Well after 2.5 years and nearly 40k the dreaded happened.......

....sitting in traffic on the A33 this afternoon....car suddenly starts to sound very ruff.....as if one cylinders not firing....turn car around to go home and the CEL light starts flashing...pull over in layby and call the AA.

Tell them I reckons it's a coil pack and that I have SWMBO and the kiddies with me. 20 minutes later AA man turns up...plugs in he laptop....cylinder 2 looks like it's the problem.

One coil pack later alls ok. Didn't get charged either.

So thumbs up to the AA for being quick...well it was a priority call due to the baby being on board.

So...what Skodas policy on coil packs now? I recently had a 40k service and ask Winchester Motor Co about changing my coil packs....to which they said they didn't know anything about changing coil packs.

I thought this kind of strange seeing as I thought these were suppose to be changed as a precaution now.

Anyone care to comment?

Cheers.

Yeah I'd like to comment Adrian. The fiickers.....

Coil packs should be inspected at the relevant service, your would have been 40,000 miles.

Dealers are under instruction any coil packs found to be of the older spec i.e part number ending in G, H must be replaced to the new spec which is L.

Coil packs with part numbers in J,K, and L are the latter sort and OK.

Skoda warranty/customer services pick up the bill for all four to be changed to the latter type if required.

I thought I had this problem the other week, when the car wouldn't start. it eventually started but was coughing and spluttering then as soon as I touched the accelerator, the engine light came on and it died. the engine light has been on for the past couple of weeks (taking it in on Tuesday)

It's still quite erratic, sometimes it'll stick at 2000 revs after startup. Sometimes it starts then cuts out when the accelerator is pressed. Sometimes it won't start.

I don't suppose I could have done 70mph x 2 on't A1 if a coil pack had gone though?

Coil packs should be inspected at the relevant service' date=' your would have been 40,000 miles.

Dealers are under instruction any coil packs found to be of the older spec i.e part number ending in G, H must be replaced to the new spec which is L.

Coil packs with part numbers in J,K, and L are the latter sort and OK.

Skoda warranty/customer services pick up the bill for all four to be changed to the latter type if required.[/quote']

This was my impression Ross. I know I have H types but they weren't changed.

I'm going to ask again.

Cheers.

I've just called Skoda UK to get a answer on their policy regarding coil packs.....as Ross said they shold change them and free of charge.

Also if you need to callthe AA out for a coil pack problem they shouldn't charge as they should make a claim to Skoda UK.

Wasn't doubting what Ross said just need some offical info so I can point it out to the garage if they won't do it.

Cheers.

I've had two incidents where a different coil pack has gone wrong, each time the dealer only changed the problem one because the car has the latter 'L' type ones, SKODA UK have told dealer that the only ones with problems are the older types so therefore they can only change them all if they are those oldies. I beg to differ, it seems that too many people are still suffering coil pack probs (my car's only done 25K and already it's happened twice) but SKODA will not acknowledge. I have not heard of any similar problems from owners of other cars, shame such a simple thing is letting down what is otherwise a very reliable engine.

Also a shame SKODA don't sort it out and create a reliable coil.

I've had two incidents where a different coil pack has gone wrong' date=' each time the dealer only changed the problem one because the car has the latter 'L' type ones, SKODA UK have told dealer that the only ones with problems are the older types so therefore they can only change them all if they are those oldies. I beg to differ, it seems that too many people are still suffering coil pack probs (my car's only done 25K and already it's happened twice) but SKODA will not acknowledge. I have not heard of any similar problems from owners of other cars, shame such a simple thing is letting down what is otherwise a very reliable engine.

Also a shame SKODA don't sort it out and create a reliable coil.[/quote']

I hear what your saying and agree in the most part. However I believe the coil packs are from a 3rd party manufacturer...originally Bosch.

Also it is something for Skoda to push the parent company VW to sort out.

I've just called Winchester Mo Co about my coil pack failure...who acknowledge that they should have been changed..they also apologised profusely. Should now be done when the car goes back for some other warranty stuff.

I have had H packs in my car since new and the replacement one is also an H. My car alway used to be kept in the garage overnight and only has been kept outside due to a house move....garage full of crap .

I seem to remember that the pack originally were failing due to damp getting in them....one of the Techies can confirm one way or the other.

It always helps if you know the company policy when taking your motor into the dealers, just in case they didnt know themselves

I had all four replaced when the car had its second service as two had failed earlier in the year so they replaeced the remaining two. In september last year (4 months after the service) two packs failed on me simultaneously, boy that realy felt wierd. Managed to get to the Skoda dealer (about 13 miles away) trying to coast most of the way where they put two new one in and all fixed. There seems to still be problems with even the "new" type packs. :confused:

Well, one can certainly say your Hs left it until very late, Adrian! Impressive stuff from something that is supposed to be faulty...

VAG is probably counting on this thing having blown over by now anyway.

Incidentally, the pack was indeed designed by Bosch (as is almost everything inside German-bred cars) but the manufacturer producing the faulty packs was a company called Bremi (also known to BMW customers), which almost went bankrupt over VAG moving its orders elsewhere (I believe to Beru).

Well' date=' one can certainly say your Hs left it until very late, Adrian! Impressive stuff from something that is supposed to be faulty...

VAG is probably counting on this thing having blown over by now anyway.

Incidentally, the pack was indeed designed by Bosch (as is almost everything inside German-bred cars) but the manufacturer producing the faulty packs was a company called Bremi (also known to BMW customers), which almost went bankrupt over VAG moving its orders elsewhere (I believe to Beru).[/quote']

I was certainly impressed Mattijs....I haven't said anything about coil packs since I've had the car for fear of jinxing it.

Perhaps having the car parked up in the garage has had something to do with it?? Col pack only went AWOL since I've started to leave it out over night.

Another question for the Techies....would a coil pack on it's way out have an effect on economy? Fuel consumption has been heavy of late.