is there a way of looking for my self if the car has a pd or a cr engine fitted i.e will it be on the log book or stamped on the engine some where ?

I may be looking for a 2.0 diesel superb estate soon something around a 2010 or 2011 model and I am trying to do a little research on what I need to look for when viewing one or anything I need to be watch out for ?

cheers kev.

Did Škoda not change from the PD engine to the CR one in 2009 in the same way that VW did?   One of the main drivers for that was the problem of getting the DPF and PD engine to work well together.  

Having said that, I didn't experience any DPF issues on my 2008 Golf GT Sport 170 TDI which I bought new in '08 and sold last month after 12 years and some 90k miles. 

 

However, the easy way to tell the difference is to pull off the plastic engine cover and look.  The engines look completely different.   This is a BKD - a 140 PS TDI PD.  

right thanks for reply !

can any one advise on what I need to check or look for when I go to see one?

If you're looking at CR engines, ideally you want to know if it's had the emissions fix or not

is there a problem with the emissions on the cr engine ?

is there a recall on them ?

or is it up to the car owner to sort out?

dose this problem need to be done for the mot test?

dose the pd engine have the same problem?

cheers kev

The CR engines (aka EA189) are the ones caught up in the VW emissions scandal.

 

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is there a problem with the emissions on the cr engine ?

That depends who you believe. They probably put out too much NOx as it appears the software was designed to cheat during the emissions test. Skoda/VW claim it's not an issue but various govening bodies around the world disagree.

 

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is there a recall on them ?

At least in the UK, there is an optional software update and some engines also have flow smoothing devices added. I think the flow smoothing is specific to the smaller 1.6l engines.

 

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or is it up to the car owner to sort out?

dose this problem need to be done for the mot test?

Currently it's completely optional and it makes no different for the MOT.

 

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dose the pd engine have the same problem?

Not to my knowledge, it's specifically EA189 engines and PD's are EA188's I think?

 

The reason I mention the fix is because various people have reported issues with fuel economy, performance and reliability after having the update. Basically, the engine has to make more use of the EGR valve to change the combustion characteristics to produce less NOx. A side effect is it will produce more soot causing the DPF to regeneration more often. On older vehicles, it can also cause EGR issues due to carbon build up prior to the update. All of which has left some owners very disappointed since having the fix applied.

 

As an FYI, depending on which PD engines you're looking at, it may come with a DPF which have also been known to be problematic as the PD wasn't really designed with a DPF in mind.

 

I know it all seems a bit gloomy... On the plus, I've had zero issues with my 'unfixed' 2011 CR140 that's almost on 200k. At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to how many miles your doing a year and what style of journey to whether a TDi is the right choice.

The common rail engines were discovered to have an illegal test mode in the ECU that allowed the engine to pass official emissions tests while emitting higher than permitted NOx levels in real world driving. When this was discovered, the end result was that VAG committed to updating the software to a legally compliant configuration. It isn't an enforced recall programme - owners have the option of getting it done or not.

 

A lot of people have demonised the update, particularly early on, but we're here over 4 years after the update started rolling out and there doesn't appear to have been a deluge of broken cars arising from the update. The only thing I've noticed is slightly more frequent regens, and I can keep an eye on that with VAG DPF.

 

The CR engine is far smoother and more refined than the PD on the road.

 

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beginning

first of all thanks for taking the time to explain things, this is the problem I am having I don't use my cars very much full stop and if I do it will be short trips but where I am in two minds about in-between the beginning  of June to the end of august I do a fair bit of traveling up and down the country, I can do in the reign of 1,000 miles plus on one go some are a little bit less but all pretty big miles using like 2x full tanks of fuel.

this is where I am struggling to make the choice petrol or diesel, it doesn't matter for the rest of the year as I don't use my car that often but having a car that will only return 35mpg or so on the motorway could prove a bit pricy when I start doing lots of miles June/ July/ august I don't know what the petrol engines are capable mpg.

I don't really like small engines in cars as a lot of them can feel under powered I prefer something that will pick its skirts up a bit and go.

any advice would be appreciated ?

cheers kev 

Diesels are never good on short journeys, especially modern ones where a lot of the emissions controls hardware likes to be warmed up properly to work best. On the flip side, in the Superb 2 the 1.8 TSI petrol doesn't have a good reputation for reliability, the 2.0 TSI is vanishingly rare, and the 3.6 is very expensive on fuel.

 

All that being said, I mostly do shorter journeys in mine (work is only about 6 km away) and it's running fine. I got a Terraclean done on it recently and it increased the distance between DPF regens by about half, so there was probably a certain amount of crud built up in the engine that got cleared out. Keep an eye on oil level and get the VAG DPF app to keep an eye on regens and it's possible to keep a CR TDI running well under those conditions.

thanks chaps ! all the info is appreciated some say a little knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands lol but it gives me a phew things to think about

cheers kev