Mk3 Octavia EPC warning came on just after start up today 4000 revs maximum. Also says stop start unavailable.

Car drives ok.

It has been sitting in driveway for about 10 days or so.

Skoda service all closed in area for foreseable future.

 

Safe to drive? Any suggestions.

On 31/03/2020 at 14:13, fergiet said:

Mk3 Octavia EPC warning came on just after start up today 4000 revs maximum. Also says stop start unavailable.

Car drives ok.

It has been sitting in driveway for about 10 days or so.

Skoda service all closed in area for foreseable future.

 

Safe to drive? Any suggestions.

Have you cycled the ignition on & off ?

 

That usually clears the EPC warning, if it doesn't it generally means something physical has actually gone wrong. Under these conditions I wouldn't drive it until it can get into the dealership under warranty.

 

If you scroll through the vehicle status, does it show what errors are bringing the EPC warning on?

23 hours ago, themanwithnoaim said:

Have you cycled the ignition on & off ?

 

That usually clears the EPC warning, if it doesn't it generally means something physical has actually gone wrong. Under these conditions I wouldn't drive it until it can get into the dealership under warranty.

 

If you scroll through the vehicle status, does it show what errors are bringing the EPC warning on?

Yes cycled on/off.

Says stop/start unavailable and revs limited to 4000.

 

2 minutes ago, fergiet said:

Yes cycled on/off.

Says stop/start unavailable and revs limited to 4000.

 

Something is broke then, are you a keyworker ?, if so get on Skoda UK & find out where you get it fixed.

 

Does the vehicle status show any errors? 

It could be as simple as the battery was just getting about as low as it would not have started the car in another day or 2.

Do you have a 4th emergency service / Skoda assist to call, get a Fault Code read if there is any, reset and then get the battery charged up.

I have a 1.5 tsi with exactly the same problem. Again not started for a couple of weeks, drove a couple of miles yesterday and the warning appeared. Did you get any further with tracking the cause down ?

Hello,

 

I don't want to be the grim reaper, but my Octavia VRS has the EPC light come on whenever I accelerate (usually above 40mph). I had it into Skoda, and they diagnosed a faulty turbo actuator. Because the actuator is built into the turbo, that means a replacement turbo. I got a second opinion from a local performance specialist who linked the turbo up to the dianostic machine, and they agreed the turbo needs replacing.

Car drives ok, no oil loss, no overheating, no smoke, no loss of power (as far as I can tell) so I'm just going to carry on driving it until it gets worse. I've bought a replacement turbo from www.skoda-parts.com, but I did this last year (I've been driving it like this since then) and I've just noticed the turbos have nearly tripled in price (or they're now approx. the same as Skoda dealer were charging - £1700) 

 

Hopefully yours is not this problem, but that's what mine was, and the EPC light was the first sign I knew anything was wrong. 

On 14/04/2020 at 09:00, Paul_uk said:

I have a 1.5 tsi with exactly the same problem. Again not started for a couple of weeks, drove a couple of miles yesterday and the warning appeared. Did you get any further with tracking the cause down ?

 

Hi, not not sorted yet. Not using car anyway so will wait 'till dealer is open again as still under warranty.

I too had this problem, my 2015 Octy is on it's third replacement Turbo actuator rod due to seizing so that's four including the originally fitted rod, The first one went and was replaced under the original car warranty, I then read a thread on this forum about replacing it and how often this occurs so when the Skoda warranty ceased I took out an extended Skoda all components warranty. Not long after the second rod seized and was replaced under the new warranty. Later it went again and was replaced under the warranty of the replacement rod. (Not my warranty) So the replacement lasted less than  a year before seizing .

I asked the dealer what it would have cost me without the warranties in place, his reply was over £1k in parts, labour  and VAT. So that was about £175 well spent.

Oddly, they said it was extremely rare for this to happen,

Oh yeah?

10 minutes ago, ajw1100 said:

Oddly, they said it was extremely rare for this to happen,

Just another variation on the well known phrase "they all do that sir/madam" 🤨

What is rare is that if the customer is paying then just the actuator is required. It is usually you need the turbo and actuator.

