Of all the comments made here (interesting thread) - the most relevant one to your problem is the comment made about high gearing. When your GF is slowing down - she is 'panic braking' and forcing the road speed below the engine speed (for the gear that she is in). I would think that if she gets into the habit of dropping down a gear, this would ease the situation considerably.

Good Luck

You make a very good point. Come to think of it I used to have this issue when I first received my Greenline 1. Granted its a PD engine but the gearing is exactly the same as the new 1.6CR as far as ratios go. Took me a while to get used to being in a lower gear for much of the time. Where i used to pootle up behind a car or up to a roundabout in 3rd this used to lead to the car sort of surging as the revs went too low.

I have opposite problem now on our old 1.4MPI Fabia where SWMBO keeps telling me to change up.......I am now too used to being in 3rd around town. I can go for days in my Greenline without even getting in to fifth........below sixty its a waste of time and vibrates.

Yes, I think 2ndskoda is correct...and this is probably the way it's happening. Of course the engine would apply throttle I guess to prevent stalling under 750rpm. Changing down earlier or declutching a little bit earlier will solve the problem. It's just getting used to the car.

I have now established two reasons for the idle speed to be just under 1000rpm rather than the normal just under 800rpm on my tacho.

1. As posted above a DPF regen occuring.

2. Low ambient temperature.

I'm not sure what the trigger(s) is/are. It could be as SUK suggest to speed up the warm up time and hence improve emissions but increasing the alternator output is another possibility.

Apparently the alternator maximum output is not high enough to supply headlights, heated rear window, heater blower, heated seats if fitted and full load on the electric power steering. It has been posted on previous threads that on a sharp turn or when parking that if the heated rear window is on the management system will momentarily turn it off.

The 027 size battery is rated 60AH / 600CCA compared to 110 size rated 80AH / 770CCA that was fitted in my 1.9PD 115PS Audi or the 096 size rated 72AH / 720CCA listed for the FABIA 1.9PD so important it is kept well charged.

A few times now when rolling up to a junction I have found the car slowing less than is normal. I agree it is easy to be caught out if not aware or even briefly distracted.

Edited 29 January, 201214 yr by delta925

Not had the problem in ice and snow but had it when comming of dual carriage way onto slip.

The GL2 had loads more power during a regen- probably part of its many problems.

3rd gear at 15mph is clearly the wrong gear, I would be in 2nd at that speed. The octavia has quiet long gearing, it takes some getting used to but you soon learn to change down sooner. 3rd is good for 70mph, 2nd redlines around 30mph IIRC.

3rd is good for 70mph in a 1.6 diesel Octavia? Really? Is it 5 or 6 speed?

Well I've just got my one year old Skoda Octavia 1.6TDI CRD Elegance and driven from Essex to Bournemouth and back. Wow! 70.5 mpg on the way down. BUT - on the way back I got this weird , mad engine thing talked about here. Get into a queue of traffic crawl along in 2nd then suddenly without touching the accelerator it accelerates at the car in front. Pulled into the services, dropped down to third and at about 15mph just about to change down and it accelerated to 25mph in the bloody car park!!! Now you can poke fun at this guy's girlfriend all you like but I've been driving for 45 years, done over a million miles and never run in the back of anyone or ever had an accident (touch wood) but this ain't gonna last! This is seriously dangerous and goes against all principles of correct gear usage and clutch control No wonder people are buying automatics.

One thing changing up through the gear box but when slowing down I wasn't expecting to be changing down at 70 mph! I agree that 15 mph is a bit slow but when slowing down to lights etc in every car I've ever driven (about 30) that would not be a problem. I'm not talking about pulling away at that speed. Totally different when slowing down with foot off the accelerator. Gearboxes are expensive compared to brakes and I would only keep working my way right down the gears and use engine braking if safety required it like going down hill, in ice or rain etc. In fact I've noticed most drivers (not good practice in my opinion) stay in top till very low pre-stall speeds then coast the last few yards with the clutch out. This is going to be very tiring in long traffic queues if the car is going to lurch forward at random intervals in second gear. Judging by the number of concerns and complaints on the net it's not a minority view.

Used to be a common thing with Landrovers with the TD5 engine that they produce oil fumes; these don't get filtered out of the airstream and (in the name of emissions) get fed back into the engine. Too much fuming, and the engine starts to feed itself on its own fumes; removing the diesel as a fuel source sometimes isn't enough...

I think i've heard of it happening on other diesels as well?

