Bought a new Octavia 1.9(110bhp)SLX TDI estate September 1999. Its been garaged and taken off the road over the winter all its life. Whilst garaged over winter the battery(replaced 5.5y ago) is top up charged every week and the engine started and run up to temp every 2 weeks. Additionally, at the 2 week period the car is moved in an out of the garage and on the drive to spread the grease in the wheel bearinds and to prevent point loading on the races. A couple of months back I was thinking of getting the car ready for this summer, started it up and was presented with lots of blue smoke from the exhaust. Parked it up on the drive for the next few days whilst I did some other work. On switching on the ignition to move it back in the garage the ABS light stayed on plus on starting more blue smoke. Plus there are a few other probs that have appeared! The car has only done 41,000mls from new, is imaculate and unmarked inside and with just a few stone chips on the outside

So what to to do- fix or forget and throw???????

Faults:

1/ ABS light on all time. Fault reader shows all four faulty, but have measured sensor resistances and all OK(1000ohms approx). Tested and repaired modul, if I can remove it from the pump in situ, is £195 inc p&p both ways from http://www.ecutesting.com/ate_abs_pumps___modules.html

Any comments?

2/Sudden apperance of lots of blue smoke from the exhaust(still doing this). I guess this is the turbo oil seals yes/no? Any idea how much(variable vane), how difficult(do myself)?

3/Front wipers locked solid(possible lack of use?). Guess a strip down,clean,grease and re assemble, yes/no how difficult?

4/Cam belt has now done 41,000mls and 11.5 years(easy use) - I guess its very prudent to change it. The original number on the belt is '038 109 119B'. Read the manual on replacing and although have done lots of car work in the past I cant say that I like the prospect. Is it as bad as it sounds???? DIY/ garage(cost?)

My thoughts are that I prioritise the work as follows if I keep the car:

First - ABS.

Second - wipers(do whilst modul is away being sorted).

Car needs an MOT could I get one before doing the turbo???

Third - Turbo.

Forth - Cam belt.

I'm hoping a £1000 will cover all costs(unless you advise otherwise), which is cheaper than another car and potential other problems.

Thanks in anticipation of your help.

would be daft to scrap car because of these.

i'd give it a decent run to see if that clears teh cobwebs, and then reset the ecu codes.

then prioritise (but that cambelt does need doing)

Could the ABS module errors be down to a weak battery?

On the Octy II (which I know has more complicated electronics) all kind of warning lights can come on randomly when you have a weak battery.

Worth a good charge up, clear the codes and go for a run.

The oil smoke could be a bit embarrassing though! There is no way it will pass an MoT if there are clouds of oil smoke coming out of the exhaust.

Cam belt I would pay someone to do from experience - if you don't have the correct locking tools it is too easy to get it timed in wrong.

It's easy enough to check the condition of the turbo (I was shown how to do this recently), or at least check for a common symptom. Remove the intake hose that goes into the turbo (behind the engine - you need to remove the spring clip to get the pipe off) and feel the turbine shaft. If there's any sideways play in it, then your turbo is knackered.

I would urge you NOT to drive the car at all until you've done this check. Failed/failing turbo seals can lead to a runaway engine, complete with bits of turbine wheel being sucked into the cylinders - the car will definitely be scrap then!

ABS system - you've done a good check; I diagnosed an ABS fault with my old Primera this way. You've shown the sensors are fine. I'd next trace the wiring and make sure a plug isn't loose somewhere (the Primera's ABS system had several plugs between the sensors at the ECU), before moving onto the mechanical side of it.

Wipers - I'm guessing siezed motors. I don't know how easy it is to get to them, if I could I'd suggest an electrical contact cleaner sprayed into them and try and work it loose before buying new ones (or ones from a scrappy if you're prepared to wrestle with them in a scrapyard).

HTH.

Wipers I would say is likely to be the shafts seized in their bearings. Take the scuttle off, take the whole mechanism out and strip down. If they won't come out use WD40, if they still won't move after soaking in WD40 you'll need some heat, but carefully and not for long.

If the turbo check is that easy I guess worth looking at, then clear the codes and take her for a good run, no need to drive her hard - better not to, but a good run 20 mins or so to get everything warm and working. Check the fluids, clear any codes and try again.

If you decide to keep her, and she's still smoking, I'd take her to a good garage, get their opinion on the smoke, if you decide to fix that then get them to do the belt. I'd be looking to get that done ASAP, otherwise if your luck is like mine you'll get everything else done just in time for the belt to let go and put you back to square one with a big bill.

Personally, I'd say the smoke is the main issued and the belt the second, everything else should be simple.

Tom

The turbo check is 'a' way of checking, but I don't know if it's conclusive - all I know is that it worked on my 110tdi.

I guess it'll tell you if there's play, but not if the seals are gone.

Tom

I guess it'll tell you if there's play, but not if the seals are gone.

