Octavia VRS estate 2.0 tsi died on the road.

[eztehleet89]

Hi all,

I’m new to Skoda ownership (I’ve had my mk 2 Octavia VRS 2.0 tsi estate for a week) and I’ve enjoyed getting to know it.

 

Yesterday I was on my way home when the battery light came on. I turned everything off (lights, radio, air con etc) and it went off. For the next minute or so the battery light went on and off intermittently until the engine warning light and the EPC light came on. 10 seconds later it died completely. Recovery couldn’t get it moving so I ended up on the back of a flatbed being taken home in shame. Also had the AA out today and it’s the same storey. No life to be extracted.

 

The engine cranks but doesn’t fire up. Physical inspection doesn’t reveal anything apart a loose earth wire as shown in the photos below. Error codes are also shown below. Battery and the alternator are fine.

 

Can anyone offer advice or assistance? Where should the earth be attached? The car came with a three month warranty so it’s going back for the fix, I’d just like to know more about what it could be and what I can expect them to try to sort it.

Any help much appreciated.

 

Cheers!

 

https://ibb.co/g5Q9pQ

https://ibb.co/e0Q9pQ

https://ibb.co/jbjfw5

 

 

[mikey vrs]

If the engine is turning over but not firing then that rules out a battery issue,i do hope yours isnt another one to suffer the timing chain tensioner failure,have a read on the pinned post about it,at least you still have a warranty on your car which should cover it. 

[TheClient]

I'll try to have a look where the earth is clamped to. It must be somewhere very local though given how short the cable is and presumably a bolt or nut has fallen off. Did the AA man try grounding that wire somewhere to start?

 

The only error code I could see in the pics is the intake manifold fault. Fairly common and unlikely to cause non starting. Usual fix if the fault is persistent is replace the intake manifold. Not cheap.  Try moving the intake runners manually and clearing the code and if/when you get it started, see if it returns.

 

They probably should take a peak in the inspection plug on the timing cover to confirm if it might be the dreaded timing tensioner problem.

[TheClient]

Probably need to remove the intake pipe to replace the bolt. Easy enough, few minute job with spring clamp pliers. If it is causing the problem, you could just wedge it against a metal ground point to test.

[Gissin]

a possibility is the ECU  and dash have lost comms

[eztehleet89]

Thanks for the effort and posts fellas,

 

I've reattached the earth as per the pics above so thanks for that one. The AA bloke tried grounding it various ways eventually culminating in him blowing up coil one, which he replaced FOC like he was doing me a favor  since reattaching the earth I haven't tried to start it as I don't want to damage anything jut in case cranking it will make whatever it is worse! I don't think it will be the chain as I found some invoices showing the tensioner had been upgraded by the previous owner.

 

Bit of an update; the place I bought it from sent out a couple of lads this morning who poked and prodded and tentatively diagnosed a duff injector (removing the oil cap and having a sniff smelt strongly of petrol) which i'm thinking could effect electrical bits and pieces if the car was running on 3 cylinders and maybe contribute to the AA guy blowing up the coil on the first cylinder??? I also thought at the time that i felt a drop off in power which also fits the bill (didn't say anything originally because wasn't sure if I'd imagined it!).

 

Anyway they've picked the car up (flat bed driver was a class 1 b**l e*d) to go for the fix so I'm hoping its the simple injector fix and nothing more major! 

 

Thanks again.

[TheClient]

With injector problems they often come associated with misfire codes or cylinder de-activation or bank too rich faults as well . Often, you would also expected some driveability issues, missing, hesitiation etc.  If it was one injector, I would have thought the car would probably start.  If they are now in possession of vehicle then I suppose it is up to the selling garage to fully diagnose.  Let us know how you get on.

 

Keep your eye on the manifold fault after the other issue is resolved and it is cleared down. You may be wanting to get them to attend to that as well.

Edited 18 September, 2017 by TheClient

[Ju1ian1001]

5 hours ago, TheClient said:

With injector problems they often come associated with misfire codes or cylinder de-activation or bank too rich faults as well . Often, you would also expected some driveability issues, missing, hesitiation etc.  If it was one injector, I would have thought the car would probably start.  If they are now in possession of vehicle then I suppose it is up to the selling garage to fully diagnose.  Let us know how you get on.

 

Keep your eye on the manifold fault after the other issue is resolved and it is cleared down. You may be wanting to get them to attend to that as well.

You are right TheClient as the car would start up in with just 3 injectors and would missfire.

