Panic advice for a friend

[LS108]

indeed. I wonder how "good" the DPF is at catching burnt oil particles too? and actually being a diesel, will engine oil get more completely burnt anyways? A faulty oil level sensor is supposed to flag a warning (flashing oil can) in the maxidot too.

 

Theoretically if all this oil got burnt - there could be some smoke, but might be not spotted while driving. 

With sensor malfunction I had in mind that the maxidot display malfunctioned somehow. 

 

By the way - I wonder if the coolant level is ok. If it also went significantly down - it might be serious engine problem.

 

But still - there is big part of mystery here. Engine without oil had to overhead quickly and that should be seen from other warnings. 

[peterposh]

It's a reminder that's it's the driver's responsibility to check the oil especially before a long journey.

The bloke servicing it forgot to top it up, if it had burnt 4 litres there would be smoke billowing out.

That 1 litre of oil must have been dashing about the engine frantically trying to be everywhere at once , I wonder what the oil temperature got to

Edited 8 January, 2015 by peterposh

[niveketak]

_{OK latest update.  Local Skoda dealer has diagnosed a broken oil filter support causing the leakage of oil. Apparently the undertray was knee deep in it (slight exaggeration) and there was a film of oil all the way to the back of the car. I have no idea what an oil filter support is at the moment as it is piddling down here in France so I am not delving under the bonnet of mine to see. The Spanish garage say it could have been damaged during the service or during the journey although depending on where or what it is it would seem doubtful it could be damaged on the journey without some notable event taking place. He has to pay 750 euros and try and claim it back off the garage who did the service or via a warranty claim which seems doomed to failure. When they started the car at the garage there was a noticeable leak apparently.}

 

_{The phrase oil filter support may not be that as it will have been translated from Spanish to French to English but if anyone knows exactly what it is then I would be pleased to hear.}

[niveketak]

Also thanks to everyone for their valued opinions, my mate is chuffed that so many brains have been pondering the problem.

[silver1011]

Glad the fault has been diagnosed.

I'm guessing they haven't suggested potential engine damage?

[JakeBlade]

Get him to ask if he can keep the old oil filter, seal, and what sounds like the oil filter casing - or at the very least take photos of it. At the moment it is, after all, his property.

Given the amount of underbody protection, it is unlikely that this has happened in transit, over such a short period of time and distance.

In which case the component was either damaged during the service, damaged before the service (and not spotted by the tech), or failed as a result of the tech not fitting it competently.

"Hopefully" it was a crack in the filter casing that caused the oil to dump out so quickly at the end of the journey that the warning skipped straight to the oil pressure warning, at which point your friend stopped (and saved) the engine.

Edited 9 January, 2015 by JakeBlade

[niveketak]

Thanks for that, I had already suggested he demanded the old part as he is paying for the repairs so at least we have something to work with. The dealer have carried out various tests and said they can find no engine problems so that is either good news and does indicate it failed at the end of the journey or the oil level became critical at that point in which case they may well be right, or they haven't really carried out any meaningful tests at all. Difficult to see what they could do without dismantling the engine which I can't see happening. Anyway we will see what happens.

[JakeBlade]

If you can get hold of oil samples, then you could get those analysed. But I guess if it's been sitting on the undertray, then it'll be contaminated already.

[100andthirty]

It seems incredible that the filter thingumy could be damaged in use unless the undertray was also damaged. Something to bear in mind when pursuing the dealer!

[Hedgecutter]

Hope it`s all ok; nothing worse than big breakdowns a long way from home. I`ve been there myself.

[niveketak]

He has been given a loan car while they await the new filter housing which they were struggling to source. They now seem fairly certain it has cracked due to over tightening the filter cover or having the filter in upside down and forcing the cover. However, conversely they are unprepared to provide that in writing but they are going to give him all the bits they replace so all is not lost. The original quote was for 750 euros, however it has now risen to 1055 euros as they forgot to add the equivalent to VAT. Nice hole in his holiday money.

[peterposh]

Sounds like you just got away with that , phew

[Hedgecutter]

Over 1000 euros for recovery, inspection and an oil change ? Or was there more ? 

[FLAPPERJACK7]

Not too mention a stressful holiday. ..who changed the oil ?

