This is on a 2005 Octavia VRSi mk I And started a few weeks back shortly after a very cold spell. Up to now the car has always been reliable. When it first occured the EPC light came on, then the Testing Engine Electronics and there was a smell of burning rubber from the exhaust. I took it to the garage and £240 later I had new rubber hoses and all was well. Ran fine for 2 weeks but now the problem is back with the Testing Engine Electronics fault and a hunting engine.

This appears to be a standard fault with these cars and the problem appears to start with tbe rubber hoses. My guess is some of the sensors have now been wrecked by the rubber. I have been caught with these types of problems before with a BMW main dealer and had to threaten to sue them after they just kept on replacing parts which did not fix the fault, eventually I took it to a specialist and they had it sorted in a few hours (new mass flow meter). I have ordered a cable and VAG-COM at least so I know what the reported fault is.

Anybody out there know what damage the rubber does? And anyone with one of these - I suggest you get the hoses replaced if they have not already been done. It's a shame Skoda didn't recommend it to me when they did the cambelt last year...

...they had it sorted in a few hours (new mass flow meter)...

They tend to be passed their best after 4-5 years

...It's a shame Skoda didn't recommend it to me when they did the cambelt last year...

My guess is that the hoses were not split at that time and a full hose check is not part of a cambelt change. A split air hose won't have caused any permanent damage.

Post up the fault code once you've scanned it with Vag-Com

From the price you mentioned it sounds like the garage might have replaced all the large diameter boost pipes between the turbo and throttle body but more than likely the problem lies with one of the small vacuum hoses under the inlet manifold.

OK, got the cable and made contact with my Octavia...

17579 - Angle Sensor 2 for Throttle Actuator (G188) Implausible Signal

17950 - Angle Sensor 1 for Throttle Actuator (G187): Implausible Signal

17987 - Throttle Actuator (J338): Adaptation Not Started

17705 - Pressure Drop between Turbo and Throttle Valve (check D.V.!)

16684 "Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected"

16685 Cyl.1 Misfire Detected 2)

16514 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: Malfunction in Circuit

17967 Throttle valve control part (j338) fault in basic settings

16687 (Misfire on Cylinder 3)

16688 - Cylinder 4: Misfire Detected

16686 - Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected

It's a case of trying to work out which one is the cause and which are the effect.

Can anyone advise. I notice it's still showing a pressure drop fault which suggests the hoses but what are all the throttle errors about?

Peter

First thing to do is a Throttle Body Alignment. It also looks like you have a bad O2 sensor.

Yep, see if you can clean the throttle and do a throttle body alignment (you may have to go to someone with a full version of VAG-Com to realign it, I'm not sure if the ebay cables can do anything more than fault code reading and clearing). Hopefully just cleaning it and realigning it will get rid of faults 1-3 and 8 there, possibly also 4... if not then you could be looking at a new throttle body.

VRSi ???

VRSi ???

Very Repetitive Strain Injury?

Just for the record and others that might find this post, the failure occured after overnight freezing conditions and when the engine was hot. The symptoms were intermittent missfiring and intermittent dashboard lights. It would be OK one trip and fail the next, After a few trips the Testing Engine light (limp mode) came on and I noticed a smell of burning rubber from the exhaust. The hoses were replaced but the symptoms returned in 2 weeks. A replacement intake temperature sensor appears to have fixed it. The service manager showed me the Skoda remedy plan and 'Replace throttle body' was next on the likely causes list.

As the car had been faultless prior to this it would be reasonable to assume that the rubber dust and unfiltered air that has been pulled through the engine is the likely cause of the damage. Hopefully this update won't jinx the fix!