Climate Control and MPG Issues

[bobski78]

Hi, I'm hoping someone can advise on some problems I've discovered with my new 2006 Octavia 1.9 TDi - 105BHP.

 

I've just 'downgraded' from a 2010 Octavia vRS TDi - 170BHP as it was on finance, and with my wife and I expecting our first child in April, we decided to get rid of the finance and buy the 1.9 TDi outright, in hope that it is even more practical and economical than my vRS but with no monthly financial commitments.

 

However, since buying the car, I've realised that the Climate Control doesn't seem to be working very well.

 

In my vRS I used to just set the temperature level at 23 or 24 degrees C, and once warmed up, sometimes found this too warm and would turn it down to 22 degrees C. In the new car, I can turn the temperature control up to 29 degrees C and the car doesn't even get anywhere near warm.

 

The vents have a trickle of warm air coming out of them, but the blowers don't seem to be blowing the air out with much force, and even using the manual control override doesn't force the blowers to go to full power.

 

However, when first starting the car from cold, the blowers do work, as using the manual control or the quick-clear widescreen setting puts the blowers on with what appears to be full power, but then once the car has warmed up, it is just the trickle of warm air from the vents, with the temperature control setting appearing to have no affect on the controls or temperature in the car.

 

Unfortunately I didn't notice this on the test drive, but it seems that there is something amiss somewhere.  Maybe a sensor, as all the individual components of the heating appear to work intermittently, just not all the time and as they should.

 

Coupled with this, I'm disappointed with the MPG I'm getting so far, so I'm hoping that the fault in the heating may also be responsible for this?

I'm currently only getting 42MPG on a very conservative 34 mile drive to work, which is mainly on a fast dual carriageway, or 38MPG if I drive normally, and I was expecting to get at least 50MPG on normal driving.

 

My vRS was better than what I am now getting, and despite it being newer, and the 105BHP an automatic gearbox against a manual, I'd still expect the 105BHP to be better economically???

 

Any ideas what might be the problem(s)?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[KenONeill]

Service history? A blocked pollen filter could cause some of your heater flow and temperature problems.

So could an iffy thermostat. Which would also affect the fuel economy.

When was the cambelt last done? And was the fuel re-timed properly afterwards?

What mileage is it on? ZF transmissions recommend changing transmission fluid every 50_000 miles.

[flying pig]

Hello mate,

I agree with all of what Ken says above. I've got the same engine as you, albeit in a manual hatchback and I've done 83k miles. It's got a very comprehensive service history, but that's because I'm a fussy buggah!

I'm currently getting 55 mpg which is mostly on my commute to work, at just under 100 miles per day mainly on dual carriageways & motorways travelling at 70mph.

As for your heating problem, it could be a sticking temperature control flap. Try the following tip which cycles the flap through its full range of movement and may help unstick it.

Here's a tip I used on mine when it continued to blow hot air.

With the ignition on but the engine NOT running, hold down the ECON and the bottom left of the four oblong buttons for airflow. The display changes and then you hear all the flaps calibrating.

Basically, pressing the two buttons causes the flap to cycle through its full range of movement as they can sometimes become jammed. When it does this, you'll hear a clicking noise from behind the vents.

Hope this helps & good luck.

[c9550927]

Guys, how hot should the blowers get?, mine get warm but not hot. My other car gets HOT air from the vents, but this octy its kinda (for want of a better word) luke warm at best, thats when its on 29 on the climatic dials.

[john999boy]

I presume you've checked to make sure there's enough water in the system?

[bobski78]

Thanks for the advice everybody.  Some good ideas to try out!

 

To answer the questions asked, it has done 130k miles and has a full service history, but not all services were at a Skoda dealership.  The cambelt was changed a couple of services ago, so the suggestion of the fuel not being re-timed properly is worth investigating.

As a comparison, I've driven my vRS to work today, as the finance company haven't arranged to pick it up yet, and I got 47MPG by driving the car normally.

 

So, compared to my new 1.9TDi, where I'm only getting 43MPG when driving conservatively, there must be some sort of issue affecting the fuel consumption.

 

Thanks again for the advice... I currently have a 'bad taste in my mouth' whenever I think about the new car, worrying that I have purchased a 'lemon', so hopefully I can get the two issues sorted and begin to enjoy driving the new car.

[mannyo]

People always sell cars when something is a miss, whatever secondhand car you buy, usually expect to find at least one thing wrong with it.

 

Poor heat can be pollen filter, or sticky flap motor which are both easy fixed. Poor economy could be a number of things, start by checking the MAF wiring connection, and the air filter condition. Look for any odd little black boxes, you dont want the car to have a cheap resistor mod tuning box. If the latter services were outside the dealer network, some simple things could have been missed.

 

With the climate, set it at 23 and forget about it. Turning the heat up first thing makes no difference, it will still reach 23 in the same amount of time. Even I find that way to warm, mine in the Audi is set at 20, and 19 in the summer.

[bobski78]

Thanks Mannyo.

 

Yes, I usually hardly touch the climate, as in my old car it was usually set at 22 degrees.  I also understand how the car will only start to pump out air once the car is warm enough to do so, but driving my vRS again this morning, there was so much more heat in the car, and all the manual controls worked to blow out air towards the end of my 34 mile journey, but this isn't the case in my new 1.9 TDi.

