Octavia 1.9TDI conrod problems?

[stevej1982]

Hi, I'm in the process of buying a 07 1.9TDI Octavia with a bxe engine code.

I've read I need to wary of conrod problem with this engine? Is this true?

Thanks

[Stormchaser]

I have a 2006 1.9tdi with the BXE engine and have now done 52K from new and have no problems at all with the engine.Never even heard of any conrod problems on any of the 1.9,s at all.Sounds like utter **** you,ve been told.

[mannyo]

No reported problems on the 1.9 that I am aware of either, its one of the most bullet proof engines in the range.

[Stormchaser]

Reading sometime back the BXE engine was the last 1.9tdi in the line before they stopped making it in 2010 and was fitted in the MK2 Superb.There has been no reported incidents of any engine problems at all with it.If anything it was probally the best of all the 1.9,s.

As stated the 1.9 is a bullet proof engine thats been around for years.

[stevej1982]

Again thanks for swift replies... I've been researching everything i can think of with this car

The source for this is below

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-sportback-8p-chassis/146231-bxe-engine-crap.html

I will quote it....

"as you might or might not know i work in a vag specialist in sheffield.

had a 57 plate a3 come in at the beginning of the week... hole in the side of the block from no.2 conrod letting go....

i removed the engine/box on wednesday ready for the new lump on monday.

then today we had an 08 plate golf recovered to us. same engine code. exactly the same, no.2 conrod thru the block behind the aircon pump.

wtf is going on???

both less than 60k on them. beware."

He also goes on to say that ....

"you wouldnt believe it, but ive changed another bxe engine on an 07 plate golf5 on friday and finished off today. exactly the same conrod failure. 114k this time.

fitted a second hand engine with 52k on it. spent 8 hours on it in total.

the failure looks slightly different as its no.3 conrod its let go round the journal and the conrod looks twisted and wedged"

Again thanks guys for the help... I know I'm new to the forum and am asking many questions without answering any!!

[stevej1982]

Also found this information

http://www.roadtestr...kswagen/Touran/

"I’ve owned VW’s all my life and when it came to buying a

family

car

, I only considered a VW. We bought a VW Touran TDI S 105PS on a 57 plate with 76000 miles on the clock and full

VW

service

history. After owning the car for 36 days, the car broke down. The mechanic investigated and showed me what had happened - conrod smashed a hole into the engine block. I then investigated further and found that I wasn’t the only one to experience this; a common occurance on the BXE engine number, which mine was! I contacted VW, hoping for a small good faith gesture as the car was ALWAYS serviced by a VW dealer, but was told politely, "Not our problem". After approx 2 weeks, the car is being fitted with a used engine, thus devaluing the car even more. Not to mention I have no idea about the state of the turbo as it shares its oil with the engine, or any other mechanical items after the engine blew up! Overall, the seats were comfortable, the car drove good with ample feedback to the driver on road conditions and what the car was doing and space was fantastic. As for reliability and mechanics, I give the car a 0 rating as it has barely lasted half as long as the VW website boasts. VW, I’m sorry to tell you this, but I will NO LONGER be servicing any of my cars with your dealers as a full VW service history means NOTHING!

Responses to this review

I have a 2007 VW Golf V 1.9 TDI 105, with a BXE engine. One week ago, I had the same problem: engine block with a hole, due to a broken rod. The car is 113.000 km - Fernando Marques from Portugal"

This seemed to be from a touran/golf/a3

Hopefully these problems are coming from a batch of engines that were manufactured somewhere else to the BXE engines that made it into the octavia??

Edited 9 June, 2012 by stevej1982

[stevej1982]

another example of this below...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3413955

looks like might be common to touran?

The question is if the same engines were used in the octavia?

[Stormchaser]

Interesting read.So VW have admitted there was a problem on a certain batch of engine numbers and also they say its due to overfilling with oil?

As said nobody has reported anything on here.Mine is a late 2006 and is ok at 52K and i know another here with a BXE with no problems.

I,m sure Skoda are aware too if they affected the Skoda range at all?

[skodacarman]

If the conrod is coming through the block, it sounds like a problem with the bearing end cap bolts letting go. Seems very unlikely to be a design fault in the low-stressed 105PS version of this engine. Could be an assembly problem I guess.

[stevej1982]

Yeah, presuming its an assembly problem, would the touran/golf/a3 engines be made in the same place as the skoda... or did skoda get the parts in to their factory and put them together?

It does seem to be very rare... in fact I've not been able to find a report of the octavia having the same problem. Although it could be down to lesser numbers.

The car I'm looking at had 12 months warranty which gives me some peace of mind.

But its new engine time if all goes pear shaped!

I suppose the 1.9TDI is a very common engine across VAG and a good replacement should be around £1000 if the worst happens out of warranty?

[mikeytdi]

Hi, mine is an 08 1.9 BXE engine now with 83k on the clock with no issues so far, touching wood.

