I have just been informed that the turbo has failed on my Octavia Mk3 DSG - it only has about 56k miles and is just under 5 years old.

 

Just before Christmas I had a 200 mile journey where the car was fine - about an hour after arriving I went out again and within a mile the glow plug light started flashing and was accompanied by a loss of power.  I got a breakdown company to come out and the diagnostics from them indicated the turbo sensor.  A couple of subsequent short journeys also resulted in the glow plug light flashing within about 5 miles so I got the car recovered for the 200 mile trip back home.  At the start of the journey when the light isn't flashing, the power/acceleration is fine.

 

Given that I'm almost an hour's drive from a main dealer I took it to a local garage with the same diagnostics kit as the main dealer and they have come back with a failed turbo as a result of an electrical problem in the turbo with the only option to replace it with a new turbo.  They told me there aren't any reconditioned available so the only option is a new one fitted @£1900 approx supplied by Skoda or £1730 via the supplier (Garrett?).

 

I guess my questions are:

1. Does the diagnosis sound reasonable?

2. Are there no reconditioned turbos out there for an Octavia mk3?

3. If I wanted a second opinion, should the car be able to drive for 45 minutes to an hour to the nearest Skoda garage?

4. More subjective, but is it worth doing, or should I just cut my losses now?

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Over a Grand for a Turbo? Absolutely no way - My Dad had his Intercooler and Turbo replaced on his 2.2 X-Trail last year for £600. Turbo was re-conditioned from http://www.centralturbos.co.uk/ in Derby. Really helpful guys who you can talk to even if you're not in a position to purchase from. Worth a phone call?

Full dealer service history? I'd be pushing the dealer and Skoda UK for a significant goodwill contribution. A turbo should last longer than 55k and there have been quite a few early Octavias and Golfs of this generation (13/14) which have had early turbo failures.

I had a turbo failer on my mk2 octivia. payed bout £400 all in. Mind you the car had 199,600 on the clock at the time!

Thanks for the replies so far.

 

I've just picked it up from the garage and the diagnostics stated P00AF - turbo boost control 'A' module performance sporadic.  He said that instead of opening properly mine is "flapping".

 

It had a full dealer servicing during the warranty and until my local dealer closed down - once I had the best part of an hour's drive and no pick-up option, I started going to a local garage.  But asking for a goodwill contribution is definitely a good idea.

6 minutes ago, jfmarlow said:

I've just picked it up from the garage and the diagnostics stated P00AF

 

There is a lot that can cause that code, including wiring. As you mention the glow plug light, I will assume it is a Diesel, and AFAIK the same applies to the 1.6 and 2.0 although I'm not too familiar with either TBH.

 

Have a read of this page, particularly the links under the 'special notes' at the bottom.

 

It is possible that the electrical problem has let the turbo massively overspeed, knackering the bearings, however I would be checking a lot of things before I went throwing a new turbo at it. There are some things that can just be replaced.

 

It is possibly one of the occasions where a good indie with VCDS may be able to do more for you than a dealer.

1 hour ago, jfmarlow said:

I started going to a local garage.  But asking for a goodwill contribution is definitely a good idea.

 

If it's been serviced outside the dealer network then your chances of any goodwill are almost zero unfortunately.

On 29/12/2017 at 12:53, jfmarlow said:

I have just been informed that the turbo has failed on my Octavia Mk3 DSG - it only has about 56k miles and is just under 5 years old.

 

Just before Christmas I had a 200 mile journey where the car was fine - about an hour after arriving I went out again and within a mile the glow plug light started flashing and was accompanied by a loss of power.  I got a breakdown company to come out and the diagnostics from them indicated the turbo sensor.  A couple of subsequent short journeys also resulted in the glow plug light flashing within about 5 miles so I got the car recovered for the 200 mile trip back home.  At the start of the journey when the light isn't flashing, the power/acceleration is fine.

