Hi Posters

had difficulty in signing in - there was nowhere to put the usual details in??????  The usual box was missing!

I deliberately tried to enter an area where I knew a 'you must log in' to access message would appear - fortunately this generated a sign in box - thus me being able to reach the forum and post. 

 

I have a problem with my 1.2 86 TSI engine. When cold, starting the engine generates approx 5 'knocks' - similar to when oil drain down has occurred with (for example an engine from the 60's/70's). This engine has never been 'sweet' from new, and only when I used a loan car of similar spec did the difference become blatantly obvious.

Normally I have the radio on from the start - but with this turned off by accident, it was then I noticed this knock, that was indicative of a bottom end problem. As soon as oil pressure was up, the knock disappeared.

 

I think this might be the first 1.2 engine problem (mechanical at least) that has been reported on this forum.

Your comments appreciated as always.

 

PS - THE SIGN IN FACILITY HAS RE-APPEARED - HOW STRANGE!! 

Edited 24 January, 201511 yr by 2ndskoda

There is a post by ColinD in the Forum Issues section where i was more stupid than usual asking how to log in,

& then there i was Logged in again.

There are many reports of problems with the 1.2tsi engine! The main one is the poor quality camchain fitted combined with poor design. The chain stretches and gives noise on cold starts, until it eventually skips a cog or two and wipes the engine out. Its a known issue, but Skoda are very very reluctant to acknowledge it to customers, as a large proportion manage to survive the warranty period before they let go. If your engine was produced before june 2011, it almost certainly has a duff chain fitted. Skoda has a number of secret service bulletins, the latest involves removing the hydraulic tensioner to measure the stretch. Mine was barely 2mm under their limit, so "it doesnt have a problem sir"

This problem is combined with the habit of oil draining down when engine is stood overnight, this releases the hydraulic tensioner, so hence the cacophony on start up.

There is a drain back valve under the oil filter, which is normally shut but opens when removing the oil filter to prevent oil spilling over the engine. This may be the culprit as the secret buletin also tells the technician to check this item.

Regular oil changes are essential on this engine.

Thanks XMAN for your comments - I confess I was unaware of this drain back valve, and for the info of its past known history - I will pursue this without delay.

The harshness is a separate issue, and may well be that the engine is not fully isolated from its cradle etc.

 

Thanks again

Yup. Sounds like the camchain knock.

Do a search for 1.2tsi camchain knock or similar in google and youll see many with the same issue.

Thanks for the feedback - keep it coming.

 

FORGOT to mention that this car is just a year old, and has done under 7000 miles! Will look at 'camchain knock' on google.

An update -

Car has been into dealers.

Just after the original post, I started the car one morning, and was obviously the victim of overnight draindown, bottom end sounds were apparent until the oil pump produced pressure (in fairness this was almost instantaneous) - this prompted me to book the car in straight away.

Sods law dictated that for the following mornings until the car went into garage, there was no sign at all of overnight draindown!!!

 

The chain was OK , as I expected, so apparently their attention was centred on the draindown valve as was to be expected.

As a little observation - the car had its first service in December 2015, and I noticed that the filter had been changed and was of a black colour (sure it was a different colour that was fitted originally?)

Looking under the bonnet today revealed that the filter had been changed again - this was now a silver colour and had the VW group identification markings all over it.

Thinking back, the draindown problem only started after the first years service! I can only think that the black filter was not a genuine one??

 

Will see how this goes over the next few days.

I've had black oil filters until my last service in September, which was a silver one.

Theyve recently changed to siver coloured filters, maybe changed supplier?

The drain back valve is in the filter housing, not the filter,and opens when the filter is unscrewed, so its some kind of mechanical flap pushed closed when the filter is fully home

Possibly any contamination during the filter change may compromise the seal. Now our octavia is out of warranty, the next oil services will be carried out by myself, I'll have a chance to investogate and report back then.

I have been using grey VW / Audi filters for a few years now on Skodas.

for a 1.4 TSI,  

03C 115 561H

 

when i last had Black Ones from Skoda, VW / Audi they were

03C 11561B

or

03C 11561D

Found out the difference between the new silver filters and the old black filters. New silver filters have fully synthetic filter medium compared to the old cellulose based filters.

Source: https://www.mann-hummel.com/en/mann-filter/news/newsdetail/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=701&cHash=c1022f762c689128bde9288d8362fe7b

My brand new Yeti 105PS 1.2TSI 105 has a black filter. The car's prodution date was 13 January 2015 and, based on previous Skodas I have owned, the engiine build date was probably one month prior to that. So black filters were still being factory-fitted in December.

Edited 12 February, 201511 yr by DGW

Mine had a black filter when new too. Was replaced with a silver version at first service in November.