Hi everyone,

I still consider myself a newbie and getting in to the Skoda scene but disaster has struck and I could do with your help :'(

I have a 54 Octavia vRS, it has 53k on it and is by all accounts one of the cleanest ones I have seen. I am a real petrol head and treasure my car. I had a problem on Friday night when all of the coolant leaked from the system at 70mph and before I could do anything the car lost all power and cut out. I coasted to the side of the road and had the car recovered to a local garage.

I only recently moved to South Yorks and do not have a great deal of knowledge of the garages around here, I took it to a garage my partner uses but they were unable to look at the car for at least 10 days due to other work. They recommended another garage but without even looking at the car this garage said it needed a new engine!

I am having the car recovered to a tried and trusted garage I have used for many years Coopers Garage at Cleckheaton. I trust the owner 100% its just a trek to get there. If at all possible the engine can be fixed then I would much rather do that even if the cost is more than another engine. I just do not like the thought of fitting another engine that may have its own problems.

The symptoms are no compression. I can not see any contaminates in the oil or cooling system but there car has not run since it cut out. The leak occurred from the coolant temperature sensor. At the moment the starter motor spins but nothing else and the dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree :(

I am hoping its the head gasket and the internals are ok.

I have been looking at worse case scenarios but I wont know the extent of the damage until its been inspected properly. I have seen a few replacement engines and bare cylinder heads.

Any thoughts / suggestions would be appreciated. If it was a new engine would anything else fit directly other than an AUQ? I found this AGU complete cylinder head? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110529835420&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

:'( :( :S

Edited 20 November, 201015 yr by OllieH

Hi everyone,

I still consider myself a newbie and getting in to the Skoda scene but disaster has struck and I could do with your help :'(

I have a 54 Octavia vRS, it has 53k on it and is by all accounts one of the cleanest ones I have seen. I am a real petrol head and treasure my car. I had a problem on Friday night when all of the coolant leaked from the system at 70mph and before I could do anything the car lost all power and cut out. I coasted to the side of the road and had the car recovered to a local garage.

I only recently moved to South Yorks and do not have a great deal of knowledge of the garages around here, I took it to a garage my partner uses but they were unable to look at the car for at least 10 days due to other work. They recommended another garage but without even looking at the car this garage said it needed a new engine!

I am having the car recovered to a tried and trusted garage I have used for many years Coopers Garage at Cleckheaton. I trust the owner 100% its just a trek to get there. If at all possible the engine can be fixed then I would much rather do that even if the cost is more than another engine. I just do not like the thought of fitting another engine that may have its own problems.

The symptoms are no compression. I can not see any contaminates in the oil or cooling system but there car has not run since it cut out. The leak occurred from the coolant temperature sensor. At the moment the starter motor spins but nothing else and the dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree :(

I am hoping its the head gasket and the internals are ok.

I have been looking at worse case scenarios but I wont know the extent of the damage until its been inspected properly. I have seen a few replacement engines and bare cylinder heads.

Any thoughts / suggestions would be appreciated. If it was a new engine would anything else fit directly other than an AUQ? I found this AGU complete cylinder head? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110529835420&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

:'( :( :S

Hmm, this is a weird one, i've nver heard coolant leaking from the CTS. I've never heard of a head gasket failing on a 1.8T engine before apart from one online running stupid power and boost, but running it with no coolant at high speed could well have caused it to warp severely killing your compression.

As per the question about what engines would fit they all have minor differences such as compression, valve size and small things. I wouldnt advise mis-matching as that could cause similair problems with gearbox/ancillery compatability. Maybe someone could be more help on that front.

I'd say it was more than salvagable.. possibly top end overhaul due to warpage and also could be a knackered turbo if that has been without cooling. Think needing a new engine without even looking at it is complete *******s. Probably just scaremongering

I agree entirely about not fitting a used engine, chances are its being sold because of similair problems.. At least you know with this lump you are working from a decent base.

turbo will be fine oil and water cooled

head has probably warped but second hand heads are easy to come by and there are lots that fit dont worry about mixing and matching as the heads are either small port or large port you need small port head will find the list for you

but just wait and see what the mechanic says first

which garages did you take it to?

Torque motors who in turn recommended Eldon garage who said I should just replace the engine. As i said I only know of the garages I have used before and the only one I trust from experience is Coopers.

I found this place for a head http://www.volkswagenspares.com/page.php?page=Cylinder+Heads

Does anyone know if this would be any good being that it is complete? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110529835420&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Sorry to hear that Ollie :( AFAIK AGU Has bigger ports on the head and the inlet manifold than the AUQ - was the water pump still an issue on the 54 reg's? As said above seems a lot of fluid to lose through temp sensor, possibly they mean failure of the temp sensor caused it to overhead? But then I'm not expert, hopefully if it didn't get too hot it wont have caused a lot of damage, head might just need a skim

Edited 3 November, 201015 yr by Zoe

I do not think that the sensor was in properly which is why it leaked (chances are this is all my fault) the water pump was changed with the cam belt at 48k so that should not be an issue. Thanks for the info so I will need an AUQ head if this is the problem.

