Hi,

I have askoda fabia 1.4tdi 2008. There is a strange problem i am facing these days. I kept commuting daily for 25km. I usually always keep it under 2000rpm. But a few months back while overtaking i just kept pushing it in 3rd gear and as soon as i crossed 2500rpm i realised that engine started vibrating more than normal and even after lifting my foot off the accelerator pedal it kept on accelerating.

I put the car in neutral and engine touched the redline instantly and kept on idling at max rpm. I checked the pedal, it wasn't stuck anywhere. I finally switched off the engine and took out the keys and then it gradually died in 3-4 seconds. I again started it and it started normally. And drove it and was absolutely fine as if nothing happened. Next day on an open stretch i tried crossing 2500rpm and same thing happened.. and however many times i tried it happened the same way.

I went to a local garage and he told me about the bad turbo charger and told core needs to be replaced as there is a huge play. We did that, but no change whatsoever.

I went to authorised dealership, the checked with the scanner and there was no error code as such, but they are telling me that i need an engine overhaul. Which i am not convinced. As i don't find any black/blue smoke, no loss in acceleration or no loss in engine oil level even after 10000kmts of oil change interval.

Please suggest what could be the problem.

Thanks in advance.

Welcome.

Why do they say it needs a new engine, do they know what is wrong with the one you have?

 

You do not say how many k/m your car has done, or how long you have had it.

What servicing has your car had other than oil and filter changes. & the Turbo changed.

Has it had a new fuel filter fitted?  Is the air filter clean? etc etc 

A bad turbo... most of them disintegrate, not take over your engine control.

 

if you have time, try a different garage for a second opinion. 
 

if not then, given the strange behaviour, I’d want it in writing they will solve it with the suggestion.

 

you don’t want to pay for fix x, then find it’s the ecu and pay for that too.

 

i can’t think of anyway the turbo could control your engine as described. True it maybe damaged, but sentient... 

 

be careful driving it, like don’t, and get a second opinion as soon as you can.

 

as above, age, condition etc.

Edited 2 July, 20205 yr by ColinD

Sounds more like the accelerator sensors or something to me. These have a drive by wire system so use electronic signals to tell how much throttle is being used. If its up the creek, it may be staying open.

 

When they say an engine overhaul, do you or they perhaps mean a service? This in itself would not surprise me.

Edited 2 July, 20205 yr by mrgf

erm......... being a diesel it sounds like its suffering diesel runaway.................its running on its own fumes / oil, this is often caused by oil leaks into the intake system, sometimes from turbo or intercooler / breather system

 

If its not fixed, it will runaway and continue until it goes bang and often you wont be able to stop it.

 

 

That’s awesome @UrbanPanzer. Everyone day is a school day.

 

 

Edited 2 July, 20205 yr by ColinD

3 hours ago, UrbanPanzer said:

erm......... being a diesel it sounds like its suffering diesel runaway.................its running on its own fumes / oil, this is often caused by oil leaks into the intake system, sometimes from turbo or intercooler / breather system

 

If its not fixed, it will runaway and continue until it goes bang and often you wont be able to stop it.

 

 

Exactly what I thought! Turbo doesn't spool until over 2krpm so wouldn't surprise me if the boost is spraying a small amount of oil into the intake. But the OP said the engine is not burning oil... a runaway would have a small sign on blue smoke out the back. 

 

I would get second opinion. My turbo just died on my 1.6tdi but it didn't cause the car to accelerate... in fact it did the complete opposite. 

Hi,

Thanks to all for the inputs.

And @UrbanPanzer my god.. this was scary.

Well for the information, the car is a 2008 manufactured. And has run 80000kmts. I bought it in 2015 at 30000kmts.

I get the service done which includes oil change, that is mobil 5w40 fully synthetic, oil filter change and air filter change at every 10000kmts

Just this one last service stretched for 14000kmts and the oil drained out was a little thinner than normal and almost a ltr or 900ml less than what went inside, but it still was touching the dip stick/oil gauge. As i have a habit of always checking the oil on the dip stick once a week.

Got diesel filter changed at last service which was around 74000kmts.

And would also like to update whenever this auto acceleration happens, there is a little, very little black smoke and nothing else.

And every service when the mechanic changes the engine oil, the quantity of oil is almost the same.. might be a 300-400ml less than what is poured in at the time of service, which i guess is normal for a diesel car.

But sure, as suggested, this time i will get my intercooler and egr checked for the oil deposits in it.

And i would like to update one thing more if it helps.. well it's like, under load, the car misfires and injector no.3 stops working, and then it gives a lot of black smoke, i switch it off and restart the car and it is fine. This is a normal behaviour in summers since i bought it. For example - with 4 or 5 people and air conditioner switched on and if i have to reverse it and road is uneven or there is a parking in an uneven field (its India, is normal, believe me) and i have to accelerate hard to cross it or drive over it or drive it in first gear sometimes to cross an uneven surface or a speed bump then suddenly it takes a hickup and starts missing and starts running on only 2 cylinders out of 3 and gives a lot of black smoke and always 3rd cylinder stops working. And when you switch it off and restart it, it acts normally.

I tried swapping injector no 1 with 3 and then no.2 with 3 but always the third one fails.. checked the writing and ECU too, but nothing found.

For this also the skoda authorised workshop told me that this is because of a worn out cam shaft especially the third lobe. And auto acceleration is because of low compression in pistons and worn out valves.

So basically they said they will put in a new head, new block with pistons and a complete new turbo, because they say only changing turbo core won't help plus skoda never changes only turbo core, they always change turbo complete, so what i got changed is not a genuine spare.

And the cost/estimate for repairs they are asking is almost more than twice the current value of the car.. 😁😁😁

But i am not convinced just because of one reason, that there is no blue smoke and never i found oil quantity low on the dip stick.