed just the broken part not all it was attached to.

Much cheaper than Winchester VW, who of late (actually not all that late) have started to absolubtly take the p*ss on service and price. I walked out of there laughing the other day as at first my car didn't exist (it was parked outside) and then their price was 50% more than the other main dealers I'd asked.

Monks Website......

EDIT: Meant to add if you need a fault code scan I'm around your area and have VAG-COM.

Edited 28 June, 200917 yr by cheezemonkhai

q1) Why would the inlet valves burn out? I haven't heard of a car doing that for years.

q2) You get 3 year warranty in UK don't you? The valves haven't burnt out in 6 months, which implies that something has gone wrong while still under warranty.

While you might not be entitled to a full warranty claim, there could be room for some SUK involvement in getting it fixed.

You don't state mileage, however assuming its not something intergalactic then burnt out inlet valives sounds very odd and implies some sort of 'systematic' fault with the engine - either defective materials, assembly or incorrect running parameters from the engine management system.

The warranty is not the be-all and end-all of your legal rights. Under the SOGA you are entitled to expect that a product should have a 'reasonable' lifetime, without MAJOR repair being required. For a car this would probably be a period of 5+years (assuming that the car has been routinetly serviced at a VAT-registered garage).

I would approach Skoda UK and ask for a repair under 'goodwill'. They will probably refuse you or offer a small proportion of the cost. Don't accecpt. Get an independent report (e.g. from the AA/DEKRA - cost about £200) and then write to Skoda saying that you will take them to Small Claims Court if they do not cover the cost of repair. Include the cost of the report and your time/trouble in the claim.

If your car has a sensible mileage and has been serviced then you WILL win the costs.

I am ex-trade and have seen this done a couple of times. We acted as 'expert witness' in the case of a Honda Civic with failed clutch linkage at 4 years old and the case went straight through.

The warranty is merely IN ADDITION to your statutory rights. A pity more people don't take manufacturers to court, in my expereince the customer always wins if the mileage and servicing is right for the car's age.

I'd say unit 18 will certainly be able to help you, but if you want somewhere closer to home try monks automechanical in chandlers ford. I've used them and they were very honest and fixed just the broken part not all it was attached to.

I can also vouch for Monks in Chandlers Ford - pricing seemed very fair and reasonable to me. As I work in Basingstoke, I will also give SJB a try next time as I've heard good things too

If you have this sort of diagnosis, and people suspect valves, why not get an independant garage to do a dry and wet compression test, which will confirm or deny burnt valves for maybe an hour's labour charge.

You don't state mileage, however assuming its not something intergalactic .

38,500 of "spirited" but not thrashing miles...

Thanks for all the replies. I've booked it into JKM this week in the hope that they will be a bit more up to speed than certain Skoda dealers...

Miles on a car are miles. No need to describe them as anything other than the distance a well serviced car has covered.

Steve

Miles on a car are miles. No need to describe them as anything other than the distance a well serviced car has covered.

Steve

38,500 well serviced miles then I still think that the inlet valve problem is a load of cods.

This is really strange.....surely it's the exhaust valves which tend to burn due to shifting hot gas. Inlets would only burn if valve timing was out, which surely would be noticeable???

:confused:

The problem might not be the inlet valves, but the fact the dealer quoted inlet valves is because there is a vacuum problem. A compression test will show if the problem is related to the cylinders or not. Normally you experience some problems or drop in performance if the inlet valves are burnt and the vacuum is lower.

Edited 29 June, 200917 yr by moley

3 1/2 year old 2.0 FSi. One morning the exhaust/emissions warning comes on (yep, the liitle orange "engine"). Car drive s perfectly normally.

Goes to local stealer. An entire day later decides I need a new EGR and a strip of the head and new inlet valves. £1,600 please :eek:

Needless to say I politely declined (minus the politely bit).

The fault codes for those in the know were:-

17808 P1400 001

EGR vacuum regulator solenoid valve-N18-electrical malfunction in circuit

17887 P1479 002

Brake vacuum system mechanical malfunction

Any thoughts? :rotz:

as someone who has come back to petrol after approx 15 years I am a little rusty, but doesn't this engine have a vac pump mounted I believe on the exhaust camshaft? if so that's where to start looking along with the N-18 and brake servo non return valve(s) cheers Nic