Tom

If there's play, then oil can get past the seals, but yeah, it is more of an indicator of the state of the bearings rather than the seals themselves.

The smoke may just be due to you leaving it ticking over every 2 weeks & not giving it a good run to blow the cob webs out,our landrovers at work that are fitted out with radio & comms (army) are left to tick over for hours when the lads are charging up the radio batteries & you wouldnt believe how much blue smoke comes out of the exhuast for the first 2 miles or so when they take them out for a run,after that they are smoke free.

Scrap it...................I'll have the wheels..

whats the point in having a car and not driving it?

anyway each to their own and all that, the smoke is prob from the engine not having load on it, the turbo seals WILL leak on idle as they require boost to help seal them, I would remove the lower boost pipe from the intercooler and drain the oil out of there first then give it a good run up the road

Wipers I would say is likely to be the shafts seized in their bearings. Take the scuttle off, take the whole mechanism out and strip down. If they won't come out use WD40, if they still won't move after soaking in WD40 you'll need some heat, but carefully and not for long.

Get the linkage out, pop the circlips out, clean up the corrosion on the wiper spindles, pack with grease between the shafts and the brass bushes and reassemble. I did this on mine 4 years ago and it has been fine ever since

Many thanks for your replies and sugestions.

Blue smoke from exhaust: can't take it for a good run as its not taxed, insured and MOT'd. Got it good and hot in the garage and then spent 1/2Hr pretending I was driving it, lots of holding revs at 3000(90mph),2000(60mph) and 1500(45mph) with periods of tick over and agresive throttle bliping. Just get a slight blue haze at various revs now. Maybe OK but keep an eye on it.

Cam belt: not a lot of options of where to go in North Wales for a replacement. My local main garage (Slaters of Abergele) gave me a fixed price of £472.22 (£285.60 labour + £186.62 parts) with another £110.72 for a new water pump(precautionary change). Grand total of £582.94. Like to know if this is par for the job, not that I've got a lot of choice as at 63 with health problems I don't fancy doing the job myself.

In the past year I've replaced a rear wheel bearing on my other halfs Megane and on her Siecento a new radiator,fuel tank,exhaust,handbrake cable and the front O/S brake pipes plus general servicing and I'm sick of it!!! She's still at work so has to have a car.

ABS ECU: still trying to get suitable female star sockets to get the four bolts undone and get the b@@@@@er off.

Wipers: I thought a strip,clean and re grease would do the job. It's probably the last job to do.

In answer 'why buy a car and not use it?' I was expecting to but life changed and being forced into retirement and with no relatives to visit there's little reason to clock up the miles. There was no point in selling so just keep and use as and when.

Thanks again for the help.

Best keep an eye on your oil levels :-) iirc, reving the engine does not make it behave in the same way as then it is under load.

Waterpumps are only about £50, iirc (if that), so it sounds like your Skoda dealer is taking p.....

It is recommended up change the pump though and better to do it now than to have to go through all the cost of a new cambelt change to swap the pump at a later date.

I think I'd be inclined to source the pump and belt kit yourself and give them to the garage to fit, you can get the whole shooting match for about £200. The garage I went to did insist on (well said he'd rather) using a OEM water pump, and I couldn't get it for a better price, but I got the timing kit from eBay it was a Gates kit, which the garage said was fine, they apparently provide a lot of the OEM stuff.

Labour, I can't recall if they thought it would be 3 or 5 hours.

Obviously taking the car for a run would be the best exercise, but without Tax/MOT/Insurance that's a tad hard.

I think I'd be inclined to find some way of exercising it before I worried about the ABS, there may not be an issue there anyway once they've actually moved and done some work (and been reset).

Tom

Reset the ABS with my 'VAG 405' and tried the brakes (hard) in the close where I live(neighbours must have thought me mad). Worked fine, stoping in a straight line from 35mph, with the brake pedal pumping like it does when the ABS opperates. ABS light continues to behave, lets hope it continues. Must have been some sort of 'glitch' on the ABS ECU. All four sensors and wiring checked - OK. Gave the large connector a good waggle(electrical engineering term) to make sure of a good contact.

I knew they where OTT on the price of the cam belt replacement as their cost was £186 for the belt and its £130 for a Gates one off Ebay. Looks like I'll be paying £100+ over the odds for the complete job. But, I just want it out of the way - time becomes more important as you get older. I've already seen four guys I worked with go, two the same age and two 10yrs or so older. Used to do parachuting/hang gliding/bungy jumping/white water rafting/yatching and PPL with a share in a plane flying out of a farm strip. Now its just RC planes. Its no fun getting old and turning into an unwell old fart!

contact Sere Motors in N Ireland for the best price on all the stuff you need for a cambelt kit

Or try Vee W Spares in Bristol if you want some good prices, they are quite happy to price match, and I think they will post parts out (I tend to collect mine from the counter - in Bristol).