Octavia scout 2.0 Diesel CR Vibration and hesitation

[bigladwigan]

Hi, I've owned this car for 6 months now and had to have the EGR cooler replaced recently when I took the car in for investigation about this stuttering and mild vibration whilst it's still under the dealer warranty. The problem I have is that no faults show up, but at any speed in any gear on a smooth road it's like driving over the rumble strip. When setting off in 1st gear the car accelerates and then sort of lurches as it drops power or stops accelerating. When I drive more aggressively and shift gear the engine will flat for a few seconds before picking up the revs again. I don't want to keep paying 80 quid for no fault to be found, does anyone have any suggestions? It's done 69,000 miles and is in great condition generally with a good service history.

Edited 2 November, 2015 by bigladwigan

[bigladwigan]

I've been told this sounds like it's DPF trying to regen. How much should I expect to pay for a fix?

[Phil-E]

A normal regen will not cause the car to loose power. Also you would not need to pay to fix it as it would just regen itself. The only time you need to pay for anything DPF related is when the DPF warning light won't go out on its own.

 

Have you already paid £80 and they couldn't find a fault?

 

In which case you either want your £80 back or they look again till they find the fault. With an obvious fault like that they have no excuse but to try and find it. I'm pretty sure they could do some live logging on the car of boost pressures (requested vs actual) and also logging some of the pressure sensors on the exhaust as sometimes they can go belly up and not throw a warning light on (pressure sensors for the DPF that is).

 

It does sound more like a boost issue to me. Normally cause by a sticking turbo actuator hence why I suggest they do some logs of requested vs actual boost.

 

Phil

[silver1011]

My experience with a DPF on my Octavia was different.

 

I definitely noticed a difference in the smoothness of the engine when attempting to perform a regen, something that got noticeably worse as the DPF began to fail.

 

Admittedly this was on a PD engine which wasn't matched perfectly to it's DPF, but the principals of operation remain the same, increased fuel and increased RPM - all of which led to a far from smooth driving experience.

 

Either way if the fault is as noticeable as it sounds you need to get it back to the dealer and leave the car with them. They need to put you in a courtesy car and call you when they have diagnosed and fixed the issue. This is what the warranty is for.

[bigladwigan]

Ok thanks for the advice. I have 600 miles left on a warranty and want to make sure I get the car sorted before it's too late. Having said that I doubt it'll be covered by the warranty.

 

I have to say I've had VRS and a Ambiente diesel estate before this and neither ever had a serious non mechanic caused problem. I want a scout for a good while and beginning to regret it at the moment, but I'm sure once she's sorted it'll be fine.

Edited 5 November, 2015 by bigladwigan

[bigladwigan]

The dealer had the car on test and came back to tell me that there's nothing wrong with the mechanicals of my car. It was suggested that a remap may help resolve the problem as it's not a hardware fault. Does anyone have suggestions of who to go to for a remap to 175/180 whichever is the safe top BHP?

[silver1011]

It is unlikely a remap is going to fix things, is this a main Skoda franchised dealer or an independent?

 

A main dealer should not be recommending an aftermarket map.

 

Clearly the dealer has acknowledged there was an issue in the past as they replaced the EGR valve.

 

What has changed? Assuming the problem is as bad as it was when you first took it in I can't see how they can now claim all is well?

[bigladwigan]

Hi, this time it was a main dealer yes. They also suggested replacing the air filter with a K+N one. Having spoken to my insurance a remap will mean an increase of £30 per year, but a K+N air filter will mean refusal of insurance. The guy who sorted the EGR cooler was CentralVW at Ellesmere port and they're great and I trust them, but getting my car back to them requires to 40 minute trips for two of us as I need bringing and taking back.

I'll be honest the reason I didn't take it to the main dealer who are much much closer to home the first time is I've had problems with them before with my sisters car and simple stuff on mine like supplying the wrong clutch pedal when I ordered a replacement. They also claimed that MK1 Octavias etc don't have water pump issues. Mine at that point had had 4 and my sisters 2 year old fabia was on it's 3rd.

 

I love my Skoda and loved the 2 before it. My sister has had 2 fabias thanks to my love of the brand, but most main dealers are poor to say the least. In my experience!!!!!

Edited 17 November, 2015 by bigladwigan

[langers2k]

When my CR 140ps regenerates the DPF it's barely noticeable at normal road speeds. At idle it sits around 1k and twice the fans have remaining spinning when I've turned the car off. There is certainly no vibration or hesitation when it has been regenerating and I expect it's done a few in the last 25k.

 

As to the remap, much like silver mentioned that's unlikely to help. It's a stock engine and the stock map should be more than happy with it so if there are issues then they are likely to get worse after a remap. It will also invalidate any remaining warranty and make what the issue is into completely your problem rather than the garages.

 

I'd be looking for a member with VCDS that can first check any codes that are stored and then ideally take the car for a drive while measuring requested vs actual boost pressure. If there are problems here it may point at the actuator that Phil mentioned. You can also check the readings from other sensors around the engine to make sure all is as expected as not all sensor faults will cause codes.

[TerryVRS]

If you need help with VCDS give us a shout.