Oil usage in Fabia VRS

[Ootohere]

Sorry to be very boring.

 

Are you happy you have enough oil in, ? because it is doubtful that you do.

 

If that is the Cold check. and the Jabozuma check,   where is the Oil with a Hot check? ?

(It should be the same as a Zabozuma check).

 

If you are driving up a road say after 20 minutes at about 70 mph,

what does the oil temperature show at on the Maxidot?

 

Read page 167 and page 168 of the Owners Manual.

Bad Translation to English often in Skoda manuals.,

the VW manual says 'Normal running temperature', and Skoda says 'Warm' regarding checking oil.

Says a 'few minutes' which different people think of different passage of time,

a few is surely only 5 minutes or so, not 30 minutes.

[vrskeith]

Tap into the VAG oil well department.

 

GET IT FREE FROM DEALERSHIP, AFTER INFORMING SKODA UK (in writing)  OF THE on going plight .

[vrskeith]

Tap into the VAG oil well department.

 

GET IT FREE FROM DEALERSHIP, AFTER INFORMING SKODA UK (in writing)  OF THE on going plight .

Sorry Skoda OZ

[garyallen]

UPDATE ON OIL TOPIC

 

Mileage 36,638 today.

 

Cold level marginally above A marker

Jabazouma check level half way up hatched area

 

Will report back on usage.

[Ootohere]

0.25 of a litre more in and that might be it at 3.6 litres of oil in, and hopefully that is it, all good. .

 

But if you just leave as is, & it stays at the level you are at, maybe just uses a little according to type of use, you are onto a winner.

[Ootohere]

Any update?

[garyallen]

I have only done 298 miles since last post on 14th January 2014 when cold level was left just above "A" on dipstick.  I have just taken a fresh reading and the cold level is exactly half way down the hatched area!!  I fear the worst.  

I have only owned the car for six weeks and it is out of warranty -  it was purchased from a Seat dealer who are also VW/Audi dealers so I would imagine they are at least aware of the oil problem.  I will run the car for another week to monitor usage and then decide on the best course of action.  The car is covered by an Auto Protect warranty for one year but I dont know if it would cover this particular issue.

Comments would be very welcome.

[Ootohere]

Thats exactly the type of issue a Warranty should cover, Major Mechanical Issues and Failures.

 

But you have come back on the Dealer if the car had issues before sale, like any Previous Warranty Work done,

& if an Oil Consumption Test and a Breather mod already done,

then get onto Skoda UK ,

because they know they sold cars with engines that became faulty due to Manufacturing or Design of components.

 

SEAT Dealers know the issue from Ibiza Cupras from 2009 on, and many that were faulty from a very few thousand miles.

 

george

[garyallen]

UPDATE ON OIL ISSUE

 

Mileage 37,293 today.

 

Cold level just above A marker; 1 litre required to restore to the level reported at 36,638 miles on 14th January 2014.

Therefore consumption recorded at 1 litre for 655 miles = 1 litre for 1054 kilometres.  This exceeds the consumption expected and detailed in the handbook; I am still monitoring the levels.  Driving is mostly rural at 50/60 mph- car is not driven hard.  Comments would be welcome as to my next move- remember the car is outside warranty.

[Big Sheep]

Comments would be welcome as to my next move- remember the car is outside warranty.

 

Talk to the dealer who sold you the car and explore the Auto Protect warranty that you have. If you fail to get the issue resolved you could go straight to the top of the SUK organisation and email Alasdair Stewart to ask for a goodwill engine replacement: -

 

[email protected]

 

Mr Alisdair Stewart

Skoda Customer Services

Select A Post 34

Sheffield

S97 3FA

 

See page 2 of thread on this forum entitled 'Which oil do I buy?'. Refer to letter sent by austenw90.

 

This would be a useful challenge to get support from SUK outside of the normal warranty for the 1.4 TSI twin charger engine. The 100 plus Briskoda members who have reported high oil consumption would be very interested in the outcome.

 

NB. Your oil consumption calculations will probably need to be backed up by a dealer oil consumption test.

[DanGWoodhouse]

My car went in for an oil consumption test and had the breather mod made at the beginning. The car still failed and so it needs to have a new engine fitted. I had to take the car back to the garage so the warranty company could assess it as it is just outside manufacturers warranty but covered under the extended warranty. Turns out the warranty company will not pay for the new engine. After complaining to SUK (not for the first time I might add) the new engine has been ordered but at this stage it is still unclear who is paying (it isn't me though at least) and the dispute is still going on. Has anyone heard of any similar issues with claiming under the warranty? The spark plugs failed on me during the 600 mile oil consumption test and although SUK eventually gave me a partial goodwill refund on the bill, this is the second time I have problems with the car and not wanting to be covered under the warranty, and it has been in for something else as well which was covered thankfully. I've only had the car since October and is still under the 30k mark.

