New VRS owner - couple of pics and some questions

[OU51]

Hi, I got my VRS in April, to replace a TVR that I'd spent way too much money trying to keep running for the last 2 years!

It's a 2001 reg and has done about 80,000 miles. It was pretty filthy inside when I got it, but it cleaned up OK, although the carpets still need work...

Just a few questions:-

1) The water temp gauge never gets above about 70-75 degrees - does this mean the coolant sensor is faulty or something else? Any part numbers and fitting guides would be great - thanks.

2) When started from cold it makes a whirring noise - I guess this is the secondary air pump. If I try driving off before this has finished then it's quite jerky and kind of hesitates but then lurches forward. However, from time to time the whirring noise starts again for a few seconds - I sometimes notice it at roundabouts and occasionally the car will do the hesitate/lurch thing again. The CEL did come on for a week or 2 but then went out again. The fault was something like "pressure drop between throttle and turbo" - could this all be the air pump or is it more than one problem?

3) The service history shows the cambelt was done at 72k miles but there's no mention of the water pump. How important is this to get done?

4) The front suspension squeaks when going over speedbumps etc. I've read this is quite common but not sure how to fix it?

Thanks very much

Edited 14 January, 2012 by OU51

[STSKODA]

1) yup - replace with a green unit - around £15 to £25

2) see if SAI pump is leaking if so drill out rivets and refit with nut/bolts

3) wouldn't worry if no leaks

4) change ARB bushes and inspect the rear console bush for movement

all the above points you will find guides for on here

[OU51]

Great, thanks stskoda

[mbames]

Just looking at the outside picture, the gap between the top of the wheel and the wheel arch on the front looks quite large.....

[OU51]

...

Edited 22 August, 2011 by OU51

[rk696]

The temp gauge never getting over 75 is probably going to be a stuck open termostat, rather than the temp sender. Does it go down when you drive on the motorway for example?

[OU51]

The temp guage warms up to 75-ish within a few minutes, but then won't go any higher. Even queueing in traffic in hot weather it doesn't get past 80. I haven't noticed it cooling off on motorways I don't think.

Edit: I think I'll change the coolant sensor anyway as it's not that expensive.

That and taking a look at the SAI pump are the first 2 things to do.

Edited 20 August, 2011 by OU51

[Bowders1]

Just looking at the outside picture, the gap between the top of the wheel and the wheel arch on the front looks quite large.....

The car does seem to sit quite high even for std suspension. Certainly at the front. I wonder if none std or incorrect model suspension has been fitted? The VRS sits 25mm lower than a std Octy.

[Liverpool-Lad]

Have a peek under the wheel arch and try and spot some coloured spots on the spring coils. Should be 5 of them, 4 yellow and one purple IIRC.

[OU51]

Thanks Liverpool-lad, I checked this morning and it does have 4 yellow and 1 purple blob on the springs.

[Silver Bullet]

Hi, welcome to Briskoda,

Nice car, it looks tidy inside and out. A while back someone asked a question about wheel arch heights and I think the general concensus

at the time was, on a standard set up Vrs it should be:-

Ground to centre of arch :-

Front .....66.5 cm

Rear......66cm

Spring colour coding paint:-

Front...1 violet / 4 yellow..........( Part No: 1J0 411 105 AJ )

Rear....1 Silver / 3 Blue............( Part No: 1J0 511 115 AA )

[gmaster]

Yeah have to agree with others the front is sitting to high! ?

[Liverpool-Lad]

Could be its not seated right or some other weird problem...damper?

Or a trick of the camera. The measurements will tell more.

Edited 21 August, 2011 by Liverpool-Lad

[OU51]

Hi, welcome to Briskoda,

Nice car, it looks tidy inside and out. A while back someone asked a question about wheel arch heights and I think the general concensus

at the time was, on a standard set up Vrs it should be:-

Ground to centre of arch :-

Front .....66.5 cm

Rear......66cm

Spring colour coding paint:-

Front...1 violet / 4 yellow..........( Part No: 1J0 411 105 AJ )

Rear....1 Silver / 3 Blue............( Part No: 1J0 511 115 AA )

Just measured on mine this morning...

FL 68cm FR 67cm

BL 66cm BR 65.5cm

Here is a view of the other side....

[Silver Bullet]

Hi,

Reading your measurements and looking at the pictures I agree with the guys something is not right,

this is a weird one, the rear seems to sit about right.

Even tho' you have the right colour codes on the front springs its sitting way too high.

Do the front ones look newish?, as you have just got the car I would try to contact the previous owner see if they have been changed and by who,

then speak to the supplier. I guess it is possible that the springs are not meant for that car and have been incorrectly marked.

I just checked on ETKA and the other permutations ie: heavy duty suspension / estate car are all different colour combinations, as they should be!!!.

This is a pic of mine sorry it doesnt show the w/arch gap very clearly. It has been checked and and matches the figures / colour codes given

http://i977.photobuc...rs/P1000138.jpg

Hope you can get this resolved

NB: Not a good idea to show your number plate reg' to the world (cloning etc)

Edited 22 August, 2011 by Silver Bullet

[OU51]

The car does seem to sit quite high even for std suspension. Certainly at the front. I wonder if none std or incorrect model suspension has been fitted? The VRS sits 25mm lower than a std Octy.

Well congratulations to Bowders and everyone else who said the front looked too high. The front drivers side spring was the correct type, but the passenger side was wrong. The drivers side broke recently and I've just replaced them with H&R 20mm lowering springs. As you can see one of the springs is clearly the wrong type...

[gjenck]

Mine is sitting exactly the same height :( , after changing the whole suspension in the front as it was broken both springs and the dumpers was completely bad.

