Please let us know how you get on.

Never really been one for 'treatments' myself, but given the ultra-low mileage history of this car, maybe worth a go.  Is that something you put in, run for a while then change the oil, or just put in and leave it?

Put in, leave it until the next oil change. I've also ordered a 2nd hand Haynes manual for just over £6. It may come in handy! I will keep you updated & thanks for the help so far!

My 2001 Octavia 1.416v 75ps (sameish engine) can make a tapping noise in certain circumstances (especially when cold) and has done this from about 30k miles / 2 years old which was classed as normal by the dealer. Saying that it still drives fine even though it has now done 130,000 miles and is nearly 18 years old. Speaking to a specialist they mentioned this engine has really shallow pistons and can have a touch of piston slap until warmed up and many of them do it. A friend of my son has an Ibiza Toca which has a similar engine - and this one makes the same noise.

 

Myself I'd ignore it but make sure it has a regular oil change routine and make sure the oil level never drops much to maximiase bore splash lubrication. Mine has also been prone to pinking on lower 95 ron fuel so I (well my son now) usually run it Tesco Greenenergy 99 ron.

 

An oil flush will do no harm though but I wouldn't leave it in toooo long so put it in a day or so before an oil change - used to work a treat on an old 1.6TD Passat of mine with a dodgy hydraulic tappet.

 

 

Edited 28 January, 20197 yr by bigjohn

OK, will give the oil treatment a go & next fuel fill give it some top notch fuel!

2 hours ago, Zebedee2001 said:

 

 

 

 

Just an off-topic observation but it's interesting to see how the brake/clutch fluid reservoir still has the barb for the clutch fluid pipe but it's blanked off because the car is an auto.

Edited 28 January, 20197 yr by TMB

I've only ever used Comma oil flush and it can be left in for approx. 100 miles, so I tended to dump it into my wife's old Polo on a Sunday when the engine was warm, and change the oil the following Friday/Saturday it does not seem to be as aggressive as the flushers used by the dealers which needs to do its job in 5 or 10 minutes.

 

I dumped the Wynns hydraulic lifter stuff into my daughter's old 2001 6K Ibiza 1.4 8V - it did no harm!

This stuff about the extra air hose has me realising how very little I know about automatic transmissions.

That extra connection into the brake servo vac line does appear to be only there on the automatic cars, but I have no idea why it needs to be there. Presumably the right hand (as photographed) end of the servo vac line goes to the inlet manifold, just below the throttle body, same as on manual cars? Or is there something else? This SSP suggests that some petrol automatics get an electric vacuum pump for reasons discussed within; can't spot this in Fabia parts diagrams though?

We have a similar engine in our 02 Polo (1.4 16v AUB) and I always use Tesco 99 (or other brand 97/98)  whenever possible.

On the inside of our fuel flap it says 98/95 RON for the fuel grade - this I read as meaning 98 RON is the preferred fuel and 95 is ok if you have to.

Before I started using Tesco99 our engine used to rattle quite alarmingly under acceleration/load especially in warm weather - this was definitely 'pinking' but a totally different sound to the pinking on older engines.The Polo pinking I would describe as a Flat Mechanical Rattle and  using tesco 99 has virtually cured that.

Our engine can be a little 'Tappy' at idle when cold but quietens down nicely  when fully hot.

Opened the filler flap & paid attention to the label it says 95/91 RON

Quote

48 minutes ago, YS53 said:

We have a similar engine in our 02 Polo (1.4 16v AUB) and I always use Tesco 99 (or other brand 97/98)  whenever possible.

On the inside of our fuel flap it says 98/95 RON for the fuel grade - this I read as meaning 98 RON is the preferred fuel and 95 is ok if you have to.

Before I started using Tesco99 our engine used to rattle quite alarmingly under acceleration/load especially in warm weather - this was definitely 'pinking' but a totally different sound to the pinking on older engines.The Polo pinking I would describe as a Flat Mechanical Rattle and  using tesco 99 has virtually cured that.

Our engine can be a little 'Tappy' at idle when cold but quietens down nicely  when fully hot.

 

Opened the filler flap & paid attention to the label, it says 95/91 RON. The sound does match your description! I've already paid for the lifter treatment so intend to put it in anyway (just waiting for it to arrive). The car has 1/2 a tank of 95 RON fuel & I plan to do around 200 miles in it at the weekend. Hopefully the additive will arrive before the weekend & I can put it in, do the 200 miles & see what happens. Next fill I will put 98RON in & see if tht improves the situation....

