Hi there ive only had my octavia vrs a few months but love it to pieces. Its developed a grinding noise on start up which only lasts a second then never occurs again. The car drives fine. Ive read its the starter motor in need of regreasing but dont know where the starter motor is or indeed how to do the job, im scared of damaging it if i start taking it apart. Any help is really appreciated. Also what oil should i put into it ie brand and rating and how much should this cost for a garage or mechanic to do? Id love to start working on my car myself but have little car knowledge :(

hi there, starter can be accessed by removing the battery and battery tray, and unbolting the starter from the gearbox, it has a couple of big bolts running through, and you alo need to disconnect the wiring going to it.

once you have it out there should be 2 bolts/screws holding the case together, you might need to do something on the solonoid i cant remember, i wont explain how to rebuild/regrease (its not hard by the way) as one of the other members posted this up recently (have a search i think it was IulianE)

if you are not happy taking out spark plugs, then i think you should probably get a garage to do this, it shouldnt take them more than an hour to do.

Oil is down to personal choice, but fully synthetic is a good idea, as is a decent mann or fram filter.

Oil costs around £35-45 (i think..i buy mine trade so its less) for 5 litres of synthetic depending on where and what you buy, you need approx 4.5 litres for an oil change btw. You can of course get cheaper oil or part synthetic, but i would not suggest doing so.

Havent really got an idea what a garage charges to change oil, as i do myself, but i guess maybe anything between 50-80 inc oil, tho less if you supply your own. I would be concerned at what oil they actually use though, and if they really use your oil, and not some cheap replacement.

Opie oil supply a lot of types online, have a look as i think we get a forum discount.

Talk to Opie. They are ten minutes from me and I popped in there, explained about Briskoda and my car and walked away with some awesome oil at a great price. Win.

As for the starter, I have the same issue and it's driving me nuts!! Gonna take mine to an electrician I've been recommended.

to be honest dude, if its only making noise, then an electrician is overkill, if you can remove it, you can repair it too!

The grinding noise is the starter not disengaging quick enough so it crunches on the flywheel. this is apparently due to sludge build up

Removing it degreasing and putting back should help.

Saying that i need to fix mine! been a year and starts fine

will i have to disconnect the battery? will this cause any problems once its reconnected?

not sure you can get access to it properly without unless you do it from underneath which is fiddly without a ramp

With regards to oil you're about £25 + delivery for Quantum which is the OEM stuff. Just look on VW spares.

Starter-wise it's one of those jobs I've never gotten round to on my Octy and it's been doing it for 2+ years with no issues yet.

not sure you can get access to it properly without unless you do it from underneath which is fiddly without a ramp

Hence the electrician!!

It's embarrassing and just gives Skoda haters something to laugh and point about. Plus my car is looking sweet at the moment, so don't need anything obvious making it sound shash.

I've recently changed the starter, had it in and out a few times. Nothing complicated. You only need a Socket set iirc, you'll need a 6 inch extension drive to get into the bolts that hold it on and maybe one of the flexible knuckle drives. Not much that you can do wrong really, it's all pretty heavy duty and not easily broken. I do recommend taking out the battery tray, wouldn't be easy without it.

If you try it, good luck!