Hi everyone,

 

I've been the proud owner of a 2010 Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI for the past few years, with about 80k on the clock, and I thought what better place to ask for advice since a problem started!

 

The car has been driving beautifully, however over the past week or so the following symptoms have begun:

 

1. When changing gear and putting my foot down with medium/hard pressure on the accelerator, the car will go from 2,000 to about 4/5,000rpm for a few seconds before settling down.
2. If I accelerate with light pressure everything is fine.
3. The bite point on the clutch seems to be okay. I haven't noticed any change of late.
4. The problem seems to be worse from a cold start. Once the car has been driven for approx. 10 minutes the issue settles down greatly.
5. From a cold start, the problem can happen in lower gears, but far less regularly. One the engine is hot, it tends to be only 4th gear+ that the problem occurs.
6. It's normally not apparent immediately after changing gear. It's definitely apparent if I apply medium/hard pressure on the accelerator.
7. On the electronic gear display, it will sometimes drop down a gear if my foot is down on the accelerator, while the revs are unusually high, before displaying the right gear again after a couple of seconds (once the revs have gone down to normal levels).

 

Any advice on what could be causing this very gratefully received. I realise there is a 99% chance I'll need to take it to a local garage asap, but I'd really value the expert opinion of the members of this forum to help arm me with information and steer me in the right direction please. I'm hoping it's not the clutch, but a lot of the guidance I've read for other cars with similar issues suggest this is likely the case. If I've any hope of it being something different then that would be fantastic! I'm hoping it might be something smaller like a clutch switch, brake fluid or a hose!

 

Thanks very much for your help,

 

Cliff

The bad news - Yup - your clutch is slipping and needs replacing

 

The good news - don't think you have a DMF so should be a cheapish job. Get it done ASAP so as to avoid damaging the flywheel (SMF). Make sure a full clutch kit is used bearing. friction plate & cover plate and double check the size (more than one available). 

 

More good news  - It will have an external slave cylinder (not the internal concentric one fitted to the 6 speed diesels)

Edited 5 September, 20178 yr by bigjohn

Hi BigJohn,

 

Thanks very much for your help and advice.

 

I had two quotes so far - one from 'Mr Clutch' at £445 and another from my local garage (who I usually go to) for £520. I'm favouring the latter, but not sure if either are a good price?

 

The local garage said it's a full kit they'll be using (LUK I think). I'll mention the slave cylinder to them. If there is anything else I should ask them, I'd be really grateful. I'm a complete novice!

 

Thanks again.

 

Edited 7 September, 20178 yr by Cliffw

Check with Skoda, they may do a fixed price for a new clutch.

I had a Mr Clutch replacememt in an old Cavalier - lasted a few days before stranding me in central Cardiff when it collapsed. The guy who sorted me out said he regularly picked up their pieces and said the clutch I had fitted was a cheap copy. It was a long time ago and may have been one particular franchise but I suspect cheap parts allow them to quote low. If I were needing a new clutch, I would always use my trusted garage (or as stated possibly Skoda if you have a good dealer), with OEM parts. 520 sounds about right to me for full kit and replacement.

Edited 8 September, 20178 yr by adamal

Don't go with Mr.Clutch - they tend to use budget brand parts, and are poor when it comes to warranty claims. Is it a DSG? Sounds like it from the way you are describing the gear display and the kickdown.

 

 

17 minutes ago, octyal said:

Is it a DSG? Sounds like it from the way you are describing the gear display and the kickdown.

 

Probably not as they describe the clutch bite point.

 

The gear display uses a combination of engine and road speed, if the clutch slips it'll think it's in a lower gear.

2 hours ago, octyal said:

Don't go with Mr.Clutch - they tend to use budget brand parts, and are poor when it comes to warranty claims. Is it a DSG? Sounds like it from the way you are describing the gear display and the kickdown.

 

 

I really struggled to get my money back, with them claiming they didnt get chance to put it right (like that was an option!!) It took me 6 months, calls to Trading Standards and threats of Watchdog before I saw a full refund for the clutch and labour and I was still out of pocket on the recovery.

 

I was lucky I had a car full of lads who could help me move it as we were blocking a main through road on a Saturday afternoon. At least then the recovery was only a few quid the following Monday.

Edited 8 September, 20178 yr by adamal

Definitely not going to Mr Clutch then!!

 

Thanks you everyone for your help. I can confirm it's not a DSG. When the display on the dash does drop a gear it then shows the correct gear again after a few seconds, I don't have to do anything with the gearbox to change back up the gears or anything, just overrevs like crazy. Stopped driving it yesterday after it struggled to go up hills doing more than 30mph and after reading BigJohn's advice about the flywheel - don't fancy the cost of that on top!

 

Waiting to hear back from my local dealership (Robinson's Skoda) about whether they do the fixed price clutch. If they do and it's the £540 others charge then it sounds best I go for that as it also includes a warranty (they might even give me a courtesy car!) Just a bit worried if they do use official parts and the flywheel does need replacing then it might cost me more than the reputable part my local garage would likely use.

 

Thanks again everyone. You've been incredibly helpful.

Edited 8 September, 20178 yr by Cliffw

Now I've got a real dilemma and would be very grateful for some advice please.

 

My local dealership finally got back to me and let me know they do the fixed price clutch replacement for £540. They aren't able to let me know exactly when they can book it in for until people are back on Monday, but the chap I spoke to believes the current lead time is about two weeks.

 

In the meantime, my local garage have kindly kept a provisional slot for me this coming Tuesday to get the work done (for £520), but they have another job they can do in place of mine if I let them know I'm going with Skoda.

 

I just spoke to my local garage just now and told them to go ahead with the other job and if my local Skoda dealer has me waiting two weeks to get the work done, that I may give him a call and book it back in with him, I said the reason I'd go with the official dealer is to get official parts and the warranty. He then claimed that Skoda don't manufacture their own parts anyway, it'll be the same LUK parts that he plans on using and that there would be a warranty on the parts he uses (and that he'd do the labour for free if anything went wrong).

 

Is what he is saying accurate? If so, it sounds like I should stick to the local garage doing the work on Tuesday?

Pretty sure LUK is the manufacturer of the clutch that Skoda would use. There may be a possible difference in the guarantee given by Skoda (usually 2 years) and your garage regarding the job but the parts aspect of the guarantee should be the same if fitted according to the LUK instructions.

To be fair, it sounds like your garage is a decent one from what you say, so I would probably stick with them and get it done sooner (if it is decent you will get a written receipt with a guarantee that should equate to Skoda anyway).

Thanks Adamal.

 

Robinson's Skoda got back to me and can do the work Tuesday, as can my local garage. Now I need to decide between the two, with the local garage being twenty quid cheaper. What would you do in my position?

I trust my local garage implicitly as I went to school with the lads and we are good friends.  So its easy for me-I'd always choose the indie and all my family's business goes their way. In return they have done me and mine countless good turns and good deals when our cars have gone awry.

 

Only you will know which relationship is most important longer term and the trust you have in your indie. 20 quid is neither here or there in that equation but if it comes to the crunch with a big or urgent job in the future, the relationship with the indie could be. 

Thanks Adamal. Good point, well made. I had wondered if the dealership would be a better bet as I'd expect them to know these cars inside out.