One thing changing up through the gear box but when slowing down I wasn't expecting to be changing down at 70 mph! I agree that 15 mph is a bit slow but when slowing down to lights etc in every car I've ever driven (about 30) that would not be a problem. I'm not talking about pulling away at that speed. Totally different when slowing down with foot off the accelerator. Gearboxes are expensive compared to brakes and I would only keep working my way right down the gears and use engine braking if safety required it like going down hill, in ice or rain etc. In fact I've noticed most drivers (not good practice in my opinion) stay in top till very low pre-stall speeds then coast the last few yards with the clutch out. This is going to be very tiring in long traffic queues if the car is going to lurch forward at random intervals in second gear. Judging by the number of concerns and complaints on the net it's not a minority view.

dc, we hear you. But it is really just a case of getting used to the car. I know lots of people who have the cr1.6 engine in Fabia's and an Octavia and they don't have any problems with this 'surging'. It only happens if you let the revs drop too low (below normal tickover speed) and the engine will then apply some gas to prevent stalling (happens on all cars now, even new petrol engined cars). Or...if a regen happens whilst you are crawling in traffic but it really shouldn't be a problem and isn't dangerous at any time once you are aware of it. It warns you in the owners manual too I remember somewhere about this. Once you know how the car drives in these circumstances you'll be fine with it. Diesels normally require the clutch to be depressed slightly earlier anyway to avoid transmission and engine shudder as you come to a stop, that's normal too. But you prolly know all that. Just enjoy the car, drive it a lot and you will get used to it - guaranteed! Just like everyone else.

dc, we hear you. But it is really just a case of getting used to the car. I know lots of people who have the cr1.6 engine in Fabia's and an Octavia and they don't have any problems with this 'surging'. It only happens if you let the revs drop too low (below normal tickover speed) and the engine will then apply some gas to prevent stalling (happens on all cars now, even new petrol engined cars). Or...if a regen happens whilst you are crawling in traffic but it really shouldn't be a problem and isn't dangerous at any time once you are aware of it. It warns you in the owners manual too I remember somewhere about this. Once you know how the car drives in these circumstances you'll be fine with it. Diesels normally require the clutch to be depressed slightly earlier anyway to avoid transmission and engine shudder as you come to a stop, that's normal too. But you prolly know all that. Just enjoy the car, drive it a lot and you will get used to it - guaranteed! Just like everyone else.

Thank you for the reassurance. I think you are absolutely right. I am just being a grumpy old man! I am starting to adapt already and as you say it is really about having to drive differently. I'm quite capable of doing that but after 45 years of not having to I guess it will take a little while. I spoke to a friend who has the identical Fabia and he says pretty much the same as you. I felt better straight away when I realised it wasn't a fault. 70.5 mpg on a run helped as well

I think when you spend 12.5K on a car it is a natural reaction to concentrate on minor negatives rather than the big positives!

Which brings me on to the lack of LW which I had on my wonderful Mazda 6. I will have to fit a DAB radio to the auxilliary socket to get my beloved Test Match Special I think

Anyway, thanks for the friendly and helpful comments.

No need. Take a look at this which someone put on the forum a couple of weeks ago:

Switch to AM, then use the scan button with the chevrons pointing left, and then the radio

will tune down the frequencies till it goes below the medium wave band till it goes through

the freqencies for the long wave.

When you get to 198 khz use a spare preset to store it- and there you are!

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by nbramwel

Thanks for this suggestion but unfortunately on this Bolero radio they seem to have condensed the scale and it won't scan, even manually, below 530 Khz.

Dave

Just wonder if any experts out there can advise on a similar problem to this topic.  I have a 3 year old Fabia Elegance 1.2 TSI petrol.  Just recently when stopping in traffic at lights etc.  The engine has been revving at 1200 rpm, if I tap the accelerator it immediately drops to its normal tick over of 700 rpm.  Could this indicate a forthcoming problem?

Its funny, cos everyone seems to be saying they rev too high and its hard to control but cars of old always used to rev higher, at around 12,00 rmp or even a little higher and as it was "Normal" your driving style accommodated it One thing to notice, is if you brake without using the clutch and lower the engines natural tickover, to prevent stalling (You will be getting below stall speed) the engine management speeds up the idle. Now when you unbrake, its like a catapult effect, shooting you forwards! This is not a fault with the car, merely  the cars brain reacting to your clumsy control of brake/clutch which you then try to re-compensate for by coming off the brakes, surging forward as if you hit the accelerator. It is common and well established practice in a diesel car, to dip the clutch to bite, reducing the driving force and brake a little in order to maintain slow control over the vehicle, particularly in say, second gear when negotiating a bend or turn into another road or in driving in slower traffic conditions. 

Recently been having intermittent high revs on my Roomster 1.9tdi  -  a quick dab on the accelerator and the revs go back to normal.

 

Dealer says it needs new pedal and sensor so getting it fixed next week but not cheap -  £196.  They also charged me £33 to diagnose the fault . 

Sorry to dig up an old thread.  But this one has really helped.  I recently purchased a Pug308cc diesel.  Not having a diesel before I was getting concerned over the way revs at idle increased and the surge effect when the engine decides to clear the dpf.  So now I know I can change my ways ! LOL !

 

In other news the Yeti goes in May when the Octavia Estate takes over.  Been two great years with the Yeti, brilliant car, but the PCP is up and I wasn’t prepared to go to a Karoq.