Oil in Coolant

[sheharyar]

Hi All,

I bought a "57" plate Skoda Octavia vRS 4 months ago with 110,000 miles on the clock. Full service history etc from a Honda dealership.

Two weeks ago I was travelling on the Motorway doing about 80mph and the engine cut off and once the recovery arrived they pointed to excessive amount of oil in the coolant bottle.

Prior to breaking down I did notice slight creamy residue of oil on the cap of the cooling bottle and the exhaust fumes smelt unusual too. Another problem was that it use to lose power at lower revs, e.g. while reversing or in first gear,

Some people say it could be the oil cooling pump or head gasket. Any ideas what is could be or prices to get it repaired although I am trying to get the Honda dealership to get my car repaired under the (sales of goods act 1979).

Prior to the vRS I owned a Skoda Octavia 1.9 tdi, on 03 plate, only 90bhp but it was the best, most reliable car I had. Sold it with 183k on the clock and it ran sweet.

Regards

[Gaz]

You need to have it checked out to ascertain the cause, but it could also be head gasket failure. Did the Honda dealership give you a warranty? If they didn't it might just be one of those things you'll have to notch up to experience.

Hope all goes well for getting it fixed.

Gaz

[nickguzzi]

Usual suspect causing oil and water mixing is head gasket. There are other failure modes but head gasket would be first port of call without further evidence.

Second hand car? High mileage? Non franchised dealer? If it was less than three months you might get somewhere, but over four, your best bet is to be nice and ask for some support out of the goodness of their hearts.

Maybe a grown up will know, but I have memories of something like a month as your period of some legal protection. Lots of places mention a three month warranty, but then try to sell you a "Warranty" insurance, and shrug if anything goes wrong and you don't have it.

I suspect a stroppy "I'll get my lawyer" approach will likely get you nowhere.

Best of luck

[Tech1e]

I'd say the first port of call on one of these would be the oil cooler, forget the head gasket hype until,it has been ruled out.

[patrolman]

I had the same thing happened to me about 3 years ago and it turned out to be the oil cooler above the filter,cooler replaced coolant flushed no further faults did start a thread but can't find it,looks more dramatic than it is good luck !

[Tech1e]

Yeah, done plenty of them over the years. Skoda do a very effective flush to. I find after changing the cooler running the engine up to operating temp and running the return into a bucket and just keep topping up the cooling system with flush and water until it runs clear is the best method. However don't be surprised if you end up getting a little amount of oil finding its way back to the header tank, it's really difficult to get rid of it all.

[sheharyar]

Ok, so from the advice above the first course of action should be to get the oil cooling pump checked.

I did get 3 months warrenty but it ran out in July, however they dealer is liable unless for up to 6 months unless they can prove that there wasn't a problem to begin with so I am trying to get Honda to repair it for free, as they are liable under the (sales of good act 1979) and if it went to court then they would be found liable. All info is on consumer rights is on the "Adivce line". Further because I paid for my car on a credit card they are liable too, so I can claim from them too.

Any ideas on the cost of repairs for a cooling pump fitted professionaly, just in case I lose my battle with Honda dealership.

Thanks for all your advice.

[Tech1e]

It's not a pump, it's just an oil cooler.

[UglyVrs]

Mine has oil in the header tank, very gungy stuff and not a lot.

I have been quoted £708 to replace the oil cooler, flush, new header tank, and oil.

Seems too much to me, anyone?

[07 vRS Taxi]

Mine has oil in the header tank, very gungy stuff and not a lot.

I have been quoted £708 to replace the oil cooler, flush, new header tank, and oil.

Seems too much to me, anyone?

its good work if you can get it lol im looking forward to opening that garage next year, sounds way over priced to me although ive never priced up an oil cooler for your car. Edited 22 September, 2012 by 07 vRS Taxi

[swany]

My 57 plate tdi had same problem. Cost under£300 to repair. Had to take return pipe off header tank a couple of times and run it with fairy liquid in bottle and just keep topping up to get it totally oil free

[sheharyar]

Just a quick update, the dealer I bought my car from has agreed to pay half of the price of repair. However I still need to get a diagnosis and everyone is pretty certain it is the oil cooler.

The car goes into Richtoy Motorsprots on Monday for a diagnosis. I will update you guys on the price of repair.

P.S. 708 sounds too much for a oil cooler job unless it was a full head gasket job. I have been told that it should be about 300.

[UglyVrs]

Ended up getting it done for £440 by a local indepent Vw specialist.

New cooler, flush, oil and header tank.

Much better than Westgate Škoda's quoted £708.

[sheharyar]

_{Good news, got the car sorted at the cost of 975.00, it turned out that it was the oil cooler that was leaking. The garage pressure tested the oil cooler and the leak showed up. However the car wouldn't start either and it turned out that injector No.1 had blown too.}

_{So all together it has 1, injector, 1, wiring loom, 1 oil cooler, 4 coolant pipes, cooling system flush, degreaser, coolant / atifreeze and VW recomennded oil changed, plus labour hence nearly a grand.}

_{The car now runs like brand new. Hopefully no more problems but I am considering changing to a VW Golf Mark 6, TDi. Any thoughts on VW''s as compared to Skoda's.}

_Cheers

[silver1011]

Result, but did this still cost you £490?

Ouch!

The Octavia is a Golf with a bigger boot. Under the skin they are pretty much identical.

[andyvee]

You should try getting the money back from Skoda for the injector as they were subject to a recall on PD170 VRS models - all 4 get replaced for free with the added bonus of poor cold starting and you never need to top up with oil again :-)

[sheharyar]

Yes I had to fork out 490 or claimed it back from the dealer.

I didn't realise that there was a recall for injectors. I will certainly look into this with Skoda.

Thanks everyone.

[sheharyar]

Just spoke to the local Skoda dealer and there is an outstanding injector replacement recall due on my vehicle. I asked them if I will be compensated for the injector I had fitted 2 weeks age and they said no.

Any ideas of how I may be able to claim it back.

Cheers

[andyvee]

Speak to Skoda UK about it, not the dealer.

[silver1011]

That is shocking!

How they have the nerve to refuse to refund you for an injector they fitted that should have been done for free!

To show how incompentant they were they didn't even run your car through the system to check for any outstanding recalls or remedial actions - which would have picked up the injector recall.

Poor service.

As above ring Skoda UK (08457 745 745) and be sure to make it clear you aren't happy.

Good luck!

[sheharyar]

Hi Silver 1011,

The injector in my car was replaced by a non Skoda garage. However I have spoken to Skoda UK and they will investigate and hopefully refund for the injector.

I will let you guys know if I have any joy.

I must say that Skoda UK are very nice and professional to deal with

Cheers

[sheharyar]

Quick update,

Rang skoda UK and they are rufunding me for the injector plus labour and having all other injectors replaced for free.

Thanks for all your advice...

Cheers

[Chicane-UK]

Can't say fairer than that.

[Aspman]

Is it just me or does there seem to be a trend of Honda dealers selling duff VRSs?

[silver1011]

Oh dear, checked my levels this afternoon, oil in the coolant.

The coolant is clean, the oil is actually stuck to the sides of the header tank just above the level of the coolant.

It's in for service on Wednesday, I'll ask them to pressure test the oil cooler.

Looks like it could be another expensive one

Looks OK from this angle...

Take a peek inside though and it's not so pretty...

Edited 8 December, 2012 by silver1011