 

Quote

6 hours ago, Wino said:

This stuff about the extra air hose has me realising how very little I know about automatic transmissions.

That extra connection into the brake servo vac line does appear to be only there on the automatic cars, but I have no idea why it needs to be there. Presumably the right hand (as photographed) end of the servo vac line goes to the inlet manifold, just below the throttle body, same as on manual cars? Or is there something else? This SSP suggests that some petrol automatics get an electric vacuum pump for reasons discussed within; can't spot this in Fabia parts diagrams though?

 

I've not leant over the engine far enough to see exactly where the pipe goes. My wife's last car was a Petrol Citroen C3 sensodrive (manual gearbox with a set of actuators fitted around it). It was lots of trouble & I rebuilt the gearbox as the input shaft bearing went & put all filled all the oilways with the caging of the bearing. I drive a C3 manual diesel & it always amazed me of the small detail changes tht were made for it being an auto. In fact it was easier to work on the auto car than my manual one!

Looking at the age/mileage of your car - lots of short journeys ?On older cars - if the cylinder head/piston crowns were 'coked up' - that could cause 'pinking',the usual treatment was good ole redex .

As Rum might have already suggested,a clogged oil separator might also give the engine a tendancy  to use oil and perhaps contribute to pinking.

9 minutes ago, YS53 said:

Looking at the age/mileage of your car - lots of short journeys ?On older cars - if the cylinder head/piston crowns were 'coked up' - that could cause 'pinking',the usual treatment was good ole redex .

As Rum might have already suggested,a clogged oil separator might also give the engine a tendancy  to use oil and perhaps contribute to pinking.

 

I did put my endoscope camera thing down each spark plug hole & the pistons did have a lot of carbon on them. Cylinder 1 (the one closest to the cambelt) also had a little liquid in it. Now it was raining when I looked & put it down to some carefully postioned drips. That cylinder looked identical carbon wise to the others without any rust staining. I haven't noticed any coolant use but will keep an eye on it! So maybe I need some redex too!

 

Where would I find the oil seperator? can it be cleaned or is it just a replacement part?

On our car the oil separator is mounted on the rear of the engine block - I do not know if that is the same on your engine.

I just bought a replacement online from Autodoc ( I replaced the hose as well due to age) but there are probably lots available online.

I managed to change it from the top by leaning over the engine with a good torch and a couple of mirrors (engine cover removed) and was extremely careful to line everything up before tightening down the bolts.

 

Re the carbon - the belief at the time was that the carbon would get very hot (Glow ?) and thereby cause pre ignition of the fuel/air mixture (hence pinking and sometimes 'running on'),i would imagine running on is rare these days with a fuel shut off solenoid fitted to engines.

Edited 29 January, 20197 yr by YS53

41 minutes ago, Zebedee2001 said:

 

I did put my endoscope camera thing down each spark plug hole & the pistons did have a lot of carbon on them. Cylinder 1 (the one closest to the cambelt) also had a little liquid in it. Now it was raining when I looked & put it down to some carefully postioned drips. That cylinder looked identical carbon wise to the others without any rust staining. I haven't noticed any coolant use but will keep an eye on it! So maybe I need some redex too!

 

Perhaps - as long as it is safe to use it on fairly modern engines,I have not used any for years but then most cars do enough 'Hot' runs to avoid the carbon problem.

15 minutes ago, YS53 said:

 

Perhaps - as long as it is safe to use it on fairly modern engines,I have not used any for years but then most cars do enough 'Hot' runs to avoid the carbon problem.

 

I wouldn't use it, it'll kick the emissions warning into life, a bit of carbon won't do any harm and should clean up with more use.

Also I think that Redex is very "tame" or different when compared with what it used to be, I've used it maybe twice a year a high dosage in a full tank, it never ever brought the emissions light on not even the older "original looking" stuff.  Now I restrict its use it to livening up my motor mower at the beginning of the grass cutting season, used in high dosage it helps keep midgies at bay!

 

If the engine is using oil then I'd be inclined to replace the oil separator as I discovered that was what was causing the use of oil in my wife's old 2002 Polo with the 1.4 BBY engine, and that oil ends up reducing the overall octane rating of what is passing into the engine, and so causing serious pinking even with cold engine in cold conditions, very annoying trying to work round that at roughly 1750>2000 RPM!  Initially using only Shell UL+ stopped the pinking and improved the lower end drivability, but I really wanted to slow down/stop the oil usage and I achieved that by replacing the oil separator.  Wife would not let me change back to using only UL though after replacing the oil separator as she had got used to living with a car that had improved slightly - used to need to use 2nd gear driving up round a bend near our house, filling it always with UL+ meant that 3rd gear was okay for that stretch of road - and obviously improved the drivability elsewhere!

