Hi all, Sorry I have posted before, but I havent have any problems to report since I have been driving my Supurb during the last 18 months, (apart from the boring "dried-out sealed for life battery" failure. Ha ! )

Anyway, I've got a new and orginal fault to report to you all, and I suppose it is the Daddy of them all. A few weeks back I heard a subtle chattering or clattering noise from the engine which dissappeard above 1500 rpm. Obvioiusly a bearing I thought. Having read these forums I immediately thought of the water pump. (but water temp showed Normal) The RAC man thought of the flywheel after taking most of the drive belts off and checking everything else. (Fantastic effort, and a really helpfull guy)

Turns out it was the oil pump (or its drive) and the whole engine was shot! There was absolutely no oil pressure failure warning light so I dont know when the oil failure happened. I have always maintained the oil level absolutly at the top mark within a millimetre. Car cruses 25 miles each way each day on empty A roads which I always think is the perfect type of life for a car. No towing, racing or rallying etc etc.

Now the punch line:- ..... It's a 2 1/2 year old car, 32000 miles, 2.0 TDI engine. :eek:

Ashmore Green Skoda-Saab in Newbury did a very good job of repairing the car under warrenty (phew) and keeping me mobile, only slighly faulted by not reminding me to update the Registration Document, and not appearing to keep any record of the new engine number so I'll have to go back so that they can crawl under the car with a torch rather than me.

Anyone know where can I get a "proper" old fashioned mechanical oil temperature and pressure gauge fitted (like on a light aircraft or a racing car) so I can properly monitor the engine operating condition in the traditional way using oil T&Ps?

Edited 11 August, 200916 yr by gremlin

I have always maintained the oil level absolutly at the top mark within a millimetre.

I know you say you were within the oil level mark but too much oil in an engine can do more damage that not enough, it can cause hydraulicing, so the engine is under lots of strain.

I know you say you were within the oil level mark but too much oil in an engine can do more damage that not enough, it can cause hydraulicing, so the engine is under lots of strain.

Very true bryanp. Also, if the oil level is too high it can seep over into the clutch in some cars. I am obsessive about oil management in my cars to get maximum engine life so it is a bit ironic that this happened. I am an engineer by training and these things do happen with even the best machinery, so I am relaxed about it. I am slightly more irritated by the apparent failure of the engine instrumentation to detect any problem. I was just my engineer's ear (he says modestly) that picked up the subtle change in engine noise.

Perhaps I should have been a little bit clearer in my explanation

I never let the oil level go over the top mark and if if falls more than 2mm I would top up in 1/10 litre steps at a time. Or, in practice, a "small splash" from the litre bottle I always carry. Levels are checked on a flat surface. Oil use was approx 0.2 litre over 15,000 miles using 507.00 spec. I cant honestly claim to check the oil weekly, but certainly fortnightly and if there is routinely zero oil use that seems reasonable. My check is more than just levels, but also to glance at the rate of colour change and for any signs of water in it. You might be lucky and just spot the first signs of a failing gasket, or as I spotted once on another car, a blocked vent which was causing condensation to drip into the sump.

I had a Passat 1.9 TDI that had no detectable oil use whatsoever for the first 130,000 miles of my ownership.(Never needed the slightest top up between services) It then suddenly started burning oil at a rate of 0.25 litres per 10,000 miles, which was a hint to me to get rid of it. It wasnt so much the rate of use, but the sudden change. Piston ring(s) starting to give up, maybe?

Unfortunately oil pump drive failure (usually sprocket to pump shaft) is becoming increasingly common on the 2.0 PD. I think VAG must have let the apprentices detail this engine whilst the design team worked on the common rail engines.

The 1.9 was a far better unit.

rotodiesel.

Unfortunately oil pump drive failure (usually sprocket to pump shaft) is becoming increasingly common on the 2.0 PD. I think VAG must have let the apprentices detail this engine whilst the design team worked on the common rail engines.

The 1.9 was a far better unit.

rotodiesel.

Sadly this is true, another Superb owner known to me has had the same issue, boy am I glad I didn't buy a 2.0 Passat right now.

The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago taking out oil pump and turbo ( fixed under extended warranty) The car had done 68,000ish miles, just over two years old, full main dealer service, oil level checked regularly just gave up one morning, but, got no oil pressure warning so saved engine. Told by Service Manager he had never heard of this before. The oil pump drive instead of being hex shaped had rounded.

can someone tell me if an 08 octavia vrs facelift has the new common rail engine?

In a way, I'm glad it's not just me.

Looks like I will be shopping around for an extended warrenty in January !

can someone tell me if an 08 octavia vrs facelift has the new common rail engine?

Quite possible but you really need to check also

Is it just me noticing it or are there suddenly several threads pushing ("promoting") extended warranties onto people? Especially dealer ones...