[Supurbia]

Ahhh,

 

Happened to me with my B6,

 

I did an oil change and a few hours later the oil filter cap popped out spewing the oil everywhere,

 

They are plastic and with mine the thread had a small piece missing in the centre of the thread in the cap allowing engine pressure and vibration to do the rest,

 

Good thing is he should be ok, mine with a new cap and topped up never did it again, I'm guessing the threads die after a while if you change the filter regularly like I do, i.e everytime you remove the cap a small amount of nylon is abrasived off by the metal bowl it screws into to.

[TwinHatchTony]

Yes I am for real the Superb 4X4 is not a proper 4X4 - its front wheel drive with occaisional 4 wheel drive as and when the computer says so - there is no diff lock and no low ratio gear box.

 

And besides the cr 140 4X4 weighs 1581KG, so why is anyone hitching a 1500KG Caravan to it in the first place, that makes it 95% the weight of the car, which is asking for trouble on a good day.

 

Anyway do Superbs have an engine oil coolers and gear box oil coolers - the usually look like small extra radiators next to the main rad? - if not thats perhaps why the little car struggled

 

Has anyone fitted oil coolers this is what looks like for a Landrover engine

 

Also the engine underneath tray will hide oil leaks depending on the angle parked, I reckon you could have a litre of oil sitting on a tray and have no signs on the pebbles

[tmg]

actually the gen 4 haldex is permanent 4x4 for the record (mind you its only 2% drive to each of the back wheels in normal driving). the older gen 2 haldex was not (as you point out above) and a lot of folks used to pull the fuse so they could dyno their cars with just fwd.

 

more detail in this thread in post 8, which is really really interesting. 

[niveketak]

OK sort of final answer. Skoda say it is not a warranty issue as it has not broken itself, the Skoda dealer who did the service says they haven't broken it, it must have happened on the journey to Spain. Of course my friend is quite adamant that he would have no cause to interfere with the filter housing or filter and it's position would prevent something hitting it while driving. He is still touring Spain without problems with temp/oil temp or usage of oil so is trying to fight the payment issue at a distance. I have suggested we wait till he gets home at the end of March and that he tell the two parties that is what he is going to do. Perhaps then we can do something more official and with a bit more umph than emails and phone calls. I haven't seen the part yet to know what "damage" there is. My mate Barry would like me to pass on his thanks to everyone who has helped with this issue, you have mine as well.

[JakeBlade]

If the failure happened in the way that the Spanish dealer verbally told your friend, then your friend would have had to have stopped the car, jacked it up, removed the undertray, tampered with an oil filter that was already seemingly perfect, then refitted the undertray, lowered the car and driven off.

Your friend should consider naming and shaming the dealer on here.

[niveketak]

Wouldn't help really it is in France.

[100andthirty]

If the failure happened in the way that the Spanish dealer verbally told your friend, then your friend would have had to have stopped the car, jacked it up, removed the undertray, tampered with an oil filter that was already seemingly perfect, then refitted the undertray, lowered the car and driven off.

Your friend should consider naming and shaming the dealer on here.

I agree, unless the undertray is severely damaged, then it's inconceivable that the damage occurred at any other time than when the oil filter was being attended to.

[peterposh]

It will be a ham fisted oaf at tbe garage

[peterposh]

The 4x4 has a form of diff lock as the electronics will stop any wheel from spinning

Edited 25 January, 2015 by peterposh

[niveketak]

Finally an end to the saga. My friend returned to France from Spain and with the help of the garage he bought it from filled out a warranty claim form. I told him I doubted warranty would cover it but they persevered. Having heard nothing back from Skoda for over a month they were contacted again.

 

He has just received a full refund for the costs of the part and fitting and an apology from Skoda for the time it has taken.

 

I am amazed they have replaced this under warranty but obviously my friend does not care about why they paid up just that they did.

 

Result and well done Skoda.

[lichfielddriver]

Beware the curious case of the oil you see not being the oil you expect to see..........read on

 

A rapidly falling MPG figure and excess sump oil can point to diesel getting into the lubrication side of things, often by at the fuel pump, this has been reported on one forum i used to frequent, the sump fills slowly with diesel mixed with engine oil, hopefully it wont go into "scavenge" mode cos that really is the end of the story