Hi all; first time on this site. Wonder if anyone can help.

A few weeks ago, I bought a Mk 1 Octavia 2.0 (petrol) auto, 77K on the clock. It’s a tidy car but has one problem: sometimes when you turn the key to start, there’s a shudder as if the engine itself is moving. If you start it with the bonnet open, you can’t see any obvious movement but it can still be felt inside the car. Fires up no problem; idles and runs perfectly well. Switches off smoothly. Car’s just been serviced and there’s no check engine light coming on.

I believe engine mounts can be a problem on these. The O/S and N/S seem sound, though the O/S will have been off for its last cam belt change. Regards the rear mount, rather than me crawl underneath I had a local garage take a look on a ramp. They said there was slight wear on the mounting but they weren’t certain replacing it would cure the problem (honest of them, anyway).

Sometimes, as it fires and I release the key, the starter pinion can sound like it’s sticking momentarily, but the starter itself doesn’t sound rough or slow or too fast (low compression).

Any thoughts gratefully received...

Hi. You might get more help in the Octavia Mk1 sub forum here.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/27-skoda-octavia-i/

Starter motors do something stick, seems to be more of a problem on the petrols than diesels.

Not sure on the engine mount side of things though. Might be worth checking that one of the engine mount bolts have broken, especially for the mount removed for the last cambelt change.

The engine mount bushes are cheap enough so if one is worn it might be worth getting it done first as a starter motor will cost you more,

My guess would have been bushes had you not have mentioned the starter

Thanks very much for quick replies!

mbames: the mount bolts seem secure, though not sure whether old bolts have been reused.

I'm now thinking though that if any of the mounts were excessively worn/loose I'd know about it when driving, especially accel/decelerating.

Seeing as it only happens when starting, and the starter motor can be a bit sticky... may be a connection. I'll keep investigating. Thanks again.