Hi Guys

 

As an unmechanically minded driver I have a problem on which some help would be appreciated.

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  I have a 7 year old Octavia estate with the 140 TDI. A couple of years ago I experienced some problems with the Turbo cutting out under acceleration. A friendly mechanic suggested an additive to the fuel such as Diesel power Eco Max and running the engine for a while at high revs - I gather to blow out whatever was causing the problem.

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  I followed this advice which seemed to work for a while but the problem has returned and the main dealer says I need a new turbo costing £2000 including fitting. As the car needs a further £1000 spent servicing, tyres etc I am faced with a bill of £3000 to get it running well.

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  I have only got 85000 miles on the clock. Other turbo diesels I have owned were still going strong at 150000 and I thought the Skoda reputation for reliability would mean I could expect at least this again.

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  My options seem to be spending the money on a car that will probably be worth less than the £3000 afterwards but I could keep for a few more years or getting a few hundred for it and buying something else.

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  Does anyone know a way of not replacing the turbo? and getting another 30 or 40000 out of it.

   

 

 

Any comments will be gratefully read,  .Anthony

First of all, I doubt there is any way of making the turbo work again for any length of time. I would consider getting the work done at a decent independent garage. I should think you'll half the bill of the main dealers. The car is worth about £4500 - £5000 so spending £1000 - £1500 to get it working again would be a much better idea than selling it for peanuts. 

 

85,000 miles isnt great from a turbo but it does depend massively on how it is treated. I'd bet your car if treated right would do 150000 miles without too much issue aside from wear and tear. 

Sounds like the turbo just needs a good clean out again.  If you can find a friendly mechanic, it would probably take about 5 or 6 hours to remove the turbo, split it down and clean, then rebuild and refit.  That should give it a new lease of life.

 

The only part to replace in that case I think would be the exhaust manifold gasket.  The rest is just removal, degunking, cleaning up, and rebuilding.

 

Could try the Mr Muscle over cleaner guide as a short term test too, if nothing to lose really.