Just recently the car has developed a juddering on its first start up of the day. at first I thought it was the cold as thats when it first started 4deg morning Blue cold temp light went out and it was then fine and drove smoothly, Then next day it would start and drive fine 10deg outside next day 6deg and would judder again. Then next day would be fine at 4deg outside. Then started to judder again when over 11deg outside so my theory went out the window. Sometimes I would drive 5-7 miles before the engine suddenly lept into life and drove normally it almost feels like the car is being held back and on one occasion when it was in its juddery mode I took it out of gear and while coasting I tried to rev the engine and it would not rev over 3k . This has been going on for just about to weeks as my local Skoda garage cannot fit it in unil 23rd Dec to be looked at. Yesterday I just had to to a short run of less than a mile and when I stopped I could smell a smokey diesel burning smell and noticed a small amount of smoke coming from the exhaust at the rear of the car. I held a bit of paper by the exhaust to see if there was any black diesel specks being thrown out but there was no sign. Theres no EML lite up on dash. Oil level looks right. Oil itself looks ok apart from a bit on the black side. Cant see any leaks around the engine bay of any type of fluid . Cant hear and hissing noise. but the engine does sound a bit more clackey than normal until the juddering stops. Does anyone have any idea on what miht be going on

Unfortunately, its a very hard description to deal with, without  proper diagnostic. It could be rubbish fuel or a blocked fuel filter but I doubt it. (They are quite cheap and simple to swap so worth doing regularly anyway). It could be fuel injectors or camshaft issues, more costly and a pain for the non-mech! 

Could possibly be pre-igniters so do you make sure the coil light goes off prior to attempting to start the car EVERY time you start it? If not, do so!

Diesel oil will look black after even a short while so don't try gauging its quality by its colour. You need to know if it has been changed at the correct intervals, along with the filter. Do this religiously, trying not to go over the interval by any amount as they are very sensitive to the wrong oil, old oil, etc. 

Whilst you are at it, check the air filter, too as they should be ether clean or changed. Don't drive with a filthy filter as it will run poorly, use more fuel and cost money for yet another simple, cheap item. (Carparts4less, Eurocarparts, etc with discount codes).

 

Do the simple, obvious, cheap things as its better VFM then getting the dealer to do them, at dealer labour rates and genuine parts prices, whilst you are waiting for the check-up.

 May be worth trying to find someone local with VCDS who can do a scan for error messages - generic OBD2 scanners may not be able to give the correct answers - and a DPF loading check. If the loading is an issue, a forced regen may help.

Well the investigation didnt goe well. No faults showing and Technician thinks either problem with camshaft or valves

I would take it to a good, well trusted Skoda/VW specialist so as to get the job done well, with a not-quite-so- hefty bill as the main dealer. 

Unfortunately, I don't know any in your area as I live in Central London and would either go to one in Woodford or another in Wanstead, depending on their workload. (Who could fit me in sooner).

Edited 27 December, 20196 yr by mrgf