Hi guys

I got into my car yesterday afternoon just about to leave college when i noticed it had a very rough idle and the idle speed was around 1400rpm and no where near the usual 750/800. switched ignition off and left it for 1 minute and started fine and as per usual.

On the way home (which was a 30 mile journey) the pick up seemed very laggy almost and just very intermittent, just as it was misfiring. Eventually got home after a very jeckyll and hyde trip of normal and very jerky running.

I also noticed even at the running temperature of 90-93*C it was still expelling "steam" exhaust gases and the inside of the exhaust pipe tips were coated in a lot of moisture but not feeling very oil based.

It has seemed to have used about 350-400ml of oil in around 180-200miles, even after topping it up a further 200ml there was no difference on the dipstick, still reading right at the lower end of the hatched area.

Went out again in it tonight to test it, started and idled fine but again a lot of moisture from the exhaust and again still no change on the dipstick after a further top up (another 100ml).

I have a horrible question to anyone who may be able to shed some light on this problem.. head gasket?

Many thanks in advance

How many miles from new?

How long did it take to get to 90-93*0C, thats kind of hot if not thrashing it, or a very warm day.

Sounds like up to 93*0C because the oil is so low.

Has the Oil level always been low from getting the car?

Do not mess about with it.

best have the oil at the correct level checked as per Owners Manual & then run the car and if not running properly

get it into the Dealers to have checked out.

george

It has done 2050miles.

I had been checking the oil very regularly and as per the manual after getting to temp. Will go out in the car again tomorrow and if not i'll drive her straight to the dealers

Thanks George

This is not good! I've been toying with the idea of getting another one with the CTHE engine (my CAVE car has no issues).

Might be the sensible option to keep hold of my rare reliable non oil consuming CAVE for abit longer!

How many miles from new?

How long did it take to get to 90-93*0C, thats kind of hot if not thrashing it, or a very warm day.

Sounds like up to 93*0C because the oil is so low.

Has the Oil level always been low from getting the car?

Do not mess about with it.

best have the oil at the correct level checked as per Owners Manual & then run the car and if not running properly

get it into the Dealers to have checked out.

george

All the message didn't appear before. It was at 90*c general driving and was 16*C outside temp yesterday.

The oil has always run in the top 1/3 of the dipstick at all times due to regular checks and top ups (which it was using around 200ml in 1600 miles)

Do you run it on 99 RON or 95?

Not that it matters really,

but if you filled up in the last week, you may now be running the Spring Petrol and not winter that changed with some

Petrol Brands/Stations deliveries change on the 16th April in some parts of the country.

You might just notice a little difference if you did get new fuel in.

See how it is with the correct oil level again.

george

Always ran it on 99RON V-Power

I filled up on the 13th April.

I am just worried about the oil level and it not seeming to be registering higher on the dipstick. But will check it cold in the morning as it is situated in the garage on a level surface.

Thanks

This is not good! I've been toying with the idea of getting another one with the CTHE engine (my CAVE car has no issues).

Might be the sensible option to keep hold of my rare reliable non oil consuming CAVE for abit longer!

See we do exist. I too have a perfectly happy non oil using CAVE engine.

Sorry to hear of your issues, get it straight to Skoda, before any real damage is caused.

Or wait for engine light and get new engine, skoda cant expect a 'normal' skoda owner to be so observant

See we do exist. I too have a perfectly happy non oil using CAVE engine.

Sorry to hear of your issues, get it straight to Skoda, before any real damage is caused.

me too

Me too But going soon :'(

Me too But going soon :'(

mine too, and for a new one with CTHE! lol...... I will run it in by giving it "death" like I did this one, and I'm sure it will be fine

93C is normal for oil with normal running, at least I had like that many times. Some cars might run cooler (George's seems to)

There is no magic black hole in your motor re oil. If you open the bonet and remove the black plastic engine cover (lift the front and slide towards you) you will see if there's any oil contamination there. Also, check under the car for oil leaks.

When checking oil make sure you COMPLETELY dry the dipstick, it has to be matt black and it's not enough just to wipe it. Only with completely dry one you will get the correct oil level. Check hot, 15 minutes after stopping following the oil getting to the working temp. Check cold, like after your drive t owork check lunch time. Take a good photo of both and post here.

With rough idle I had exactly the same thing, Switch on cold and it is choppy, quite a lot sometimes. Switch off immediately, then back on and choppiness is much less pronounced, barely noticable sometimes. Then I gave her a sustained hard running for 30 minutes, no need to go fast mind you . Following day cold start was the sweetest she ever had. Conclusion is sprk plugs get fouled easily and with double injection phase (to warm th cat up) at cold start it struggles to ignite over rich fuel/air misture in the pots. That would explain why it it is better when you turn off and on again, it reads higher temps and injectors have shorter pulse width.