I will keep an update of this as it might be of use if anyone else has a problem of the same nature.

Once I know the problem and the work involved then I will look at weather any other jobs are worth doing at the same time.

The symptoms are no compression. I can not see any contaminates in the oil or cooling system but there car has not run since it cut out. The leak occurred from the coolant temperature sensor. At the moment the starter motor spins but nothing else and the dashboard is lit up like a christmas tree :(

When you say starter spins but nothing else, does it turn the engine?

Your water leak, from the sensor? Has the sensor broken or fallen out? Did you see it leaking from here or is it just wet there?

Is your cam belt intact?

So you have zero compression on all cylinders when cranking it? To ensure the starter is actually engaging you can ask someone to watch the pulleys when you crank it over.

If you really have zero compression on all of the cylinders, then it's most likely to be head assembly, or the cam belt has snapped.

Were there any nasty metailc noises or excessive exhaust smoke when it happend?

Just get it to that decent garage, and I'm sure they will diagnose it quickly for you. Don't worry about it anyway dude, the engine is just nuts, bolts and big bits of metal and everything can be repaired.

Good luck with it, and I'm sure you'll be back on the road soon.

P.S. Get some photo's if you take anything apart...

So you have zero compression on all cylinders when cranking it? To ensure the starter is actually engaging you can ask someone to watch the pulleys when you crank it over.

If you really have zero compression on all of the cylinders, then it's most likely to be head assembly, or the cam belt has snapped.

Were there any nasty metailc noises or excessive exhaust smoke when it happend?

Just get it to that decent garage, and I'm sure they will diagnose it quickly for you. Don't worry about it anyway dude, the engine is just nuts, bolts and big bits of metal and everything can be repaired.

Good luck with it, and I'm sure you'll be back on the road soon.

P.S. Get some photo's if you take anything apart...

+1

Thanks for the replies, if this does not show everyone the benefit of being in a club then nothing else will.

I have got it to the garage and finally some progress. There is nothing to see and the car is likely to be in bits when I am not there......

The story so far, the cam belt is fine but it is now looking more like the head gasket has gone. There is some water in the oil by the looks of things. The sensor had not fallen out, i replaced it a few days prior and I do not think it was in quite right. I did a 150 mile drive before it went pop so it is my own fault. :S

There was no exhaust smoke or nasty bangs or noise from the engine just a cloud of steam and then nothing.

Once the head has been removed I will know a little bit more.

If it turns out to be the head gasket alone what would be a good idea to replace at the same time and is it worth uprating anything?

Based on your description of how the water loss occured its unlikely to be the head gasket thats now causing the engine to have no compression.

IMO more likely would be any one or a combination of the following.

Cracked head, warped head, seized valves in guides, piston rings jammed into melted piston ring grooves.

Get the garage to remove the oil filter, cut it open and lay out the paper element.

Check between the folds in the paper element for metallic particals.

Bill.

The engine still turns over in gear with the starter motor but will not turn itself over if you get what I mean. I do not think I will know the extent until its been properly looked at but I will suggest this to the mechanic. There has been no loss of fluids other than the initial leak.

Edited 3 November, 201015 yr by OllieH

The story so far is that one of the pistons is damaged........

I am a bit of a novice when it comes to engine workings so bare with me. The internals of the engine look to be intact but the piston is definately gone. I am going to pop down to the garage and have a look to see whats what....

ooopps might be cheapere to put another engine in

ooopps might be cheapere to put another engine in

What's the story, morning glory

I'm guessing it was a valve head that damaged the piston. Fingers crossed the valve stayed in the chamber and didn't muller the turbine wheel!

My other thought was that if the engine suddenly ran mega hot, it would knock, and the ECU wouldn't be able to retard the ignition enough, so the pistons would get a hammering.

Could be an excuse for some nice pistons and valves........

Ok full damage report...........

Head is warped and No3 Piston is damaged.

The head could be skimmed but the plan is to replace it. The turbo and water pump are fine.

The plan is to replace the following

1. Head gasket set
   
2. Head bolts plus need to source head bolt tool
   
3. Complete cylinder head
   
4. Cambelt
   
5. Turbo gasket (found broken)
   
6. No 3 piston and rod
   

I'm guessing it was a valve head that damaged the piston. Fingers crossed the valve stayed in the chamber and didn't muller the turbine wheel!

My other thought was that if the engine suddenly ran mega hot, it would knock, and the ECU wouldn't be able to retard the ignition enough, so the pistons would get a hammering.

Could be an excuse for some nice pistons and valves........

Any suggestions where to source them?

ouch, all the best getting it sorted

not the end of the world mate! been given a price?

If you would like some uprated piston,valves and rods try backdraft.

No but I trust the guy doing it and would rather pay for it doing properly than the cheapest.

Contacted VWSPARES who can supply me a brand new bare head and fit my head parts to it for £525.00

This is getting expensive

If it costs you more then a grand then youd be better off stripping and selling the parts then you can buy another vrs. They go cheap these days.