So I have a Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI which has had the engine replaced to what appears to the a higher mileage although I was told it had done only 87,000 miles but by the looks of it more likely to be around 130-140. Its not causing me any problems as of yet.

I have only had the car for a year and would only do a yearly service from a mechanic however you may know from forum posts that the previous engine was ruined in the hands of a mechanic, so want to do more of it myself. I expected only oil changes, filters etc to be changed year and other worn parts like brake pads, the timing belt has been done along with the water pump so I dont need to worry about that. So what things do I need to look out for as part of its servicing??

Also the car is normally driving around town, does not usually do any motorway miles, but I notice that at some high speeds it gives out a huge amount of black smoke for a maybe 30 seconds while travelling at a constant speed (last time this was at 50mph) without any previous hard acceleration. Is this something I should be worried about? I know more modern cars have DPF which regenerate in a similar fashion but the exhaust points down and its a 2003 car so Im am not sure that it will have one, so I am not sure what is causing the smoke. Is there some cleaning which needs to be done??? I would also note that the previous turbo in the car when take out had sticky vanes and from a previous reciept was around 3 years old from new, not sure if that has any relavance.

Also what sort of symptoms would I experience if the cars cooling system had some air in there??? I seem to have an issue with the heating inside the car, which seems to work some of the time.

Hi,

Can´t help you with the diesel issue but can suggest that you watch the pollen filter and internal drainage channels for servicing. I don´t know if it´s part of the current problem you have with the erratic heating, but I found the interior ventilation system filling with water as a result of the filter and channels becoming blocked with fallen leaves, road debris and other gick. Every time I went round a roundabout, a pour of water would dump onto the passenger side floor. I was getting the car serviced by a dealer at the time, and they managed to flood the workshop floor with about two gallons of water when I brought it in, so that´s also something to watch for.

Only other thing I´m finding problematic is door-car connectors which affect the central locking and e-windows. Checking them for breaks and corrosion could make sure that the locking doesn´t fail on the car like it has on mine!