X Reg Fabia 1.9 Tdi. 230K miles. Serviced regularly but overdue for current service – hey it’s nearly Xmas! New cam belt fitted 3 months ago.

Engine stopped suddenly the other night without any warning with a big “thunk†and now will not crank. Seems to be locked solid.

I didn’t hear any warning noises prior to it stopping but did have CD on rather loud. No smoke, water, steam apparent at the time of sudden stoppage. I blew the engine on an XR2 going up the M3 a few years ago and the smoke and steam was quite spectacular.

The RAC guy said doesn’t sound good but didn’t have a look as it was raining heavily so just relayed me home.

Full electrical power, oil quantity appears OK but is very black looking and viscous.

Car has done 700 fast miles per week on M3/M4 for 3 years.

Power steering light has come on occasionally the last couple of months (angle sender?) but otherwise no lights or alarms.

Water pump failure? Cambelt failure? Massive overheat?

This sounds terminal to me unless anyone has any ideas?

Would be glad of any advice before I scrap and buy another car.

Thks

TimR

Sounds terminal, scrap it and move on. It goes without saying that you should be observing the service schedules religiously on such a high mileage engine xmas or not!

Worth breaking for parts or if rest of the car is sound find a low mileage atd tdi engine. Shouldn't be too costly.

Gert a socket and breacker bar on the crank pulley and see if you can turn it. both backwards and forwards. ive seen stuff come loose and jam itself in the flywheel, so it might not be as terminal as you think. start simple, then once you've started ruling out simple things before writing the car off.

dont scrap it mate try the few simple things other people have sugested ^^^ first then if all else fails break it for spares get a couple hundred quid then scrap the shell or sell on ebay as whole for spares or repairs i never scrap car any more just ebay them get more money

She's done you wel

it could be the turbo, if it goes then it can cause an airlock on the exhaust side preventing the engine from turning over because the air cannot get past the stuck turbo. Diesel engine oil can give the appearance of being quiet thick anyway.

Oil in a diesel car will turn black almost instantly.

it could be the turbo, if it goes then it can cause an airlock on the exhaust side preventing the engine from turning over because the air cannot get past the stuck turbo. Diesel engine oil can give the appearance of being quiet thick anyway.

This happened when I blew up the turbo in my vrs. Started after I took an intercooler pipe off to fit my towing eye.

Pretty impressive mileage!

I would try turning the engine over manually and see if it really is seized.

Might be worth trying to disconnect some pipes first.

Phil

Thanks for all the advice people.

Could be a blown turbo I guess but would that make the engine stop all of a sudden with a big thunk?

I popped in the clutch I guess and it kept rolling to safety on the M4 slip road hard shoulder.

Just need to motivate my mechanic son now to check and see if crank can be moved manually.

The local Skoda dealer will have a look if it seems salvageable but anything over a 500 quid job probably ain't worth it I'd suggest at this age and mileage.

OMG 5 brand new tyres for last month's MOT as well ! - but I got those trade and fitted free. Good old NO 2 son. Also brand new rear bumper ready to go on replacing cracked one.

Thks

TimR

Southampton

Thanks for all the advice people.

Could be a blown turbo I guess but would that make the engine stop all of a sudden with a big thunk?

I popped in the clutch I guess and it kept rolling to safety on the M4 slip road hard shoulder.

Just need to motivate my mechanic son now to check and see if crank can be moved manually.

The local Skoda dealer will have a look if it seems salvageable but anything over a 500 quid job probably ain't worth it I'd suggest at this age and mileage.

OMG 5 brand new tyres for last month's MOT as well ! - but I got those trade and fitted free. Good old NO 2 son. Also brand new rear bumper ready to go on replacing cracked one.

Thks

TimR

Southampton

For the age of the car, better to find a good VAG indie IMO. Labour rates for any big job will be crippling otherwise. £40p/h vs £75+ p/h....

J.

Don't even need to get bar on the crank, just stick it in gear and rock the car back and forward, see if the engine turns over.

Might be hydraulic'd??

Was there any clouds of white smoke etc? when my turbo blew, it spewed oil into the cylinders and hydraulic locked the motor!

take out the glow plugs and see if it will crank then, if it fires oil across your work shop then theres your problem