 

The smell of fuel could just be from cranking it over as the injectors would still "inject" fuel while cranking.

 

Just because there are invoices for work to the chain tensioner, does not mean anything as they can and do go again, they are a very bad design.

 

[kton200281]

I had a failed injector recently - same car and engine (estate too - not many of them about in petrol form!) I was driving along, when suddenly misfiring and engine shaking, EPC light and EML light came on, strong smell of fuel. Managed to get it started again, was fine for 100 miles. Then the next day same thing, warining lights and this time "workshop" message. Strong smell of fuel on both occasions and smoke from exhaust. Injector 2 had stuck open. Oil also smelt of fuel so that was changed. 

[kton200281]

also, the car did not start the second time i had the injector stick open - which is contrary to what Julain1001 is stating, and also there have been no reports of the latest revision chain tensioner having failed. All that said, your symptoms do seem different to the failed injector. 

[TheClient]

I think I recall your posts on your injector problems. If I remember rightly, you felt the symptoms were also quite unusual in your case. Anyway, even if I have that wrong,   in fairness, @Ju1ian1001 is probably posting based on his expectations and experience over a period of time,  across a range of cars, maybe not this specific engine.

 

With you having the same car, engine and a injector fault resolved first hand, that is also valuable experience so your comments are very relavant.

 

If the tensioner was definitely replaced after about 1st qtr of 2012 then that provides some re-assurance. I still don't think they are a perfect component and several earlier revisions were also "for life" but were prone to failure. Some of the replaced tensioners and chains must be over 5 years now, so that makes us EA888 1.8/2.0 TSi  owners feel a bit better. 

[rayx]

Well, it depends what tensioner was fitted ... Still could be the AB not the needed K one. Do you know or have any receipt with part number? But, as it failed during a drive, I guess it is not failed timming as oil pressure should be present and avoid any tensioner from failing. And, was the chain replaced together with tensioner or not? If not, even a new tensioner could have big problems ...

Edited 20 September, 2017 by rayx

[Ju1ian1001]

9 hours ago, TheClient said:

I think I recall your posts on your injector problems. If I remember rightly, you felt the symptoms were also quite unusual in your case. Anyway, even if I have that wrong,   in fairness, @Ju1ian1001 is probably posting based on his expectations and experience over a period of time,  across a range of cars, maybe not this specific engine.

 

With you having the same car, engine and a injector fault resolved first hand, that is also valuable experience so your comments are very relavant.

 

If the tensioner was definitely replaced after about 1st qtr of 2012 then that provides some re-assurance. I still don't think they are a perfect component and several earlier revisions were also "for life" but were prone to failure. Some of the replaced tensioners and chains must be over 5 years now, so that makes us EA888 1.8/2.0 TSi  owners feel a bit better. 

Thank you "theClient" i was drawing from my 22 years in the motor trade, and to be honest i don't have much experience working on the TSi.

[eztehleet89]

Evening chaps,

 

Firstly thanks for for all the posts and suggestions. Nice to know 'my' new motoring community is active and helpful!

 

The motor has been with the garage since Monday and from what I've been told and seen they've done a pretty thorough job of blowing the thing apart to trace the fault and troubleshoot. Long story short there's a new ecu on the way which I've been told will sort the job lot (fingers crossed). The jury is out as to the cause due to the AA chap frying the coil and the likely collateral damage elsewhere to the engine and its bits and bobs. A lot went wrong while I was one the road (battery light, engine light, epc light) and total death, so I don't think I'll ever know.

 

The garage told me that the chain and tensioners all looked spotless and the timing was bang on, which ties in with the invoice I found;  part number 06K 109 467 K, so I take it that's the version I need? 

 

I shoudl get get the car back next week once the new ecu has been coded to my car, which is great because it's booked in at Shark shortly afterwards!

[kton200281]

Yep that's the latest tensioner so you are all good there.

[eztehleet89]

Evening all,

 

Just thought I'd update you all on the situation with the motor.

 

Got it back on Wednesday with a reconditioned ECU and four new spark plugs and so far its been running like a dream (fingers crossed touch wood and all that). 

 

Going off what the garage told me we'll never know what the original problem was because of damage the AA chap seems to have caused when he earthed that loose wire incorrectly and blew up the coil pack, but it seems like the ecu was fried and replacing it was the fix. The plug in cylinder one was bust so they replaced all of them as a precaution (they were also really black and sooty) and dropped the oil with a new filter. Hopefully that does it.

 

Planning to run it for a month to make sure the problems are worked out, then its off to Shark for some goodies