Howzit?

I picked up a used Scout yesterday and am pretty happy with it, given its age (2011) & mileage (139,000 km).

I had it inspected before I decided to purchase it, and the inspection pointed to a few necessary fixes.

I've also identified a few 'nice to have' changes too. Hoping to get some advice from your good selves

 

The necessary things are:

1) Replace the suspension bushes etc, which was something identified by the inspection guys. Having done 1000km on country roads, I can hear a clunking & rattling in the suspension, so I figure I'm hearing exactly that.

a) Are there better bushes kits or are OEM OK? I recall Nolathane bushes were a thing years ago, when I was into rally cars.

b) Can I change the suspension shock absorbers/springs to stiffen up the ride a bit, and allow for the possible 18 in rims (see below)? I compare the ride of the Scout to my 2012 Yeti 4x4 TDI, and the Yeti is more fun to drive from the perspective of ride & handling - it seems more like a sports car if that's possible.

2) Replace the disk rotors, pads etc. What are the recommendations there from the perspective of safety & braking performance? Also if I was to put 18inch rims on (see below)?

3) There is a reported leak in the manual transmission - I have not looked yet, but I recall reading somewhere on this forum that this is not uncommon in the manual Octavias

4) Replace fluids & filters, clean out the inlet manifold as I hear they get gummed up with carbon etc especially from exhaust re-circulation system. The ECU reported error

5) Sort out the way the Columbus entertainment system connects to a mobile phone - via something that's not Bluetooth, called Kufatec Fiscon. No idea.

6) Air con regas

 

Nice to have

1) Install a chip in the ecu to give 125kW power, up from 103kW. Seems a common practice.

2) Replace the 17 inch rims with 18 inch ones. What needs to happen there to keep the ECU happy, so that 100km/h is still 100km/h etc?

3) Mats, trim, stuff from Super Skoda.

 

Your thoughts and input would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

 

If the OEM bushes have lasted 8 years / 140,000 km's on rough roads then I'd be replacing like-for-like.

 

The Scout is already reported to have pretty firm suspension compared to the regular Octavia. Mine was very stiffly sprung at the front. I'd imagine the set-up is very similar to that of the Yeti given that both cars are form the same era.

 

18" alloys would be a straight swap as long as you match the width and offset. Assuming the ANZ Scout gets the same 17" Proteus alloys then I'd be tempted to keep them, if they've still got the original polished finish then they look great. Any premium discs and pads will do the job, not sure what brands you have over there.

 

Check the transmission leak out, it could well be the Haldex or diff, both of which need regular fluid changes. Are there any documented fluid changes in the cars service history? On a 2011 Scout the interval is 60,000 miles (97,000 km's). Check for corrosion on the Haldex pump, although given the UK climate this is probably not an issue for you.

 

When you mention the ECU reported an error, I assume you mean the car has logged a fault code? Did you get the fault code? If it is EGR or turbo related then this could be an expensive fix.

 

Last time I was in Australia, the need for effective air conditioning ranked higher than basic sustenance, so I think an A/C service with a regas would be priority no.1!

 

As the car is new to you then for peace of mind I'd be getting a full service done, and would have factored this into my purchase budget...

 

Oil

Oil Filter

Air Filter

Fuel Filter

Pollen (cabin) Filter

Brake Fluid

Haldex Fluid

 

Any pictures?

 

Here's my old Scout, long gone now though...

 

 

 

For front console bushes I can recommend superpro ones as they have redesigned them to rotate instead of twisting so last much longer than the OEM ones.

I dont know the exact bushes that you are speaking of but assuming they are "Silentbloc" type rubber to metal bonded bushes then their huge patented advantage over anything that was available before was that the rubber deforms to take all the angular motion and there is no relative movement between the parts, poly bushes etc may stiffen up the suspension but as soon as the suspension moves the wear starts and pretty soon there is play and vibration/knocking etc.

 

At least in the pre silentbloc days there were grease nipples to lubricate the rotating parts.

Kufatec Fiscon is a Bluetooth kit made by Kufatec which is very similar in function to the OEM kits. It should work just about the same way so maybe not worth replacing it unless you're having issues with it.

The errors reported by the ECU were:

• P040100 Exhaust Gas Recirculation Flow Insufficient
• P012100 Throttle / Pedal Position Sensor A Circuit Range / Performance

The bit of reading I did (here) suggested carbon build up as one possible cause. Note that it drove well over the last 1000kms. I couldn't notice anything wrong with it...

It'll get worse, and eventually it'll drop into limp-home mode...

 

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/16785/P0401/001025

 

Are the bushes the original voided ones?  If so Skoda modified them to make them solid - so new OE ones are likely to be better than the original ones anyhow.

Not sure about the nature of the bushes... going to get a few things sorted next week. Thanks for asking.

Hi all

A random question about the Columbus unit in the vehicle...

I read a couple of posts about them not playing DVDs... mine can happily play You Only Live Twice James Bond dvd, so that's a good start Sound is nice.

 

The couple of problems I have are:

1) Seems to struggle with starting up when a 32GB SD card is engaged... I play the same SD card in my 2013 Yeti without trouble. It can say "System starting" for about 5 minutes, plays a bit of music, stops and starts, might eventually come good... once it seemed to reset the dash lights at which point the engine warning light came on the dash too.

2) Radio reception isn't great. I listen to AM band coz I'm old. Again, my Yeti with a Bolero has better AM reception.

3) Is there a patch/bios upgrade for the Columbus that might fix the performance/behaviour at all?

4) Compared to the Yeti's Bolero, the Columbus seems slow to respond to buttons, to start... It's as if someone slipped a 486 chip in it, and it's struggling to do the job.

 

Any thoughts would be welcome.

 

Thanks again