Hopefully all sorted now then... glad you got it back. 

15 hours ago, ChrisCh said:

Hopefully all sorted now then... glad you got it back. 

I've been for a drive this morning, getting the oil/water up to temperature and gradually starting to ask more of the car without giving it full beans. So far everything seems fine, oil and water temps held ok, power delivery seems smooth, no noises, no hiccups or flat spots.

One negative, my exhaust tips are no longer sparkling, they're black and covered in oil.

18 minutes ago, TheBinarySheep said:

I've been for a drive this morning, getting the oil/water up to temperature and gradually starting to ask more of the car without giving it full beans. So far everything seems fine, oil and water temps held ok, power delivery seems smooth, no noises, no hiccups or flat spots.

One negative, my exhaust tips are no longer sparkling, they're black and covered in oil.

One advantage of my oil burner no more exhaust tip cleaning. Good to hear everything is working again.

1 hour ago, TheBinarySheep said:

I've been for a drive this morning, getting the oil/water up to temperature and gradually starting to ask more of the car without giving it full beans. So far everything seems fine, oil and water temps held ok, power delivery seems smooth, no noises, no hiccups or flat spots.

One negative, my exhaust tips are no longer sparkling, they're black and covered in oil.

Nothing some polish can't fix!

I'm not sure if it's related, but tonight the EPC light has come on and the car has logged an error with Boost Module A, whatever that is.

I guess I'll be getting the car booked back into the garage to get that looked at.

What's the chances that this is related to your uprated turbo and you'll have to put your hand in your pocket to uprate some other ancillary to compliment this upgrade?

You're not having much luck TBS. I feel for you.

Pm on its way....

Edited 20 January, 20215 yr by Bigeater

I'm hoping it's just that the waste gate needs recalibration. I've read that the locknut can come loose sometimes, which would make sense given the turbo has just been changed.

Chances are it's something from getting the turbo out and back in, as is usually the situation in such cases, and not a real issue, fingers crossed.

21 hours ago, TheBinarySheep said:

I'm hoping it's just that the waste gate needs recalibration. I've read that the locknut can come loose sometimes, which would make sense given the turbo has just been changed.

 

Internet seems to think it's likely a wastegate issue, which (fingers crossed) should be a relatively simple fix. Good luck!

17 hours ago, ChrisCh said:

 

Internet seems to think it's likely a wastegate issue, which (fingers crossed) should be a relatively simple fix. Good luck!

 

Car is booked in for Monday, so we'll see. If it's not a recalibration issue then it might need a new wastegate, but it looks like Mahle do one for £150, so not the end of the world.

Specialist couldn't find any errors logged on the car using ODIS, but my ODB11 is seeing them. 

 

In the meantime, the engine has developed a knocking noise. It's booked in for Friday but I've been advised not to drive the car in the meantime.

 

So it's looking like there maybe some engine damage. The noise I'm hearing is similar to what bottom end bearings sound like when they're on their way out.

On 27/01/2021 at 10:17, TheBinarySheep said:

Specialist couldn't find any errors logged on the car using ODIS, but my ODB11 is seeing them. 

 

In the meantime, the engine has developed a knocking noise. It's booked in for Friday but I've been advised not to drive the car in the meantime.

 

So it's looking like there maybe some engine damage. The noise I'm hearing is similar to what bottom end bearings sound like when they're on their way out.

Any updates mate? Shall I assume no news = good news?

22 hours ago, newbie69 said:

Any updates mate? Shall I assume no news = good news?

Dropped the car off yesterday. They said they'd pull the bottom of the engine off and see what's going on. They've said something along the lines of hopefully it's only a bearing shell and they can replace it. If there's damage to the crank then it's gearbox out, crank out, new crank and shells as they don't believe in re-grinding.

 

I'm waiting to see how much it's all going to cost and then I'll make a decision whether to get the car fixed, sell it and move on. If they replace a worn bearing, then I'll always be worried if one of the others are going to start to show signs of wear at a later date.

