Has my Turbo blown

[fabdavrav]

What would cause a worn camshaft in a low mileage engine

Wrong grade of oil...or lack of!!!???

[allytech]

/\ yes exactly, wrong oil or consistently low levels, its becoming a very common failure on older pd engines as they fall into the grasp of the lower budget owner

[gazman1]

Getting a tad ****ed with the whole issue now, heard nothing from the dealers so called yesterday only to be told workshop manager was busy with a customer and would call me back, the call never came, i rang again today and asked to speak to him, i was told by the receptionist he was busy with a customer but she had been given details to pass onto me which consisted of "he says the technical guys are on with it" i said i was not happy and would call back, rang again at 3pm and was told he was busy but the car would still be with them into next week, i said i needed to speak to him, she said he was busy and would get him to call me back ASAP, the call never came.

Where do i go next, theyve had it for 3 weeks now and nothing sorted.

Its blatantly obvious from the last 2 days conversations that im being fobbed off and treated like a piece of dog crap, i would have thought i would have been a priority case.

[Guest]

Not withstanding the fact that the service manager should have called you back, I don't think you should be worried. It is going to be sorted, they have given you another car to use, and however annoying all this is for you (it would be to me too, as I like my car), if I may say...just try and chill. There is obviously something significant they or Skoda are doing, but they should be keeping you in the loop. Inexcusable that they are not. However, sometimes there isn't a quick fix and stuff has to be done behind the scene. I think if I was the one sorting your car I would maybe have approached it a little differently...but then I only know what is being posted on this site and haven't had the privilege of seeing your motor and fiddling with it's bits!

I do think however, you will be the one that comes out of it rather well with a new engine and the like, plus quite a few other bit from the sound of it.

[gazman1]

Rang then again this morning, workshop manager not in so got speaking to a relief receptionist from another dealership who was very nice, she called Skoda UK customer services for me who got onto Skoda technical in Milton Keynes i beleive, she rang back after 20 minutes and told me customer services are already involved with my case and that they have fitted and set up a new ECU and were downloading all the results which will be gone through on Monday, they will then make a decision as to what to do based on those results, however the car is still underpowered.

Seems a real shame that the only person who has been really helpful is someone who is only acting as a relief, she also asked if it was OK if she kept my number to check with me every few days to see if im being kept up to date.

[Guest]

Gaz...that's good news! It goes to show what happens too when someone actually shows an interest in your problem in an active way rather than you having to chase them all the time to be told almost nothing. Well done to the relief receptionist. I'm afraid the staff in many dealerships are coming under increasing pressures from every angle and sometimes the actual talking to the customer gets put to the back instead of the front of the issues. All most customers want is to be kept informed of whats going on irrespective of whether it's a big problem or a little one. I bet you feel a bit happier now eh!

[gazman1]

Aaargh, it just gets worse, New ECU fitted and set up, all tests run and results analised by Skoda UK tech dept and showing no faults, ie nothing wrong, Skoda are at a loss and this is the first case like this theyve ever had.

Muted the question about how long does this continue before they call it a day and admit defeat but obviously they wont answer this, so far its cost them 2 Turbos, a Fuel Pump, a Catylitic Convertor and an ECU and god know how many man hours, so far 23 seperate job sheets have been created for the current work done to the car plus the cost of a top of the range Ford diesel cars rental for 3 weeks so far this time and 4 days previously which must be getting on for £1000 so far.

Edited 23 May, 2011 by gazman1

[raisbeck]

wouldn't it be ironic if it was just a dodgy batch of fuel.

I eagerly await the actual diagnosis and cure.....might just write it down in case I ever suffer the same fate.

Edited 23 May, 2011 by raisbeck

[gazman1]

wouldn't it be ironic if it was just a dodgy batch of fuel.

I eagerly await the actual diagnosis and cure.....might just write it down in case I ever suffer the same fate.

Ha, ha, ive already asked that question, i even wondered if i'd filled up with Petrol but fuel was tested weeks ago when a new Fuel pump was fitted and was correct.

[pipsyp]

Personally i'd look to trade the car, nothings worth all that agro. Expect the dealer would look to do you a deal given the bad experience you've had so far

[nbramwel]

Any update on this yet please? An interesting problem.

[gazman1]

Any update on this yet please? An interesting problem.

No, absolutly nothing from the dealers since Monday, im not happy and will now leave it until after the Bank Holiday and then im left with no other option but to contack Skoda UK direct and demand some action, i dont suppose anyone knows a direct number to call do they.

[roadster]

Thinking back over more decades than I care to remember I have had similar mystery problems on 3 occasions. They were solved by going back to basics and remembering that an engine is really just an air pump and a fuel pump combined. Two of these cases were caused by blocked air intakes - one being incorrectly assembled and the other having a broken piece of plastic which sucked itself into a position blocking off the airflow. The other was a blocked exhaust pipe. All of these resulted in choked off power output. Of course with a petrol engine the mixture goes bad and thats fairly easy to spot as black smoke and rough running. Not so with a diesel.

