Hi.

 

Newbie here.

 

Wonder if anyone can help me? Thank you.

 

Bought a used Skoda Octavia 1.6 FSI last Summer. One owner, 43,000 miles, full service history(no service for 2 years), Petrol, etc.

 

Late last year the car started juddering when idle. Then this year the engine management light kept on coming on. When I put my foot down on the accelerator peddle, car judders for a period, struggles to pick up speed(mainly on Motorway, Motorway slip road, etc), then rights itself eventually and drives normally. When this happened the engine management warning light would come on, flash, then go off again after a period of time. However, of late the engine management light stays on permanently. Car still drives normally after Juddering.

 

Took it to a garage, they have done two diagnostic tests, and on both occasions the tests have show up a misfiring cylinder.(the same one)

 

Here's the problem. I have been quoted up to £1000 to repair the misfiring cylinder. 8-10 hours labour, etc, etc. To say I was taken aback is an understatement. Especially after having the car for less than a year.

 

My question is. Is that price about right, or can the cylinder/car be repaired for less? If so, what should I be looking to pay on average?

 

TBH I'm a bit down ATM, as I didn't expect this after having the car for less than a year. So any help/advice to help me get the car fixed cheaper would be very welcomed.

 

Thank you once again.

What are they actually quoting for as machining the head sounds a bit vague. Are they saying that the inlet valves need to be cleaned by hand ? Have they said that the problem is that the valves are sticking due to carbon deposits ?

 

Get a clearer description of what work they are quoting you for and then get some quote from other garages.

I would as said get another garage to check it too. You said it clears after a while and is normal so it can't be as bad as they make out (coil pack?)

That's a lot of money for what potentially could be a small fault.

Good luck.

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never heard of machining fixing a misfire. more likely to be electrcal.  As above get another opinion and find the problem.

Hi.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

Rang another couple of garages.

 

Basically, I've been told to bring the car in, they will do a diagnostics + labour(£50-£100/1-2 hours work) to investigate, and tell me what the problem is.

 

TBH I've already forked out £50 for the first diagnostics and labour. Now it seems I will have to fork out again for another diagnostics and labour at another garage.

 

Without any work being done on the engine, I will have already forked out £100/£150.

 

My concern is that I will be told the same or similar thing at another garage. I appreciate I could be told something different and the cost of the work could be much cheaper. 

 

Because of the nature of the problem, it seems I'm at the mercy of the garage.

 

Is there any way I can be 99% sure any garage will tell me the truth with this kind of engine problem, or is it just luck and finding an honest garage?

 

Thanks once again.

Edited 24 February, 201412 yr by jrb06

Has there been a compression test been done yet??

Maybe you could find someone in your area who has VCDS and get a true fault diagnosis

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Being honest.

 

Like most People I didn't ask any questions. I was told it was the value and the engine needed taking apart, etc.

 

I can ring the garage up tomorrow and query what the tests found.

 

Could somebody tell me the questions I should/should have asked, but didn't after after the diagnostics was completed.

 

I tend to take People at face value, rather than questioning them. My fault.

 

I will ring up and put those questions to the garage, write down the reply's, and get back to the forum.

 

I really appreciate the advice/help.

 

Thank you all.

 

PS. The initial fault was diagnosed as a P0304, CYLINDER 4 MISFIRE.

Think you need to see if they have made sure that the coil packs and injections have been eliminated as really as these 1.6 fsi engines suffer with injector issues! And I think you need to see if they have done a compression check?? as if the compressions are ok then why is the head being taken off??

Need to ask if the timing chain has skipped causing misfire faults? But then it would log camshaft faults so maybe see if there is any other faults logged??

Hope this helps?

Thanks vrsjub.

 

Just checked the invoice.

 

All it states is labour description: To code read engine. Cost + VAT. Nothing else.

 

I told them the reading was P0304/cylinder 4 misfiring, when I left the car with them the first time.

 

As stated, after the 2nd diagnostic, first one was free as they couldn't pinpoint fault, didn't charge me, cleared the engine management warning light, but said it would come back on again, did after 2 days, told me to bring the car back and they would do another diagnostics and confirm fault/s. They had the car for over 2 hours today.

 

Will ring them tomorrow and ask them to explain what they actually did and found.

 

PS.

 

Just to add. Even though the car had one previous owner, had only done 43,000 miles, with full service history, not all main dealer, the last service was *2 years ago*, stamped in the service manual. Guessing here, but would that cause current problems, possible Spark plugs, injector problems, build up, etc?

Edited 24 February, 201412 yr by jrb06

My old VRS suffered from coked up intake valves. They all needed stripping and cleaning and the head had to be sent off to be machined. The cost was a little over £2k IIRC and acids chipped in with £700. The car had done about 40k at the time.

I think sending the head away cost over £500 without any labour/parts for stripping it, cleaning the valves, or anything else they did. This was at a trustworthy dealer where I know the principal too........

Maybe you could find someone in your area who has VCDS and get a true fault diagnosis

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Little point. It will just show a misfire. Most garages will then change the coil pack, see if that works. If it doesn't they'll try an injector. It was at this point that my dealer found all the baked on **** :(