 

Given that I'm almost an hour's drive from a main dealer I took it to a local garage with the same diagnostics kit as the main dealer and they have come back with a failed turbo as a result of an electrical problem in the turbo with the only option to replace it with a new turbo.  They told me there aren't any reconditioned available so the only option is a new one fitted @£1900 approx supplied by Skoda or £1730 via the supplier (Garrett?).

 

I guess my questions are:

1. Does the diagnosis sound reasonable?

2. Are there no reconditioned turbos out there for an Octavia mk3?

3. If I wanted a second opinion, should the car be able to drive for 45 minutes to an hour to the nearest Skoda garage?

4. More subjective, but is it worth doing, or should I just cut my losses now?

 

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

 

Did you speak to Skoda uk and voice your concerns? I have the mk2 fl which I bought from my local Sheffield Skoda dealer with only 6k on the clock. In 2015 the engine went due to the dreaded cam chain tensioner with only 41k one the clock. Skoda uk sorted the replacement engine and asked if I’d go pay the labour costs but I argued the toss and only ended up paying about £250. We’ll now my mileage is

73k but around May last year when my mileage was roughly 62k I 

started getting a strange noise when taking my foot off the gas like a

blow/rattle, even though I’ve had it to exhaust companies and even back to dealers they’ve never source where this noise is coming from. Well last wkend I decided to change the pre gasket just so that would eliminate that area and that’s when I found the cause, it’s due to the excessive movement in the wastegate actuator are that goes through the turbo housing. Rang Skoda uk today and they aren’t interested. So I’ve got a 2010 mk2 fl Octavia vrs, not only did the engine need replacing at 41k, the turbo also need replacement at roughly 62k. Don’t think I’ll be ever buying a Skoda ever again after this one 

I bet that your car is very unlucky, my pre-fl mkII VRS (diesel) gave me 180.000Km+ of brisk trips and no whatsover hassle.

 

Too bad for your experience, but I think that some "lemon" can be found also in other VW group lines, also because they share a lot of components.

Whilst all of these examples suggest premature failure, the life of a turbo can very much be influenced by driving style, driving habits, mechanical sympathy and service intervals.

 

Lots of stop /start driving can expose the turbo to more actuation's compared to cruising down a motorway, so low mileage can't always be used as a clear cut reason for complaint.

 

Driving habits vary hugely, some people accelerate hard all of the time. "I bought a vRS so I intend to drive it like one". Others don't.

 

Mechanical sympathy, allowing the turbo to cool before turning off the engine (on models where the oil pump doesn't run on after the ignition is turned off). Disabling stop/start to keep the engine ticking over and the oil circulating. Not accelerating hard until the engine oil is up to temperature. Not driving fast through deep puddles etc. etc.

 

The turbo is lubricated by the engine oil. Saving £100 every couple of years by following the long life service regimes (2 years or 20,000 miles), instead of the fixed intervals (12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever is reached first) might sound appealing but fresh oil replaced more regularly extends the life of the turbo. Can you be sure your garage is using the correct specification of oil too?

 

So, whilst it can be easy to blame the manufacturer (and I'm no Skoda fanboy, they've dropped some proper clangers in the past) there are lot of variables that can shorten the life of a turbo that we, as the drivers, are able to directly influence.

 

One of the examples above is on an 8 year old car, its worth noting the design life of a car rarely exceeds 10 years / 100,000 miles. One of the risks of running an older car outside of warranty.

 

As a final note, a new reconditioned turbo for a MkIII Octavia should be well under £1,000 fitted and inc. VAT.

 

Edited 7 August, 20187 yr by silver1011

On ‎29‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 16:59, jfmarlow said:

I've just picked it up from the garage and the diagnostics stated P00AF - turbo boost control 'A' module performance sporadic.  He said that instead of opening properly mine is "flapping".

 

Do the VAG engines use vacuum driven or electrical actuator for the turbo?

Bit of a long shot but tried using a car breakers at all? It's a bit of a gamble but you might find a turbo that's the same spec as whats on your car.

7 hours ago, Gabbo said:

 

Do the VAG engines use vacuum driven or electrical actuator for the turbo?