If Warranty then just the actual job that needs doing because a Warranty Manager is just approving that.

I was told specifically by 2 Skoda dealers that the actuator is built into the turbo, so whole thing needs replacing, even though turbo itself functions ok. Since I bought the replacement, I can see that’s not necessarily the case, but I’m assuming it’s just part of their general ‘replace not repair’ policy, and they’ve no interest in fixing something cheaply. 

I thought that the situation was, on some turbos, maybe earlier versions, the new actuator needed to be set up, or "calibrated" to the old turbo unit, and that was not considered by VW Group, to be a task that they considered was not easy or justified cost/training wise to be included into a normal main dealership workshop.

Though I'd hope if this sort of failure is still occurring in newer versions of turbos, that VW Group made sure that their chosen suppliers of turbos factored that into the initial turbo assembly design so that the actuator became a replaceable part in a main dealer workshop.

7 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I thought that the situation was, on some turbos, maybe earlier versions, the new actuator needed to be set up, or "calibrated" to the old turbo unit, and that was not considered by VW Group, to be a task that they considered was not easy or justified cost/training wise to be included into a normal main dealership workshop.

Though I'd hope if this sort of failure is still occurring in newer versions of turbos, that VW Group made sure that their chosen suppliers of turbos factored that into the initial turbo assembly design so that the actuator became a replaceable part in a main dealer workshop.

Not quite right. I don’t know about vRS, but on the smaller 1.0/1.2/1.4/1.5 engines I believe it’s the earlier ones (pre May 2014 build) which are the turbos where the whole thing needs to be replaced and the wastegate actuator can’t be replaced separately.

The later engines (May 2014 onwards) have a turbo where the wastegate actuator can be purchased as a separate part and replaced. There are full instructions on how to do it in the Skoda workshop manual. Any Skoda dealer should be able to replace the later actuator. 
From previous threads on this subject, my understanding is the whole turbo assembly is often replaced on the later models because it’s the mechanical wastegate part seizing up which causes the electric actuator to fail.

Edited 30 April, 20206 yr by classic

Well local Skoda dealer open for servicing today. Needs a new turbo!

Thank God it's under warranty as if not almost £1800.00 to replace.

Car just over 2 years old and below average mileage.

Not overjoyed.

Mine came on today. Took it for a short drive and when I accelerated fairly hard, the light went out. Fingers crossed. Brand new Superb 1.5TSI

On 11/05/2020 at 15:18, fergiet said:

Well local Skoda dealer open for servicing today. Needs a new turbo!

Thank God it's under warranty as if not almost £1800.00 to replace.

Car just over 2 years old and below average mileage.

Not overjoyed.

 

Interestingly  they had 3 cars in at the same time all needing replacement turbos. Two within warranty and one out with.

Told me it is often caused by the car not being driven for a while. My car only sat for about two weeks before I started it up. That's when turbo went.

Cannot say I am very happy. But at least I avoided forking out £1800.

 

My 2015 1.4 TSI is on its 4th replacement, not sure if that's 4 turbos or a mix of turbos and actuators. Anyway I took out Skoda all component additional cover and ever so glad I did! Must admit though to low mileage, only 22k since new and now about 3 miles a week shopping. Not a good recommendation for this VW engine. I wonder if the new 1.5 148 engine has the same problem.

Skoda assist sorted mine out. He could tell that it was siezed when moving it by hand. He put some lubricant around the shaft and worked it free. You could then hear it releasing fully. He did say it depends which part has siezed to how it can be fixed, if its the part actually in the turbo then its a new turbo. He said the actuators can be replaced seperatly if needed. He did mention that he has done a few of these after cars have not been used during lockdown, all different models. I shall certainly consider an extended warranty and wont leave it unused for an extended period either. Good service from Skoda assist rubbish design from VAG.

Time will tell if Dealerships have the Golden Goose and 'New Turbo's' required under Warranty & those with Extended Warranties from other providers might just approve ab Accuator.  

Or those paying from their own pocket will just have that.

 

Sales Fleets sit more then 3 months on forecourts and in compounds and do not have failing Turbos.