[austenw90]

I am guessing than the replacement engines should be sound now? After how long these issues have been ongoing I would assume VAG have sorted these engines by now? Especially with the updated vRS in the last year or so? Or was the update simply a few cosmetic things?

Edited 31 January, 2014 by austenw90

[Ootohere]

No the new CTHE Engine from the last quarter 2012 has new revised internals & a different ECU and a different Map,

 

But then 2 Briskoda members still needed replacements of CTHE engines.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/294051-cave-cthe-14tsi-just-reply-please-if-you-have-had-an-engine-replaced

 

re Spark Plugs and Spark Plug Failure before the 40,000 miles Skoda Service Schedule.

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/291585-warning-on-spark-plugs-14-tsi-cave-vrs-check-the-spark-plugs

[vxh26]

My car went in for an oil consumption test and had the breather mod made at the beginning. The car still failed and so it needs to have a new engine fitted.

<snip>

This question isn't exclusively directed at you but I am interested to know why exactly Skoda are having to replace the 1.4 TSI engine in the Fabia vRS?  I know that it is in some way associated with oil consumption issues but I can't recall having read any clear descriptions of the symptoms that cause someone to take their car back to a dealer and eventually to have the engine replaced.

 

I would be very interested to know what the initial symptoms were.

• Why did you initially take your car in for an oil consumption test - did a low oil light come on, did you happen to check the oil level and notice that it was low?
• Were you told what was involved in the "breather mod"?
• You say that the engine "still failed" - was there a noticeable reduction in performance or did the engine seize?

As I say, these questions are not specific to you and I would be interested in hearing the experiences of anyone who has suffered as you have, particularly if they have had more than one replacement engine.

 

Was the CTHE engine in any way intended to address the problems with the CAVE unit?

 

 

Incidentally I am aware of George's "CAVE & CTHE 1.4TSI engine replacement" thread, I just wanted a bit more specific detail about the initial symptoms

Edited 31 January, 2014 by vxh26

[Ootohere]

The Engine has an oil Capacity of only 3.6 litres,

 

If you check and the oil is right down the dip stick then that is more than 1 litre low, or over 25% too low.

There might be no warning light to give a warning.

 

SOME SKODA DEALERSHIP WORKSHOPS DO NOT CHECK OIL LEVELS CORRECTLY, OVERFILL & UNDERFILL,

CARS CAN LEAVE THE SERVICE WITH TOO MUCH OIL IN,

& SOME EVEN PUT THE WRONG AMOUNT OF OIL INTO NEW REPLACEMENT ENGINES,

& SOME DO WEIGHING OF OIL FOR CONSUMPTION TESTS AND CAN NOT EVEN GET THAT RIGHT, 

THINKING 1 LITRE of ENGINE OIL IS 1000 GRAMS.

 

Here are in the PDF below are some issues as Listed by REVO,

i doubt you will find this list published by SKODA, SEAT, VW or AUDI.

 

** Yes the revised CTHE engine was to address the ongoing problem with the CAVE engines, 

But the Volkswagen Audi Group never published that either.

 

They have never Publicially Accepted they have an Issue with the their Engine of the year Under 1.4 litre,

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.

[austenw90]

This question isn't exclusively directed at you but I am interested to know why exactly Skoda are having to replace the 1.4 TSI engine in the Fabia vRS?  I know that it is in some way associated with oil consumption issues but I can't recall having read any clear descriptions of the symptoms that cause someone to take their car back to a dealer and eventually to have the engine replaced.

 

I would be very interested to know what the initial symptoms were.

• Why did you initially take your car in for an oil consumption test - did a low oil light come on, did you happen to check the oil level and notice that it was low?
• Were you told what was involved in the "breather mod"?
• You say that the engine "still failed" - was there a noticeable reduction in performance or did the engine seize?

As I say, these questions are not specific to you and I would be interested in hearing the experiences of anyone who has suffered as you have, particularly if they have had more than one replacement engine.

 

Was the CTHE engine in any way intended to address the problems with the CAVE unit?

 

The symptoms in my experience are noticing low oil, then keep noticing it at every check. I know the majority of people never check their car properly but I always check my oil at least once a fortnight, as this is usually the longest it will go without a clean.

 

I got mine with 6700 miles on, it was serviced at 5700 but running pretty dry. I can't believe they sold it to me like this!

Then over the next thousand miles or so I was topping up frequently - weekly at least.