 

I think they are all more or less electrical now. You can do an output test on VCDS which will probably show up any issues as long as they aren't mechanical issues inside with the wastegate

Is this still an issue 8 months on?

 

I thought that the turbo boost control valves (N75) are still electro-mechanical vacuum type on Mk3 Octy? Lost count of the number of ‘failed turbos’ that I have fixed across VAG range with new N75 (or equivalent) / correctly secured boost pipes!

First topic I could fine, but add me to the small list of Mk3 Octavia owners needing a turbo replacement.

 

63 VRS petrol with 80k miles, started howling like a siren one day. Huge play in the shaft and i think it looks like a damaged fin from the photo I got.

 

 

Almost £1000 for a new turbo from a place in Glasgow, but they don't keep them in stock, so going to send mines away and hope it can be sorted.

If anyone has any other suggestions, thinks the turbo fin looks fine, then ill be delighted 😂

 

Siren noise only appears when starting to boost.

On 11/11/2020 at 17:09, Saints92 said:

First topic I could fine, but add me to the small list of Mk3 Octavia owners needing a turbo replacement.

 

63 VRS petrol with 80k miles, started howling like a siren one day. Huge play in the shaft and i think it looks like a damaged fin from the photo I got.

 

 

Almost £1000 for a new turbo from a place in Glasgow, but they don't keep them in stock, so going to send mines away and hope it can be sorted.

 

For anyone interested, my wastegate was apparently completely shot and on the verge of disintegrating.

 

Just getting a new turbo.

Having a nightmare.

 

Fit a new aftermarket turbo, the actuator is constantly running trying to move and reads as stuck at 65%. Won't adapt. Can move it free with your hand.

 

Get a genuine turbo, plug it in, and it does the exact same.

 

Alternator has now randomly stopped working aswell.

 

New batter fitted. Same issues with both. Only fault code is to tell me the actuator is stuck at 65%, on two brand new turbos.

 

Zero idea where I go from here.

Edited 16 December, 20205 yr by Saints92

Has the wastegate been properly pre loaded as I know they are done by voltage rather than distance. It sounds like the wastegate has too much preload.

14 minutes ago, Ecomatt said:

Has the wastegate been properly pre loaded as I know they are done by voltage rather than distance. It sounds like the wastegate has too much preload.

 

Any idea how I can check this?

 

Came from a turbo company in Glasgow I've used regularly through the years without issues. They've sent me two turbos and both do the exact same. 

 

Switch ignition on, and actuator starts working back and forwards a small bit. Reading 65% roughly. Its now stopping after a while and I'm getting a fault code saying its stuck. Can move it fully either way with my hand. 

 

Got VCDS and it doesn't allow me to do a basic setting for the actuator.

I think there should be a live data for the actuator to see what voltage it is. I believe the basic setting is done through the turbocharger adaption. It might be worth contacting someone like darkside developments who are excellent and he might be able to talk you through the process.

3 hours ago, Ecomatt said:

I think there should be a live data for the actuator to see what voltage it is. I believe the basic setting is done through the turbocharger adaption. It might be worth contacting someone like darkside developments who are excellent and he might be able to talk you through the process.

 

Voltage comes up at 3.802v when idling, which I'm told is within parameters and should allow it to adapt. It just refuses to do so, and comes up saying the wastegate is stuck.

 

Can move the wastegate free with my hand.

 

Trying a brand new battery in the morning, if not I'll just have to spend money on an Auto Electrician to source the problem for me.

Edited 17 December, 20205 yr by Saints92

On my OBDeleven there is an option to resetting of learned values of turbocharger. You might need to reset the stored values before doing the basic setting. 

On 17/12/2020 at 21:42, Ecomatt said:

On my OBDeleven there is an option to resetting of learned values of turbocharger. You might need to reset the stored values before doing the basic setting. 

 

Got an auto electrician out, and he can't find a problem with it at all, but it still fails adaptions.

 

He's now sayings its a problem with my ECU and I'll need to go to Skoda garage to sort it.

 

Madness. Car is costing me a fortune at this stage.