My engine in my 57 fabia has seized, exactly the same as yours. The first time happened under warranty but the skoda garage I took it to blmaed me entirely and would not investigate unless I paid, which I wouldnt. Ihad had the car just over a year. They told me to put a litreof oil in a month which I did even though everyone told me that was excessive. My car engine totally seized 5k miles late and they want £3500 to repair my car which cost £5500. I bought my car in Watford but took it to my local skoda dealer. Watford blame Sidcup and Skoda customer services are looking in ot it. Must be more common than we thought!!!!!!!!

I read your other thread http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/202402-skoda-engine-completely-oil-free/page__p__2399221__fromsearch__1#entry2399221

On two occasions there was absolutely no oil in your car, so it's not suprising that it seized.

My engine in my 57 fabia has seized, exactly the same as yours. The first time happened under warranty but the skoda garage I took it to blmaed me entirely and would not investigate unless I paid, which I wouldnt. Ihad had the car just over a year. They told me to put a litreof oil in a month which I did even though everyone told me that was excessive. My car engine totally seized 5k miles late and they want £3500 to repair my car which cost £5500. I bought my car in Watford but took it to my local skoda dealer. Watford blame Sidcup and Skoda customer services are looking in ot it. Must be more common than we thought!!!!!!!!

Hello Ann-Marie and welcome to the site.

I'm sorry to hear you have a problem. This is not a usual problem for any Skoda. It's extremely rare in fact. I too have read your other post and think that you car is/has been using too much oil. Either leaking it or burning it. VAG, the engine makers set certain standards/limits for oil consumption beyond which an engine would be deemed to have a problem. The amount for your car will depend on it's engine type and size

Please can you identify your car model ie: is it diesel or petrol and what size in the engine 1.2 litre or 1.4, 1.6 Litre etc etc. How many miles a month do you drive and what type of driving ie town or motorway, mixed. This can have some bearing on any advice someone may give you.

We'll all wait for you to come back with that information.

They told me to put a litreof oil in a month which I did even though everyone told me that was excessive.

In the handbook of the car it tells you how to check the oil level and how to top it up, it also tells you which oil you should use. They may well have been right that it needed a litre a month, but that depends on the usage of the car and whether it was burning oil... Your friends could also have been right, you shouldn't just put oil in regardless, you should check the level on a regular basis and only top up when necessary... The problem is that once the oil level has got really low the internal parts tend to wear quicker and that results in excessive oil consumption, its best not to wait until the light comes on, but keep it within the marks on the dipstick...

Edited 25 May, 201115 yr by The PM

Sadly these things happen. Oil pump went on my Dad's month old MK4 Golf 1.9 GT TDi and nearly seized and it had only done 1000 miles. 85k without anything remotely major happening is actually reasonably good going.

That's sort of the really annoying bit, I look after this car better than my wife.

Oil checked once a month or so, changed ever 5000 miles.

Whatever you do, don't tell them you check the oil once a month, or goodwill will be out of the window.

Regards

Tony

I too am an ADI. I've just read your experience with a chill running down my spine. EXACTLY the same thing happened to me four weeks ago with the same car, down to the running down of the battery. The car is still in the garage, the diagnosis: broken oil pump chain causing damage to engine and starvation of oil, causing engine to seize. The car has a diesel engine and has only done 70,000 miles.

Serviced ontime - Last service was not done at the Skoda dealership. This use of 'non-Skoda' parts(oil and filter) is Skoda's excuse for the problem. This has no bearing on the cause and I am conviced this is a manufacturers problem. Skoda have quoted £3000+ for a new engine. WHAT NOW? I would advise other ADI's to be aware.

I never check my oil level i guess i have been lucky so far.

well i did think i would check oil for 1st time and its just under the max level so wont need topping up till next service end of April.Looks like the old PD is not burning any oil.

Edited 22 March, 201214 yr by seagull

Nightmare tonight, I'm a driving instructor and was on a driving lesson with a learner when without any warning at all the oil pressure light started flashing and beeping. I got the learner to pull in, consulted the manual which recommended checking the oil and topping up if necessary, the level was just above minimum so I gave it a top up anyway. We drove another 100 yards or so and the beeping started again, pulled in again and this time the engine stopped as we were pulling over...never to be restarted!

Got a tow to a garage and the mechanic (a good guy, I've used him before) who couldn't even turn the crankshaft manually. Engine totally seized.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted, this car has given me NO trouble whatsoever, there was no warning of impending doom.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before?

The only other slightly odd thing was that the battery got completely drained on the tow to the garage which seemed a bit quick to me albeit there was lights/hazards/wipers on.

I'm looking for a reconditioned engine at the moment...still shaking at the thought of the cost

This EXACT set of circumstances happened with a workmates VW Golf TDi 4 motion a couple of months ago with the oil warning and beeping then complete seizure due to oil pump/ seal failure and apparently the turbo pressure sucking all oil out !!

So it appears to be a known issue, if rare, on some VW diesels.

My very fussy mate had his car serviced regularly by an excellent VW independent garage owner who helped him negotiate with VW UK who totally refused any assistance due to the car not being servicedby a main VW dealership!!