Check the oil and see if you can do brisk running, sustained for period of time as just going through the gears to red line in S once is not going to cut, and see if you notice any difference.

I will run it in by giving it "death" like I did this one

What's that? How do you go about "giving it death" - insanely curious, please do tell!

driving it like I stole it lol.. I chuckled to myself at your above comment about oil temp, because my brain thought "you're not driving it hard enough if the oils not over 100C " I once got it to 116C by the time I'd got to the top of hartside on a hot summer day last year

I had mine at at 118 or something once. Now, after morons at the dealership disabled my oil temp reading I do not know anymore :((

Thanks for all your replies. I have since checked the oil after taking it for a "sustained 'beating'" but unfortunately my phone decided to die before I got home but the levels on the dipstick hot (5, 10 & 15 minutes) were at least 2/3rds of the dipstick and cold this morning it was between the top of the hatched area and the orange nodule. Admittedly getting to that oil level did take quite a bit, probably near 500ml in total but it ran so much better. I've checked under the car and all around the engine bay, no signs of oil anywhere. Rather black sooted up exhaust but I wouldn't recognise that as such a problem. I generally thought I was quite strict with myself looking at all the levels as I was worried about it before I even got the car. I've reset the mileage to see how much its using approximately in the next 100,200 miles etc.

Again thanks for all the replies

Tail pipe will get sooted up as the motor is mapped to run too rich. Is your fuel consumption horrible as well?

I was worried to the degree people here were takin a pi$$ out of my obsession with checkng oil levels and temps .

I decided not to do it anymore than could be reasonably expected, like every 3 fill ups. After I changed oil it stopped using any oil whatsoever in the last 1500 miles.

EDIT: Just broke 6,000 miles and loving the car even more, I een like the way it looks, all stock everything

To be honest I think I get rather good mpg out of it, I always get over 38 with a mix of hard driving, and just "cruising" get 44mpg.

I was tempted changing the oil after you mentioned it. As mine turned jet black within not so many miles. Don't get me wrong though I still love the car and wouldn't have it any other way

Scoobies produce less bhp per ltr of swept volume yet they have sometinh like 3000 miles recommended oil change interval...

I'm getting more and more of an urge to get a new vRS this summer (warranty expires early next year on current one) but I'd feel sick as a dog if it turned out to have a raging oil-drink problem :beer: ......

Might find out from a few dealers what deals they come up with.

Edited 26 April, 201313 yr by Furbytom

Run it in properly, Change oil at 5k and you have a peach of a car!

Done another 100 mile in her this afternoon oil got up to 95*C, got home checked oil at 5,10,15 mins and still at the same spot on the dipstick. Very strange to have it seeming to drink the oil as quick as the V Power but hopefully it was a "stage".

Run it in properly, Change oil at 5k and you have a peach of a car!

Where can i find information online about your running-in procedure?

I did not invent it, not so clever. If you read enough crap about tuning you can find some gems there. It came from US race tuners. Two things it hangs on at. One is thermal cycling of the engine block. This relieves block casting thermal stress created during quenching. While thermal stress is being released dimensional stability of the engine is settling - tolerances change. This is achieved by running the engine to operating temps then booting it till its very hot and cooling it down slowly i.e. do not switch the engine off straight after hoofing it. Do lots of in-gear slowing down with slow acceleration i.e slowing down on overrun. Injectors are closed, charger and blower bypassed and engine is cooled by fresh air. This is second stage.

First stage is bores sealing. This is done from the second you first get into the car and drive off until car's done 400-500 miles. Drive in full manual (stick to the left) and accelerate in high gears using full throttle (avoid kick down switch activation- to get full throttle you do need to press the loud pedal to the floor) and change up at 3.5k rpm. This is the highest boost threshold of the engine. Then boost tapers off to grow to full 2.5bar absolute at 5.5k rpm. At 3.5 it can get to 2.8bar absolute. What this does is creates highest pressure in the cylinders which pushes the rings the hardest against bores mating the two in the best possible way. With low revs there is no risk overheating and loosing lubrication leading to bores/rings/pistons damage. It is difficult to drive like that in everyday traffic but quite possible. Best is to go for a drive along dual carriageways when there is no traffic and accelerate in high gears till 3.5k rpm and then slow down again a little bit o overrun and do it again. Burn a tank a session. Fuel goes rather quickly when you do it that way:) best thing you stay below NSL at all times and plod has nothing to hang their hat on! After 500 miles of that you can start increasing revs till red line providing oil is at working temp-this when fun begins . Heat cycling commences in earnest. Even at 6k miles I still do high gear low rpm full throttle runs to help with bore/rings mating.

Race tuners claim that they observed up to 10% power increase on well run engines compared to ones not run in.

I did that on mine and after an oil and filter change at 5k it has not used a drop in 1k so far.