Not strictly relevant but I have also heard tales of BMW engines leaving the factory with their very fancy intake manifold castings having casting flash blocking off some of the cylinders!

From your performance figures I doubt that the sick engine is producing half of its rated power, I hope your luck changes soon.

Regards Roadster

[gazman1]

Spoke to the dealers again on Tuesday, Workshop manager said nothing to report, said i wasnt happy and would be taking this further and contacting customer servicea, he said they were already aware of the situation so no point, i said i needed to speak to them myself, he wasnt happy and the conversation just ended.

I then rang customer services, spoke to "Richard" and explained i wasnt happy that they have now had the car for 5 weeks and they still havent got a clue as to what the problem is. i said was it possible i could get the car moved to another dealers as the current dealers always seemed to be telling me they have someone off so cant get to look at it or are maiuing some other excuse and failing to keep me informed and i explained i had no confidence in them given all the problems ive already had.

He got my case up on screen and told me a couple of things the dealer didnt but should have done, he also said the tech guys are lost and dont know where to go next, i asked him about the possibility of either buying the car from me or giving me another.

He said he would need to speak to the dealers to find out more and promised me a call back that day, needless to say no one has called me.

I will never buy another Skoda as long as i live

[gazman1]

Spoke to custmoer services again this morning, was told that they stripped the top of the engine down and found "scoring" on the camshaft, bear in mind its just had its 20,000 mile service while in there so obviously an oil change as well, they also checked the sump and there are shards of metal and swarf in the sump, they said like it seems to be a major mechanical failure inside the engine (possibly a bearing) and shards of metal and swarf have been circulating round the engine and causing damage and blocking oilways.

The damage to the camshaft is not a worn camshaft like would happen with oil starvation but scoring probably caused by these shards of metal, i maintain my car perfectly, i have driven Diesels all my life so know about how some cars can use large amounts of oil and i have always checked my oil every week without fail and this car didnt use any since i bought it with 14,000 miles on the clock, ive put 6,000 on it in a year, when the 20,000 mile service was done while it was in for reapir they also said the oil level was normal.

Upshot is that Skoda have looked for any reason which could point to owner neglect etc, etc and cant find none so they are fitting a brand new engine for me shortly.

I have also asked customer services to refund the £240 i paid for the 20,000 mile service as i would obviously not have paid this had i known the engine was shot

Funny how nothing was done for 5 weeks except get loads of greif then involving Customer Services gets the job done

[Guest]

Gaz, that's all good news actually even though this is not a normal problem for the 1422cc TDI engine. It sounds from your posts as though your investigating dealer could have picked up on this a lot sooner and should certainly have kept you more informed. Dealers are often scared to do stuff they may not get paid for and may have been at the bottom of the time delays. But taking off the cambox cover takes just minutes and could have solved your problem much earlier. Well, looks as though you will be in a good position once it's sorted. Brilliant.

[gazman1]

Gaz, that's all good news actually even though this is not a normal problem for the 1422cc TDI engine. It sounds from your posts as though your investigating dealer could have picked up on this a lot sooner and should certainly have kept you more informed. Dealers are often scared to do stuff they may not get paid for and may have been at the bottom of the time delays. But taking off the cambox cover takes just minutes and could have solved your problem much earlier. Well, looks as though you will be in a good position once it's sorted. Brilliant.

Hmm, not so sure about a good position or not, i will certainally be selling it on at the very first opportunity as ive lost all confidence with Skoda, once bitten and all that.

Wanna buy a Skoda

[gazman1]

Final update, got car back a week ago with a brand new engine, new turbo, new fuel pump, new catalytic convertor and a new ECU unit and it performs flawlessly, MPG isnt so good but will improve hopefully, based on the performance of this new "tight" engine i would have to say that the car must have had some problems when i first purchased it, theres no way i would expect a brand new engine to perform as well as a 14,000 mile unit and that was backed up by Skoda, one guy told me when the engine had been fully stripped down that it looked like it had been thrashed from day one.

[pipsyp]

Fair shout for seeing this through, I probably would have cut my losses and traded the car. At least its sorted though!

[pipsyp]

BTW probably a manufacturing defect from new and was always going to fail, doubt its treatment from new would have caused this problem under normal circumstances.

[Guest]

Gaz, that's very good. I doubt you will get any more problems with it. She should be good for the next 200,000 miles now...at least.

[The PM]

I'd agree, give it a chance to prove itself, the 1.4 TDi is a good little engine, if a little gruff!

[gazman1]

Oh dear, less than 2 month and 1500 miles on a brand new engine and guess what

[MartynVRS]

Oh dear, less than 2 month and 1500 miles on a brand new engine and guess what

What now?

[seboni121]

Oh dear, less than 2 month and 1500 miles on a brand new engine and guess what

My god you're an accident waiting to happen, I have this little motor and it's brill have you been red lining it? Please don't tell us it's broken again!!