Separator part number given here as the first of the item 19's 036103464AH : https://skoda.7zap.com/en/cz/fabia/fab/2006-453/1/103-103007/

 

O-rings will tend to come with an aftermarket part, but may not with a genuine one, knowing VW-group.

 

Hose that connects to inlet manifold is (first) item 28: 036103493CP (reminds me I want to inspect mine as someone recently said the O-rings that seal the end fittings tend to flatten off and leak)

 

6 hours ago, Wino said:

Separator part number given here as the first of the item 19's 036103464AH : https://skoda.7zap.com/en/cz/fabia/fab/2006-453/1/103-103007/

 

O-rings will tend to come with an aftermarket part, but may not with a genuine one, knowing VW-group.

 

Hose that connects to inlet manifold is (first) item 28: 036103493CP (reminds me I want to inspect mine as someone recently said the O-rings that seal the end fittings tend to flatten off and leak)

 

 

Just spent a few minutes exploring that 7zap site - very interesting!

 

Strange thing happened on the way home from work today, it's about a 5 mile trip but stopped off mid point to go to the local Skoda garage. The car was rattling away on start up & initial part of the journey then at about mile 2 is stopped rattling! I arrived at the Skoda garage with no rattle! Nipped in & asked if there were any oustanding recalls on the vehicle (hoping that something top end related was recalled & I have a free fix). Answer was no but asked about the rattle. They said an intial diagnostic session would cost £72. I explained it had just stopped but they did offer for me to nip in if it did it again &  they would get one of the mechanics to have a quick listen.

 

Drove home with the faintest of rattles. Is it fixed? Tomorrow morning will tell. I suspect the car just behaved itself because it was going to a Skoda garage!

The hydraulic lifter may have unblocked itself and started working.

On 29/01/2019 at 19:16, YS53 said:

Looking at the age/mileage of your car - lots of short journeys ?On older cars - if the cylinder head/piston crowns were 'coked up' - that could cause 'pinking',the usual treatment was good ole redex .

As Rum might have already suggested,a clogged oil separator might also give the engine a tendancy  to use oil and perhaps contribute to pinking.

 

With almost the same engine my 2001 75ps Octavia 1.41 6v pinked from new using lower octane fuel so it's almost always had a diet of 97-99 RON petrol.

 

I think the sort of tapping mentioned by the original poster is piston slap - this noise is common on this typre of engine.

 

 

On 30/01/2019 at 17:44, Zebedee2001 said:

 

 

Drove home with the faintest of rattles. Is it fixed? Tomorrow morning will tell. I suspect the car just behaved itself because it was going to a Skoda garage!

 

It will probably be back in the morning.

1 hour ago, bigjohn said:

 

It will probably be back in the morning.

 

And it was, a quiter rattle when first started & went by the time I got to work, then on the way home it came back! The Wynns hydraulic lifter treatment turned up today along with the Haynes manual. I think I will be using both this weekend!

Don't think the flush will make much difference but it will do no harm.

 

Think this "tapping" is normal for this engine and mine has done it since about 30,000 miles, however it is still going strong after another 100,000 miles. 

 

As mentioned above they are prone to oil breather issues be it the seperator (Thanks @Wino think ours is due a new oil ring) , the pipe (they rot) or in some cases oil mist mayo blocking pipes(especially where car does low mileage and never properly warms up). However don't think this causes the tapping but it can increase oil consumption.

Edited 31 January, 20197 yr by bigjohn

The problem with snake oil for the lifters is that there's no oil circulation through them, they get pumped up to full pressure then when the engine is stopped they lose pressure but don't drain unless they happen to be under valve spring tension, even then not fully, when I used to rebuild heads I would crush all the lifters to fully empty them before reassembly. The problem with these lifters is they have tiny oil ports which partially clog easily over time.

35 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

there's no oil circulation through them

 

Is that true?

In this thread a while ago on the 1.2 engines (same lifters and roller rockers I think) I found that the lube of the lifter/rocker 'joint' and also the roller and 'finger' of the rocker depended on such circulation:

 

And the fill hole in the side of the hydraulic element looks reasonably big to me? I suggested in that thread that the tiny hole in the roller-rocker that feeds oil onto the roller and finger might get blocked but you told me that only filtered oil could get there so it wasn't possible. "Nah, the oil filter traps solids down to micron scale", yet now it's

43 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

The problem with these lifters is they have tiny oil ports which partially clog easily over time

 

What changed?