Lol, reminds me of the kids book where Paddington Bear cries for help quietly (whilst drowning) in a bath so as not to disturb anyone.

 

If there is a trail of black smoke then it needs booting harder and more often, not less!

 

Be sure to clean out the inlet manifold as well as the EGR (fill it full or carb cleaner and set fire to it!).

Edited 3 September, 201312 yr by thesquiff

Hmmmm... I'm thinking you could have a possible boost leak.

 

Trails of black smoke and clattery engine can be a boost leak.

 

When my turbo pipe popped off on the Cordoba PD130 it was very smoky and the engine when very clattery I think due to not getting the right air into it etc.

 

This could also explain the very gunked up EGR.

 

Get the garage to check the turbo pipes for any leaks while they are at it.

 

Phil

That's interesting Phil, thanks for the info. I'll give them a ring and ask them to have a check around.

 

Cheers

 

Peter

All completed and working fine again. Problems were a leaking Turbo pipe (thanks Phil for suggesting that) causing the EGR valve to gum up so badly that they deemed it beyond economical repair. I thought that there had been mention of a faulty transducer, but that doesn't appear at all in the diagnosis, so maybe that was suspected, but put back and found OK? I haven't taken it out for a spin yet, but even on tickover it sounds much smoother. Parts replaced were a Vacuum Hose + the EGR valve.

 

Thanks to all who offered suggestions as to what the fault might be.

 

Peter

I suspect you have had a boost leak for some time which has led to the build up of soot etc in the EGR valve.

 

Glad it's sorted.

 

I'm betting when you take it for a spin and floor the throttle you will be pleasantly surprised. They normally go a bit better when they don't have a boost leak

Thanks very much for the information Phil, you could be spot on about the length of time. It has been heavily smoking for a while if two much welly was applied! I was surprised that it passed the emissions test on its MoT in April. The mechanic who collected it to drive to the Garage suggested it was quite poorly on its journey there! Unfortunately it was very busy on the way back today, so he had little chance to try it out. I'll do that tomorrow on the A14!

 

Cheers

 

Peter

With the MOT they just to a smoke density test. They do it with no load (in neutral) on the engine so it may have been ok. But as soon as load is applied to the engine more fuel is injected than can be burnt.

 

Hopefully it will be all sorted now then and you will be able to drive it without deploying the smoke screen!

 

When ours developed a leak we were on the Autobahn and I'd just done a solid 100 miles, foot flat to the floor, 4 people in the car with luggage and she refused to go over 128mph. Then the leak occurred and the speed dropped right down and it just poured black smoke out the back whenever I went near the throttle. Was good for the tailgaters though! 

 

Phil

Thanks Phil for that information, I wondered how it had passed! I also discovered that I could produce a smoke screen by a quick tap on the throttle, and have been known to use it to back off a persistent tailgater!

 

Thanks for all your help

 

Peter

Just make sure you give it a really good thrashing. There will be years of crud build up. Seriously... don't be shy with the throttle. Get it up to temperature, find a quiet road and thrash it!

 

Phil

Used car for the 1st time this morning after it returned from replacing EGR valve and replacing vacuum pipe. Started up fine, no cloud of black smoke, engine management light went off everything seemed fine. Around 400yds down the road the engine management light came back on and stayed on.

I tried accelerating up to the red line, no trailing smoke cloud, but the light stays firmly on. The saga has now been going on since 8th August, so it will be back on auto pilot finding its way to Colchester again next Monday! To say I'm frustrated is a gross understatement!

 

Peter

Oh no!

 

Let's just hope it's just something like a loose connector or pipe to EGR or something.

 

Phil

Time to find a garage that bothers to test drive after doing work on it?

might be worth finding someone with vagcom local to you to do a quick scan and see what the codes are before another visit to the dealers

 

at least be armed with some information

Good idea, thanks for the suggestion.

 

Peter

look at http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/224376-vcds-owners-map/

 

it also tells you how to check if they are still active members

 

or if there is a local meet near to you it is possible to find a member who is will to scan it at the meet

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/152-uk-local-meetings/

 

or if you are near Milton keynes / northampton I think it is try unit 18 very good reputation on here and reasonable price if post I have seen are anything to go by

Thanks for all the info. I've got a friend who does all sorts of work on vintage cars, but he is away until the weekend. He was in the trade before retiring, so if he hasn't got direct access, he is bound to know someone locally! I did an approx 100 mile journey with it today on a notoriously windy road where everyone seemed to want to go faster than me. It was hard work with endless gear changes to keep it from labouring, so I'm guessing that the engine is in emergency mode, it could be described as "lumpy"! It got us there and back safely without shutting down, but the alarm stayed firmly "on".

Appreciate everyone's help.

 

Peter

check vacuum pipes down the back of the engine to the turbo waste gate isn't split

 

the other common issue is the MAF sense (plug on the big air pipe just to left of air filter), gives exactly the you describe

Tried my fibre optic probe to check pipes down the back of the engine, cannot see anything wrong. Hoping a friend of mine would return today from his hols, he has a pit and a VAG, but he is towing a caravan and may wait until the wind dies down tomorrow or Tue. Thanks for possible causes, they will be checked out ASAP.

 

Peter

Was offered a slot at the Garage this morning, problem found, a split vacuum pipe at the back of the engine! I understood that they had already replaced one, but this was in addition and not spotted at the last visit, therefore no charge!

 

Thanks to everyone who helped with this frustrating problem, diagnosis spot on!

 

Thanks

 

Peter

to replace that back hose requires a whole new vacuum hose assemble which is 6 pipes that comes off the black vacuum block on the top of the drives wing just in front of the windscreen, does that look new?

 

you can't replace just a single hose, they are glued to the plate that attaches to the vacuum block that is attached by the 2 silver clips either end

Edited 16 September, 201312 yr by bluecar1

That's interesting, I'll poke the probe in again tomorrow and try to see what goes on there. The phonecall was quite specific "we've found a split vacuum pipe at the back of the engine, and replaced it, it was difficult to spot"!

I've got no write up of course as no charge was made, and "it could have unknowingly have been pulled when the valve was being replaced" was the next comment. So sounds a bit of a mystery.

 

Peter

I know that hose as I had to replace the whole bunch when I broke it at the vacuum block replacing the brake servo vacuum pipe due to dodgy non return valve giving intermittent loss of servo assistance on the brakes (interesting experience I do not wish to repeat)

 

that pipe seem to be a common (ish) fault, access I best from underneath or remove top boost hose from EGR valve to see down back easier

If the work has been done at a main dealers (or any decent local place to be fair) they've probably got oodles of spare vac pipe kicking around.

 

As previously said, the hoses are only available as the one job lot from Skoda, so alot of places will just replace the pipe that is damaged (rob it off the new bundle of hoses) and keep the rest as spares. I think I've still got 4 partial hose kits from warranty jobs many moons ago. Makes alot more sense to rob bits off one at a time, charge the customer a small amount (talking a few pounds at most) and replace just the one required pipe than ripping the whole lot out.

mine were all glued very securely to the plate, both on the original and replacement

 

I could not remove any of the pipes, unless you have a secret technique

I have a little trim tool that is very handy for prying the pipes off. Or a good twist with some needle nose pliers also helps