 

I can set the temperature at 23 degrees in the new car, and even when warmed up, it doesn't really get warm in the car (just a trickle of warm air from the side vents), and setting the temperature to 29 degrees when the car is warmed up doesn't make any difference - it should be an unbearable and uncomfortable heat at 29 degrees, but it is no different than if I leave it at 23 degrees.

 

Going to take the car down to the local dealer and ask them to check out the above suggestions.

 

And yes, I agree, there is always some sort of hidden issue when buying used cars, so hopefully this is it and I can get it sorted.

Thanks again!

[Phil-E]

Does the new one have a DSG box then?

 

If so your MPG is way down.

 

On a dual carriageway type run the trip normally reads 51-52 mpg at 70mph.

 

A slower A road road usually sees 55+mpg.

 

Phil

[goatboy]

I take it the auto is not a dsg? Good old fashioned torque convertor boxes will not be as economical as a manual. What is the book combined mpg?

Edit: just checked on Parkers and combined for your new car is 47mpg. Considering its winter I don't think you are a million miles away from what you should be getting.. A manual vrs is actually 49 according to Parkers.

Also are your mpg figures just what your computer shows? It's not unknown for these to be a fair way out. Your vrs could be being optimistic and your new car pessimistic.

[Phil-E]

I take it the auto is not a dsg? Good old fashioned torque convertor boxes will not be as economical as a manual. What is the book combined mpg?

Edit: just checked on Parkers and combined for your new car is 47mpg. Considering its winter I don't think you are a million miles away from what you should be getting.. A manual vrs is actually 49 according to Parkers.

Also are your mpg figures just what your computer shows? It's not unknown for these to be a fair way out. Your vrs could be being optimistic and your new car pessimistic.

 

The only auto they did for that year with the 1.9 PD105 was a DSG wasn't it?

 

The only MK2 Octavia available with the non-DSG tiptronic auto was the 1.6 FSI:

 

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/skoda/octavia/estate-2005/

 

The DSG has a 40,000 mile service schedule so check that was done also.

 

Phil

[bobski78]

The new car does indeed have the Auto DSG gearbox.

 

I know that the on-board computer displays aren't necessarily that accurate, but when I worked it out based on the value of fuel I filled up with, and how many miles I travelled on it, it worked out as 37MPG, which is even less that the on-board computer displayed, so if anything it is being optimistic.

 

From what I can tell, I should be getting the same MPG figures as Phil, which is what I was expecting when I purchased the car.

[Guest]

I too have a 2006 Octavia 1.9 TDi - 105 BKC and coming from a car that used to roast you alive if the heater was set to high I find mine to be warm at best, not looking forward to cold weather.

Strange as my previous car's coolant gauge always indicated a normal operating temperature of 75C whereas the Octy doggedly sticks at 90C so you'd think the system would have more heating capacity available, I'm of the impression it's just a bad design.

The only other car I've experienced with a gash heater was a ford ka which had been neglected and the coolant was just water/rust so the heater matrix was clogged and couldn't give off heat.

As for MPG, my car is a manual and I've never had more than 46mpg average displayed, mind you that's with a heavyish right foot as the 105 seems pretty lacklustre in performance and I often find myself thinking just a wee bit more would be bice and find the pedal is to the floor already... oh well!

Out of curiosity, does yours have a working vent in the glovebox?

The feed tube to mine had popped off and after removing the glovebox to reattach it I'm confident the climatronic is a bit better... maybe placebo.

[Phil-E]

37mpg sounds awful.

 

Our display is showing the long term average of 44.9 mpg at the moment. Dropped from 46.1 mpg since winter began.

 

Actually doing better on fuel on average than our previous Cordoba PD130 6 speed manual.

 

Even with a boot FULL of camping gear and 2 bikes on the roof I can get 50mpg at 60mph out of it.

 

Phil

[Ultrasonic]

Does the engine temp. gauge sit at 90° C when warmed up? (Even this could mean the engine is running a bit cool, but it's a start.)

 

I never set the CC in my car above about 18° C so I can't really comment on how hot the air can get. For short trips at the moment I leave it at 16°C, only turning it up above this once the engine is fully warmed up (to look after the engine and for mpg).

 

As for checking your mpg you really want to do a brim-to-brim calculation to get a vaguely accurate figure. Although it does sound like what you are getting is very low. I do way better but mine has a manual gearbox.

 

On my last car (a crap Renault Megane) I had to get the heat exchange matrix replaced to fix it's completely failed heating, but it was very nice and cosy afterwards :-)

Edited 11 January, 2014 by Ultrasonic

[Ultrasonic]

Strange as my previous car's coolant gauge always indicated a normal operating temperature of 75C whereas the Octy doggedly sticks at 90C so you'd think the system would have more heating capacity available, I'm of the impression it's just a bad design.

 

The temperature indicated by the main needle in the car lies much of the time. It indicates 90°C over quite a range of actual coolant temperatures. Going by my ScangaugeII the dashboard shows 90°C when the coolant reaches about 76°C IIRC. I've never seen the coolant get as high as 90°C, the highest I think I've seen is 88°C (although I haven't checked in hot summer weather). The needle never moves off 90°C over this range of true temperatures though.

Edited 11 January, 2014 by Ultrasonic

[bobski78]

Thanks for all the advice.

The car is going in to the dealer tomorrow so we'll see what they can find.

Thanks again.

[Phil-E]

Hope they find something.

 

As an example I drove back from a Christening at the weekend.

 

18.5 miles with over NSL roads and some dual cariage way at 70mph. Onboard display read 54.8mpg as I pulled up on the drive.

 

Phil