[Stormchaser]

Just out of curiosity I've emailed SUK to see if they were/are aware of any of this at all. Don't know if I'll get a reply.

[stevej1982]

It could have been a limited number of engines with this code, either that or just coincidence?? From what I can gather these problems are caused mainly by not checking oil and perhaps hydro locking the engine, putting more strain on the parts.

There is no design fault as such but perhaps a bad batch of assembled engines, no reports of the problem affecting any octavias as far as we know.

Let me know if you get a reply stormchaser... thanks

[Stormchaser]

Yes sure i,ll reply if i get any useful info about this

[Stormchaser]

Well they replied but only with this response so far;

We will investigate as quickly as possible and reply within 48 hours. If you need to telephone us in the meantime our number is 08457 745 745

Kind regards

Skoda Customer Services

We,ll see what they come up with.

[cheezemonkhai]

Miles too much oil, not enough oil, the wrong oil, blocked oil filter due to not changing the oil as needed.

Any of those can cause engine failure, and since the 1.9TDI has been running in 110bhp, 115bhp, 130bhp and 150/160bhp versions for a very long time now, you do have to say, that it'd be surprising if a rod let go on a 105.

Especially since there are many 1.9s running far more boost and much higher powers than the factory suggested (Jason)

[stevej1982]

Hmmm... I suspect if they did have any information they couldn't release it anyway as it would surely get people asking for new engines! We'll see!

[Stormchaser]

Well Skoda UK replied in the end and this is a copy of the email sent to me;

Thank you for your email dated 13 June 2012 regarding engine failures in BXE engines.

I have consulted our Technical Department to ensure that there are no known issues with the engine in your vehicle. Our

Technicians have advised that unless a ŠKODA retailer has diagnosed a fault with your engine then there should be no cause for

concern. Whilst any engine can fail at any point during its life, engine failures are very rare in all our vehicles regardless

of the engine type.

I note that you have visited various third party websites and have found some information concerning water leaks. I would advise

you that the information on these websites is not direct from ŠKODA UK, and does not relate to specific vehicles.

As such, the information cannot be relied on; ŠKODA UK did not publish the information - the information is general and is the

opinion only of third parties. I would re-emphasise that our Technicians have confirmed there are no recalls or known issues for

the engine in your vehicle.

If you are still concerned with the reliabilty of your vehicle, I would recommend having the vehicle checked by a ŠKODA Approved

retailer to alleviate any concerns.

Kind regards

ŠKODA UK | Selectapost 34 | Sheffield | S97 3FA

Tel: +44 (0)845 7745745 | fax: +44 (0)844 8267855

[email protected] | www.skoda.co.uk | www.skoda-auto.com

Quite strange though that they thought i was also enqiuring about water leaks.I don,t know where they got that from.

[cheezemonkhai]

Take the poor chaps contact name and details off the bottom

[Golf-Fiend]

Take the poor chaps contact name and details off the bottom

Excellent! Now let's all email Bill! [real name edited so we don't all clog up Bill's brother's email inbox]

(pssst - I've made a note of it now )

Hmmm . . . seems like VAG had a seriously bad batch of castings done back in 2006/7

However, they must have made millions and millions of these units and only now have we heard of this problem. So, yes a possibility of it going horribly wrong, but don't let it put you off what is otherwise an extremely reliable engine.

Edited 19 June, 2012 by Golf-Fiend

[Stormchaser]

Name removed

[pemat]

Exact same thing happened to me on thursday on motorway at 75 m/h 50 miles from dover docks on 1500 miles trip across europe. Conrod made a big hole on BSW engine on Roomster 1.9 tdi, PD, 2008, 24 000 miles on clock. Oil changed previous day, level checked 4 times. What should i say.....? Will contact customer service after 2 weeks when return back to uk.

[cheezemonkhai]

Exact same thing happened to me on thursday on motorway at 75 m/h 50 miles from dover docks on 1500 miles trip across europe. Conrod made a big hole on BSW engine on Roomster 1.9 tdi, PD, 2008, 24 000 miles on clock. Oil changed previous day, level checked 4 times. What should i say.....? Will contact customer service after 2 weeks when return back to uk.

That's less than ideal :(

Enjoy your holiday and make sure you give your dealer a strong talking to.

Since the car is less than 6 years old and has been serviced, if they decide to try and charge you more than a recovery fee, I'd suggest looking up the sales of goods act, regarding goods being not fit for purpose.

[Scousemech80]

Im a mechanic at a private hire taxi firm, I changed the engine yesterday on an 08 plate Octavia that had put no 4 conrod through the block, it has done 120,000 but it is serviced every three months.

W

[Scousemech80]

Sorry just to finish what I was saying, We have 50 octavias and a few superbs this is the first one I have seen fail like this, these engines are usualy bullet proof and reguarly exceed 300,000 miles.

Maybe some of the bad batch did go to Skoda?