Hi All,

 

I'm a new member on here - I have posted a 'hello!' in the new members forum under the title 'old Skoda new member'. Hopefully it's not frowned upon to fly straight in with technical questions....?

 

I drive a 2010 Scout PD140 with 110,000 on the clock. Had it for quite a few years and generally speaking (!) all is working as it should. It was bought initially when I was doing a bit of off-road driving to serve my addiction (salmon fishing) and also travelling through the Cairngorms on a regular basis in snowy conditions. It's been the ideal vehicle, albeit I've not really tested it's longevity given the relatively low milage for its year.  All that is about to change...

 

I will be changing jobs shortly to a role where I will be doing quite a lot of miles (20K p/a) and also some long drives on rough tracks in the Highlands. Snow, mud, loose gravel, small river crossings all to be expected. Possibly this is the perfect job my old Scout has been waiting for! I would like to prepare the car properly to try and ensure I'm not stuck on my tod in the middle of nowhere in a blizzard with no mobile phone reception. Right now, I'm not going to invest in a new car - if that's on the tip of anyone's tongue!

 

1) An issue I will address straight away is the turbo - it's 'whistle' suddenly got louder a couple of months ago, hopefully just a bearing that can be replaced / greased before the thing totally blows? Many on here will no doubt advise, though I see similar questions have been asked before. There has been no noticable drop in power, nor is there any black smoke coming out of the exhaust (like my Golf did when a hose blew). 

 

2) I'll likely get a set of steel rims with snow / off-road tyres - any particular recommendations? A higher profile tyre (drop to a 15 rim?) should help absorption on tracks?

 

3) Suspension - doing a lot of work on rough tracks will probably shorten suspension life considerably, and may lead to other damage resulting from endless shuddering, knocks, bangs etc. Should I be considering a spring and shock upgrade to something other than manufacturers recommended? Bushes as well? Increasing the ride height a little wont bother me.

 

4) Haldex oil, pumps and cam belt will need changed within the next 6 months - other than 'regular' maintenance items, is there any other 'belt and braces' or precautionary maintenance items i should be thinking about?

 

5) Happy to listen to any other ideas!

 

Cheers all!  

  

@EJWR - Well, I used to work for the Hydro, and think you've got it mostly covered given you've realised the need for a Haldex oil change.

Edited 7 January, 20206 yr by KenONeill

2 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

@EJWR - Well, I used to work for the Hydro, and think you've got it mostly covered given you've realised the need for a Haldex oil change.

Cheers Ken! Appreciated 

I was up in the highlands in may, it was a  amazingly beautiful place.

 

we seen some of the fishing rivers around but as only two of us where fishermen we never got to stop and take the scenery in properly 😩

 

is the PD140 the 2.0tdi?
 

check your earth strap for the haldex as it’s very common for it to break on the Gen 1 cars leaving you in fwd, my 51 plate TT one was in bits, although your car is a lot newer and Gen 2 iirc, better to check than have 4wd fail when you need it, that would probably go for your abs sensors and rings, make sure they aren’t badly rusty and free of debris and check cables aren’t chaffed as if you get an ABS error you’ll loose the haldex too.

 

cleaning out all your inlet side of the engine isn’t a bad idea, and set the backlash on the injectors for helping MPG and better/cleaner running.

 

check vacuum hoses, and glow plugs, plus any other hoses, make sure your car has been serviced properly with all new filters including fuel filter.

 

I've needed to use a radiator guard on my 2.0tdi a6 pd140 in the cold weather, and this is in the midlands, your going to see much lower temps in the highlands so I’d say it’d be a safe bet for helping keep the engine warm and running efficiently. I use corex cut the size of the rad with a square hole cut where the fan sits so it can pull fresh air through if it gets hot, and slid in between the aircon rad and rad and tie wrapped to the slam panel.

 

smaller diameter wheels will help, and reduce the width slightly is good, it will also make tyres cheaper, fit some proper Nordic winter tyres like some of the Nokian offerings, I remember seeing the marker posts (forget the name but iirc it’s an enuendo as we where laughing on the CB radio between us 😂) So I’m guessing deep snow that way is regular, plus the gates that shut the whole road off when real bad.

regarding suspension I’d just have it properly checked over, if a bush fails you’ll still be able to get home although with a knocking noise, fitting some kind of heavy duty raised springs could help but might not be necessary, depends on how deep the snow is and what kind of off-roading you’ll be doing.
 

that’s what I’d be doing anyway, I’m sure everyone has a different way of looking at it 👍

 

 

 

Not just Haldex Oil / Filter to consider for regular attention, also the Diff oil when a car is being used for wading.

 

Get 5 matching rims and tyres,

or even 6 and do not get directional tyres in what ever you go for, AT's / M&S / Winters or All Seasons.

Edited 7 January, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

I wouldn't worry about the turbo whistle unduly. If the whistle turns into a siren noise then that is the time to start saving for turbo replacement.

Wow, thanks lads! Loads of really useful advice and certainly things there I wouldn’t have thought of. A bit of investment and shell hopefully do me well... shall update in due course! 

 

Cheers,

 

Heading For High Ground 

Cannot offer advice on your question but regarding that noise, on my last Octy I had this noise come up and thought it was  one of the emergency people some where around me even bystanders were looking at me. The car was running ok and I was in a 30mph area so did not think it was me causing it . Anyway it was , the turbo had "gone", cost a bomb.

Hi Pastiche, it's not got to the dreaded siren level yet - hopefully catch it before that happens...!

Can’t give you any advice on preparing you Octavia with exception of regular servicing, you obviously already know that, so good luck with your new job. And good that you wish to keep your Octavia rather than some flash new SUV. 

Cheers threadbear. The flash new SUV is a killer on tax 😜