Hi, picked up my new to me Superb 2.5 TDI auto/tip, 2005, 55k miles, full SSH and its stalling on low revs after a great first 100 miles from the dealer. I can't believe how good it is cruising on the motorways but this one is stalling on me every time I drop to parking speeds either after the long motorway run or a short journey. Revs seem to be 650 to 800. I test drove it last week and it was fine but they've since done the cambelts change as part of the deal. It starts fine each time after it stalls but clearly it isn't right. I've contacted the dealer (main Skoda) and logged my concerns and right to reject but very interested to hear if anybody here has some views on what might be the trouble as this apart I'm completely smitten with its abilities and comfort!

I don't know what the problem is, but my 2.5TDi hasn't stalled once in 76k miles. Certainly something is not right there.

2.5TDI is VERY hard to stall. The clue is in the timing belt job - done by the main dealer which unfortunately may not be the best place.

Possibilities include: timing completely out of spec, the belt jumped tooth because of incorrect tensioning, or they completely lost camshaft timing (e.g. forgot to lock both heads and crankshaft).

Best to check injection timing first, it is doable with VCDS cable or at dealer, Do not let the dealer fob you off.

Check also error codes, if there is anything mentioning any sensors, recheck cabling around them.

If injection timing is OK and the belts/tensioners look fine, try changing relay 109 - it is another possible reason for 2.5TDI stall, and much cheaper to fix. I'd also replace ECU fuse, just in case. At idle, glow plugs come on from time to time, and if there is any problem with ECU power feed, it will cut out.

2.5TDI is VERY hard to stall. The clue is in the timing belt job - done by the main dealer which unfortunately may not be the best place.

Possibilities include: timing completely out of spec, the belt jumped tooth because of incorrect tensioning, or they completely lost camshaft timing (e.g. forgot to lock both heads and crankshaft).

Best to check injection timing first, it is doable with VCDS cable or at dealer, Do not let the dealer fob you off.

Check also error codes, if there is anything mentioning any sensors, recheck cabling around them.

If injection timing is OK and the belts/tensioners look fine, try changing relay 109 - it is another possible reason for 2.5TDI stall, and much cheaper to fix. I'd also replace ECU fuse, just in case. At idle, glow plugs come on from time to time, and if there is any problem with ECU power feed, it will cut out.

dieselV6 - you're right with your diagnosis. The RAC chap went straight to the belts and the cam belt was slack, slack enough he could nearly pull it off by hand and easily with a screwdriver. He said its quite likely to have jumped and that the noises I could hear would be the timing as you say. So car back to stealers, my money back in my bank account and the search for a car continues ..... Thanks for the replies, this is a great place

Cripes, that was a very lucky escape!!!! Could have no end of damage if valves have touched a piston.

To help the other members of this Forum, could you name the dealer who fitted the belt?

rotodiesel.

Put the reg no. on this site too, in case any Forum member were to consider buying it.

Edited 3 April, 201115 yr by rotodiesel

To help the other members of this Forum, could you name the dealer who fitted the belt?

rotodiesel.

Put the reg no. on this site too, in case any Forum member were to consider buying it.

Will gladly do so once the money has hit my bank account

I used a Bosch Service Centre for my 2.5 timing belt job. Seemed very knowledgeable, have done plenty of 2.5 tdi's before and were quite reasonable on cost too. Car runs like a dream.

dieselV6 - you're right with your diagnosis. The RAC chap went straight to the belts and the cam belt was slack, slack enough he could nearly pull it off by hand and easily with a screwdriver. He said its quite likely to have jumped and that the noises I could hear would be the timing as you say. So car back to stealers, my money back in my bank account and the search for a car continues ..... Thanks for the replies, this is a great place

Just being nosey but why did you have your money back if you was happy with the car? had it trashed the engine? did it not run right when the timing belt was properly adjusted? like i said just intrigued.

It could be an air hose isn't re-connected properly if they've had the car to bit's.

Just being nosey but why did you have your money back if you was happy with the car? had it trashed the engine? did it not run right when the timing belt was properly adjusted? like i said just intrigued.

No problem, I was happy with the car up to the point it went wrong. I suspect it didn't trash the engine as it had compression but it sounded piggin' awful and the Skoda Assist chap thought it could be damaged. So I lost quite a lot of confidence in the quality of the work done and wasn't happy with the offer to fix the car. They had the chance to get it right and failed to do so. Who was going to fix the car, the same person who fitted the belts? They were also supposed to fit a new water pump but didn't saying the old one wasn't leaking so it was ok. It was going to go back to have this sorted but to me it reaffirmed my view of poor working practices. I might have over reacted in rejecting the car and it could well have been fixed back to 100% with no related issues in the future but not being technical I couldn't make an informed judgement on this so rightly or wrongly I took my decision.

To help the other members of this Forum, could you name the dealer who fitted the belt?

rotodiesel.

Put the reg no. on this site too, in case any Forum member were to consider buying it.

For those interested the car is Hotel-November-Five-Five-Oscar-Zulu-Victor.

I won't name the dealer here and as I've said elsewhere the car may be fine once repaired and it may have been an unlucky for me incident but if anybody in the west midlands wants to pm me if interested then feel free to do so.

No problem, I was happy with the car up to the point it went wrong. I suspect it didn't trash the engine as it had compression but it sounded piggin' awful and the Skoda Assist chap thought it could be damaged. So I lost quite a lot of confidence in the quality of the work done and wasn't happy with the offer to fix the car. They had the chance to get it right and failed to do so. Who was going to fix the car, the same person who fitted the belts? They were also supposed to fit a new water pump but didn't saying the old one wasn't leaking so it was ok. It was going to go back to have this sorted but to me it reaffirmed my view of poor working practices. I might have over reacted in rejecting the car and it could well have been fixed back to 100% with no related issues in the future but not being technical I couldn't make an informed judgement on this so rightly or wrongly I took my decision.

No question about it, you were right to reject the car. The cam belt should never be replaced without fitting a new water pump. That is very poor practice indeed, you had a lucky escape.

You were absolutely right to reject this car - if more people did this, the dealers would sack their monkeys.

Once an engine has been subjected to this type of treatment, it's never the same again. In view of the huge number of fixings which have to be removed to change the belts on the B5.5 (I went to the bank and used a pile of money bags to put all the screws in) do you think it likely that people like this put everything back properly?

If the dealer is in W Mids, I'm safe. Find a good 1.9 PD.

rotodiesel.

Find a good 1.9 PD.

rotodiesel.

That's what I set out to do on Sunday and have failed. I saw three 2004/5 Superbs and none were as described or accurate in their responses to my questions. Full service history - with 28k miles between first and second service? Unmarked bodywork - well except for the dents and scratches! Drives as new - clutch at very top of travel, all 4 discs shot, suspension squeaks, interior lights and door mirrors not working.

Found a pristine 2005 Passat estate with the AWX engine, 55k miles 5 main dealer services, drives great (not as comfy as a Superb but still good) and showed 54mpg over a brisk and mixed 20 minute test drive. Thanks for the guidance

Well done. The VW badged estates hold their value much better too.

rotodiesel.

neilS what superb were you looking at with the low mileage?

neilS what superb were you looking at with the low mileage?

Sorry for late reply been away bit. I looked at another 2.5V6 with 60k miles and two 1.9 AWX's with 95k and 130k respectively. Not many Superbs about at that age and reasonable miles, loads more Passats, I looked at 3 of them before finding one I was happy with.