Looked at a Skoda Octavia 2.0 FSI from 2005 today. 75k on the clock.

 

Nice nice. Pulls away really well, feels nicely solid, not lumbering.

 

Bit concerned about it taking 10 revolutions of the starter to fire up, my Primera starts up on the first click. But hey ho, maybe just a characteristic of the car, maybe lack of fuel, it has been stuck round a forecourt.

 

Then I check under the oil filler cap, eek, creamy residue. Not white, just a sort of creamy brown colour. Not very much at all though.

 

Alarm bells start ringing. Then I come to this forum and find that this is now a common occurrence on Petrol Engines that aren't thrashed around? How in the? I've never seen that on any petrol engine car I've driven, and I've driven all kinds of journeys. What gives with VW Design?

 

Stupidly I never checked the dip stick, but in all honesty, these two issues together, should I be worried about? 

 

Im totally sick of looking at cars now. If I don't get the passat, Im keeping mine and changing the engine!

 

SImon

Thread title makes it sound delicious! You should work in the Mcdonalds advertising division. 

 

Mayo often gathers on the oil cap due to repeated cold starts, it can also mean something more sinister such as a failed head gasket. There are other symptoms though, such as blue or excessive white steam from the exhaust on startup from cold, frothy coolant in the expansion tank or indeed mayo on the dipstick - did you notice any of those?

 

On the other hand since you say there wasn't much and it was more brown than white, it may just be due to the stupid amount of rain we've had and the moisture in the air gathering on repeated cold starts to move the car around the forecourt or for short test drives, and clears out after a good run.

Didn't notice any of that to be honest. Certainly no steam or smoke on startup, looked good, coolant, which Im hoping was the red stuff in the round bowl on the left of the engine bay looked OK through the window. 

 

Didn't think to check the dipstick.

 

As for condensation, do VAG design their engines differently to Nissan? I've never seen that problem on my Nissan, or, so far, any other car I've seen so far. It was very light though on this.

 

But that, with the starting issue, put me off a little bit. Seems both are common issues though and not worth worrying about?

 

Simon

the poor starting is probably just due to a low battery as it is not usually for cars to be on the forecourt for months and the battery goes flat,  try starting it after a run and it probably fire up first time.

Thanks for that willydog. Got it back to the garage after a test drive (2m), tried all the gadgets. Switched off, took a look round the car. THen couldn't get the thing to start. But it was either being empty on fuel or as the guy said, immobiliser was on. I seem to do half tests without pushing the issue, then come back  issues and then wish I had done an extended test. Grrr.

 

Haven't ruled it out yet, but definitely want to check the starting over.

 

Quite happy with the performance of it. Just hoping the MPG is going to be there. Got up to 32mpg on the drive around town. But my car was giving 38mpg on the way back.

 

And this is my problem, trying to find something of equal calibre to mine. Double Grrrr.

 

Simon

Edited 25 January, 201412 yr by sjdean

Little bit of 'mayo' isn't an issue they all get it. Just a bit of emulsion.

 

Short journeys in cold weather make it worse.

Depends what fuel is in the car too, I get higher mpg with 98 ron, correct tyre pressure etc.

I've managed a Average of 42mpg @ 70 cruising from Devon to Chippenham on the motorway.

How about the starting issue?

Not sure I believe the story of the immobiliser being on, if the key was in the ignition, ergo disabling the immobiliser it would start immediately. Unless you were told to start it by touching two wires together  Or, more likely, there's a problem with it hot-starting. I don't know enough about 2.0 TSIs to comment but someone here will.

 

Seems a bit irresponsible of the dealer to let the tank run totally dry..

Edited 26 January, 201412 yr by Ben90

Apparently they only put a thimble full of petrol on. It's also not TSI only FSI. But even so, I think because of GDI, they do have a HPFP too. Im guessing HPFP shouldn't really run dry.

 

One of the guys started it., pulled it out, stopped the engine. Only 30 seconds. Couldn't start it after that. Had to crank it long time! Thought maybe I just wasn't used to the starting procedure and it had got flooded or something so thought nothing of it. And the starting issue on return from the test drive sounded plausible lack of fuel.

 

But knowing that could be anything... yeah.... i'll back away slowly.

 

I think Im now between two choices, keeping my old car and spending £2k to get a recon engine, carbon wrap for the door pillars, new rear bumper a good valet, two rear tyres, stainless exhaust and I should be good to go! And the other choice, I just can't rule out the Passat.

Edited 26 January, 201412 yr by sjdean

Mine starts straight off. Quick flick of the key 99% of the time. Never had it crank like that :\

If in doubt avoid it.

Brown mayo would concern me a little and combined with poor starting could be a compression issue pointing to a possible head gasket issue.

Look at the coolant bottle to check for oil, but if it was me I'd probably walk.

My wife's A150 Merc gets lots of mayo in the filler neck due to never getting warmed up. See if you can get the car for a couple of hours and a good long drive should get rid of it.

 

As for the starting I have read that cars with dodgy batteries can start better when cold than when warm as when warm a minimum rpm is required before fuel is injected (Safety feature?) but this is bypassed when cold. Not sure if this is just the diesel's though.

As already the explained the mayo issue just sounds like moisture in the oil through lack of use.

 

The starting problem could be a number of things:

 

Battery

Earth problem

Starter motor

Flywheel problem

Coolant temperature sensor

Fuel pump

 

Have they given it a diagnostic scan for you to shed any light on it?

 

Phil

Go with your gut feelings if you dont the feel the car is not quite right. The garage should of prepped the car properly before letting you test drive it. I m sure there are plenty of other good ones about.

As already the explained the mayo issue just sounds like moisture in the oil through lack of use.

 

The starting problem could be a number of things:

 

Battery

Earth problem

Starter motor

Flywheel problem

Coolant temperature sensor

Fuel pump

 

Have they given it a diagnostic scan for you to shed any light on it?

 

Phil

 

Sure mayo can be just condensation, but mayo + poor starting is a classic symptom of a blown or leaking head gasket. (It causes poor compression and so difficult starting and mayo.)

 

Why on earth would you take the chance?

Edited 28 January, 201412 yr by cheezemonkhai

Aye true.

 

Not worth the risk when there are plenty of other good examples out there.

 

Phil