 

Therefore it got booked for an oil consumption test, costs of which were covered by Skoda UK.

 

I haven't got the actual figures at the moment but have been told it used 1/3 of the 3.6 litres in 350 miles.

[vxh26]

OK, thanks for those responses George and austenw90.  In both cases it seems that the low oil level was spotted as a result of a positive check.  This raises the interesting (to me) question as to whether there have been any instances of vRS engines actually "blowing up" or seizing?  One might expect this to happen since I suspect that very few people go out of their way to check their oil level these days - perhaps they do all react swiftly to the oil light coming on?

[Ootohere]

If you read the many threads you will see that there have been broken burnt out spark plugs and burnt out valves.

Cracked rings, bore wear and bearing wear.

 

The  'EPC light' should show or the 'Engine Emission light',

it puts the engine into Limp Mode to reduce damage.

You should then get Assistance.

Most do.

 

Those 2 lights might show and yet you have had no YELLOW OIL LEVEL WARNING LIGHT, or 

RED OIL PRESSURE WARNING LIGHT, showing.

 

I will link again the Technicians Training Document for Twinchargers up to 125kw,

these are pre CAVE engines of 132-136kw.

 

It shows the Trouble Shooting and likely Faults.

It does not Cover Bore Wash, that was not something they allowed for.

http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_359.pdf

[austenw90]

I really think Skoda should be putting an electronic dipstick in to these cars which could display the reading on the MFD. Whether or not they are 100% accurate is another matter but at least it will give the owner an indication of the oil level...

[Ootohere]

'Nail on Head'.   You have it sussed, how have they not, its costing them enough.!

[vxh26]

Once again George - many thanks; as you say - "If you read the many threads . . ." and therein lies the problem.

 

You refer to "broken burnt out spark plugs, burnt out valves, cracked rings, bore wear and bearing wear".  I take it from your post above that these problems are typically first noticed when the  'EPC light' or 'Engine Emission light' shows?

 

What really concerns me is what happens the day after you have had the car for 36 months and problems develop.  I dare say that Skoda UK may allow a certain limited amount of leeway but what if problems occur after you have owned the car for four years?  I seem to recall in an earlier post you decried the idea of "throw-away" cars that don't last and in my case, I have no real interest in replacing my car on a regular basis.  So, so disappointing, the size of the Fabia suits me perfectly, I love the DSG box, I even quite like with the Fabia's undistinguished and slightly odd-ball appearance.  I just wish that Skoda could get their act together on the twincharged 1.4 TSI engine or at a pinch, roll out a version with the regular 1.4 TSI engine as offered on the Octavia (which is a larger car than I need or want).

[austenw90]

If Fiat can charge a Punto to 180hp without issues (that I am aware of) then surely VAG can do the same or better!

[Brian69]

My car went in for an oil consumption test and had the breather mod made at the beginning. The car still failed and so it needs to have a new engine fitted. I had to take the car back to the garage so the warranty company could assess it as it is just outside manufacturers warranty but covered under the extended warranty. Turns out the warranty company will not pay for the new engine. After complaining to SUK (not for the first time I might add) the new engine has been ordered but at this stage it is still unclear who is paying (it isn't me though at least) and the dispute is still going on. Has anyone heard of any similar issues with claiming under the warranty? The spark plugs failed on me during the 600 mile oil consumption test and although SUK eventually gave me a partial goodwill refund on the bill, this is the second time I have problems with the car and not wanting to be covered under the warranty, and it has been in for something else as well which was covered thankfully. I've only had the car since October and is still under the 30k mark.

Dan - if you don't mind me asking - who is the extended warranty with?

[Ootohere]

vhx26, No Twinchargers are not throw away cars,  IMO

 

Brian and i have cars over 3 1/2 years old with 2 year extended Warranties

Sparkly has a car over 36,000 miles and is tuning it, and decided his engine is sound.

The majority are sound, and fault free.

 

£15,000 with a 5 year warranty from Skoda,  if it costs £2,000 a year, and after 5 years is worth £5,000, thats good.

It might well be worth more than £5,000, or its a Keeper.

 

You could by a used one today for £8,000,

put 2 times 2 Year Extended Warranties on, so thats an extra £1,100 over the 4 years,

and still have a car worth £3,000 in 4 year.

 

Fun cars, not high depreciation,

Just do not buy if your going to have sleepless nights about it.

[Ootohere]

austenw90,

 the Alfa Giulieitta with a 1.4 Petrol with TCT and 172 bhp is wonderfull

& even the Mito with 135 bhp. 

 

But the Twinchargers is still more fun IMO, you just need a good one.