I bought an Octy Scout a couple of years ago and I have had an issue with it ever since. I trawled the internet for answers, including this site but nothing seemed to add up.

 The car is a 2008 with the BMM engine and DPF exhaust system.

 When accelerating steadily in second or third gear at about 1800 revs, the car would judder and hesitate before continuing to accelerate. If it was a petrol car, you would assume that you had crap in the fuel. The problem is, it wouldn’t do it all of the time. In fact you couldn’t make the car do it (especially when you had a mechanic in the passenger seat).On top of this, I was experiencing all kinds of vibrations and wooshing sounds coming and going through various driving conditions. On the brow of a hill when barely on the throttle, in fourth, at just over 30mph the car juddered violently, but again, would only do it occasionally.

 This car was sold to me by a main dealer. When I described the car that I was looking for, I was told that they were rare and that I would do well to find one. When I got home, they rang me , having magically found one. I told them that I would need it servicing and to replace the aircon condenser which was obviously stuffed. Given the way that the deal went down, I have since concluded that this was a problem car that they could never get the gremlins out of.

 The truth is there was no quick fix, but several small problems, that all contributed to the odd way that this car drove.

Problem one; These cars do not like to be driven at 30mph in fourth, especially up hill.

The gearing issue with my car was made far worse because the previous owner had fitted the wrong size tyres to all of the wheels!. I would have done better to check. When I did the first tyre change, I changed the front ones, only to hear a terrible noise coming from the Haldex going up hill! I quickly realised what was going on, given that now, the rolling circumference on the back was bigger than that of the front wheels. Never assume that all is correct , even from a main dealer.

Problem Two: The juddering from the engine was amplified through the transmission to a rubber coupling on the Haldex end of the propshaft. The play in this perished part caused the juddering to be amplified. Solution? Change the coupling. It cost about £100. and two of us around 1 and a half hours standing under the car.

Problem three: When changing the fuel filter, I noticed that the fuel was dirty. A bit of asking around, and I found that the most likely culprit was the Tandem pump.

 Delivered from Germany for £200.00 and fitted for £20.00

 

At this point, the car ran almost perfect for most of the time but would still judder, perhaps once a week. It still didn’t feel comfortable at low revs and it still made weird noises.

 I took a guess to resolve this (Problem number four). I Changed the EGR valve which was in fact sticking, because of the constantly dirty fuel. I dropped a bottle of additive in the fuel and hey presto, it runs perfectly. The Valve was £84.00 off the tinternet.

Most people wouldn’t have stuck with this car, but I was desperate to love this as much as my old A4 sport. It will never drive like an Audi, but to be fair, the Scouts four wheel drive capability makes it better than my two wheel drive Audi in the winter. I believe that VAG cars have their issue like any other makes, but they never fail to get me home and always warn you that something is wrong.

 I have fitted  16 inch steels with winter tyres, for the bad whether to come, making sure that the rolling circumference is correct. All is well. I hope that this helps someone. It’s been quite a journey.

 Just remember, none of these issues came up as faults on the cars computer.

Hello Sydney,

I have exactly the same issue on my 2011 Scout and looked on the internet for a solution and came across your post. When I done the fuel filter a couple of months ago I didn't notice the fuel to be dirty. This means in my case the EGR is the culprit. Do you have a part no for the rubber coupling on the Haldex. Where about is the EGR, is it on the back of the engine, how you took it of? What engine code yours is?

Thank you.

Hi Claudiu2s

Mine is a BMM engine code . All the EGR valves vary in how they look and fit. Mine is at the back of the engine next to the throttle body. The part number is cast into it .On mine its 03G131502, It removes with 3x torx head bolts, though they weren't easy to get to.

 

Rear propshaft coupling was also off ebay. Made by Febi Bilstien Part number is 40857

Glad you have got the faults sorted after all that work,im not sure that there are many diesel cars that are happy going up hill at 30mph in 4th gear....

I agree, but as capable as my Octy is, I still have a little niggle, if anyone can shed any light on it?????

If Im accelerating up a hill at high speed ,say 4th 5th or even 6th. nailing it, with my foot flat down if the car lifts off because a  lump in the road, or on the brow of a hill, I get a strange sound from the front right corner. It sounds like something is binding or rubbing. Its a bit weird. I suspect an engine mount or the dog-bone. Has anyone else experienced this?

If I don't get to the bottom of it, I wont lose any sleep because I don't often drive aggressively, but it would be nice to know.

@ Sydney: Thank you for the reply, I'll check the propshaft coupling to see if it is in good nick. Mine is CFHC code.

I've taken apart the entire intake manifold to clean it hoping that will sort my judder (it didn't :'( ). I didn't got to the EGR as it is at the back of the engine under the turbocharger and DPF. Ideally I should have taken that off as well and clean it. My next thing to try is to take the EGR and give it a good clean (hopefully the weather will let me) in order to sort this juddering problem. I also done a carbon engine clean hoping that this will sort it out (wasted £75).