 I didnt changed to OEM parts , springs are Lejsjofors and the dumper (shocks) are KYB (kayaba) ,

 I' m desperated as it settled higher alot then before , of course if it was broken springs was too low but  anyway it is far higher thanit should be .

 I dont know which is guelty , the shocks , the springs , or the rubber suspension bearing holder ???

I didnt notice any paintmarks on the new springs ...

I will measure the height from ground to wheel arc.

But anybody know where it should measure the ground clearance of 119mm ???

Thanx in advance 

 

Heres the link to my google drive with some pics

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2gHOJpLd8MEWjlaMGUzcHBua1E&usp=sharing

 

The dirty car pics are about 1 months settled , the other pics are about 3 month ago settled ..

Edited 15 April, 2014 by gjenck

[PaulMIG]

At 1), definitely change the thermostat, i had the same problem, and when the car is not warmed up, the ecu doesn't let the car make full boost. After you change it, you will see a improvement in power. And, of course, after you resolve the "boost pressure drop..." also.

[gjenck]

At 1), definitely change the thermostat, i had the same problem, and when the car is not warmed up, the ecu doesn't let the car make full boost. After you change it, you will see a improvement in power. And, of course, after you resolve the "boost pressure drop..." also.

I agree with PaulMig as i had also the same thermostat problem , heat never goes beyond 80grade and drops to 60 on highway, i had a small obd2 to bluetooth adapter connected to my phone app "Torque" and i diagnosed the Thermostat problem ..

  Also i had for 2 years the Pressure drop between turbo and throtle valve , i had until now changed almost all of my PCV circuit hoses, it corroded from oil and broke , now is going perfect without problem in ECU and is more more powerfull.

 Until now i changes the Whole PCV in the pic attached below...

the Bottom L shaped was cracked totally before 1 year, the 2 S shaped also cracked one before 2 months ago and the second one before 15 months ago , the Y shaped and another one i changed 1 months ago , it caused big stutter on IDLE and many CEL problems in ecu , also changed the T shape as it was like chewinggum

 

http://www.google.ro/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi391.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo358%2FVanilaFejs%2FAUQ%2Fawesomebreathers.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skodacroatia.com%2Fforum%2Findex.php%3Ftopic%3D8942.0&h=448&w=449&tbnid=heXksnjAdnxu6M%3A&zoom=1&docid=3aoVvx50qjx9XM&ei=VhBNU93FKcjNygOc6oLoAg&tbm=isch&ved=0CAoQMygCMAI4rAI&iact=rc&uact=3&dur=1546&page=15&start=283&ndsp=22

 

i know it is old posts but it should be  usefull for someone ...

Edited 15 April, 2014 by gjenck

[gjenck]

I  measured the height...

It is 67,2 both side in Front

and is 59,8 RearLeft and 66,2 on the rear right , maybe because i changed at rear right the sparewheel with other pressure,size of tyre ...(rear right 225/45r17 rear left 205/50r17)

In the front is just 2.2 bar pressure , it seemed to be a bit less than it needed i used before 2.4 ,2.5  but now thay changed at the service and thay filled just 2.2

so it is 7mm higher than it was posted by silver bullet on the front , but it seems to be higher at sight.

dont know ...

i can put 3 fingers easyly (almost 4:)between top of tyre and wheel arc and thats a bit high...

Also i saw some of original (factory) Vrs pics on the net vhere the front sets higher than the back of the car ... 

 

Can be higher caused by the Shocks ?? Bigger gas pressure or something ?

Edited 15 April, 2014 by gjenck

[OU51]

Mine is sitting exactly the same height :( , after changing the whole suspension in the front as it was broken both springs and the dumpers was completely bad.

 I didnt changed to OEM parts , springs are Lejsjofors and the dumper (shocks) are KYB (kayaba) ,

 

Do you mean you used non-OEM springs?  If so that would explain it.  Pretty much only official Skoda dealers (in the UK at least) can supply the correct VRS springs.  A lot of other places will look up a part code but it won't be right for the VRS.

 

If you look at my post #16 the front springs should have 4 yellow and 1 pink dot on them (like the lower one in the picture). 

[terryrebel]

cant go wrong with a vrs mate welcome

[dan20vturbo]

Do you mean you used non-OEM springs?  If so that would explain it.  Pretty much only official Skoda dealers (in the UK at least) can supply the correct VRS springs.  A lot of other places will look up a part code but it won't be right for the VRS. If you look at my post #16 the front springs should have 4 yellow and 1 pink dot on them (like the lower one in the picture).

Will these be alright to put on the front cos it says there right but after reading this I'm not sure

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111293831210&globalID=EBAY-GB

[OU51]

Will these be alright to put on the front cos it says there right but after reading this I'm not sure

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111293831210&globalID=EBAY-GB

 

I would say not, as that ebay listing says they are compatible with 1.6 / 1.8 / 1.9TDi etc which all ride higher than the VRS.  Also the 1.8T is (I think) the 4x4 version and again different from the 1.8T VRS.

 

It's difficult because it seems even when proper garages do a search for parts even if they enter the reg number of a VRS, the search results give them the part number of non-VRS springs which is why it's sp easy to get the wrong ones by mistake (which is how I expect my car ended up with one side hiher than the pther when I bought it.

 

To get around this I got a set of 4 H&R -20mm springs for the same cost of what would have been just 2 offical VRS ones.  However I wouldn't recommend this as on my car at least they are too strong for the shocks which means when you hit a bump the front tends to bounce up too far which feel realy bad.

 

Best to bite the bullet and get proper VRS ones from Skoda, or if you go aftermarket also replace the shocks too.

[BrownBarge]

They do have a 1.8t without 4x4 usually as the L&K models but there still higher than a vrs.

I was directly behind a normal octavia the other day and was surprized how much lower mine was