 

The problem is, I like the car, and if I sell it, I'm struggling to think of anything as good for the same price. The closest I can come up with a Volvo V60 T5. I could buy another Superb, but I don't really like to buy the same thing twice. I'm keeping my eyes open for quick estate cars that are not too far off £20k just incase.

Either way, I've been banned from modifying any more cars.

You could forge the bottom end now and be done with any further concern. 
I’d still pull that “specialist” map out of it and replace it with a Revo item instead, as I would be inclined to suspect the modifying is not the issue, but more the modifier you chose. 

29 minutes ago, TheBinarySheep said:

Dropped the car off yesterday. They said they'd pull the bottom of the engine off and see what's going on. They've said something along the lines of hopefully it's only a bearing shell and they can replace it. If there's damage to the crank then it's gearbox out, crank out, new crank and shells as they don't believe in re-grinding.

 

I'm waiting to see how much it's all going to cost and then I'll make a decision whether to get the car fixed, sell it and move on. If they replace a worn bearing, then I'll always be worried if one of the others are going to start to show signs of wear at a later date.

 

The problem is, I like the car, and if I sell it, I'm struggling to think of anything as good for the same price. The closest I can come up with a Volvo V60 T5. I could buy another Superb, but I don't really like to buy the same thing twice. I'm keeping my eyes open for quick estate cars that are not too far off £20k just incase.

Either way, I've been banned from modifying any more cars.

I hear you... Not a nice situation to be in... The car was used right? Could it have been tuned before and then reverted back to stock for selling? Any idea about how the previous owner was treating it maybe? Blown turbos are not unheard of, especially on the earlier cars as  every newer turbo revision (almost on a yearly basis) seemed to mitigate the issue to a larger extent every time but such damage, not so common, which makes me wonder about how the car has been treated overall before coming to you. Did they say if/how the bearing wear relates to the blown turbo or if there is another possibility for it failing?

The thought of selling up is inevitable even though from a cold and technical point of view, with all of what you'd have replaced at that point that you sell it, it'll have much more chances of long term reliability than any other unknown car you could switch to, provided the engine has been thoroughly inspected and any damage properly assessed.

I've considered alternatives just for the sake of switching over the last 6 months and it's nearly impossible to find a similar package of performance-comfort-space-luxuries-practicality and i would add tuneability although I'm sure it's not a subject you must be very fond of discussing at the moment. Apart from VAG offerings on the same underpinnings that are all smaller and with less options, there's not much to really compete with a 280/272 unless you make some trade-off somewhere, or raise your budget by around 20-25%. I also like the car very much so in the end I decided it would be madness to switch to something less and then start spending all over again just to bring it to the same level my car is at the moment so I'm sticking with it.

Hopefully it will be a reasonable fix and you can stick with the car you like too, fingers crossed!

47 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

I hear you... Not a nice situation to be in... The car was used right? Could it have been tuned before and then reverted back to stock for selling? Any idea about how the previous owner was treating it maybe? Blown turbos are not unheard of, especially on the earlier cars as  every newer turbo revision (almost on a yearly basis) seemed to mitigate the issue to a larger extent every time but such damage, not so common, which makes me wonder about how the car has been treated overall before coming to you. Did they say if/how the bearing wear relates to the blown turbo or if there is another possibility for it failing?

The thought of selling up is inevitable even though from a cold and technical point of view, with all of what you'd have replaced at that point that you sell it, it'll have much more chances of long term reliability than any other unknown car you could switch to, provided the engine has been thoroughly inspected and any damage properly assessed.

I've considered alternatives just for the sake of switching over the last 6 months and it's nearly impossible to find a similar package of performance-comfort-space-luxuries-practicality and i would add tuneability although I'm sure it's not a subject you must be very fond of discussing at the moment. Apart from VAG offerings on the same underpinnings that are all smaller and with less options, there's not much to really compete with a 280/272 unless you make some trade-off somewhere, or raise your budget by around 20-25%. I also like the car very much so in the end I decided it would be madness to switch to something less and then start spending all over again just to bring it to the same level my car is at the moment so I'm sticking with it.

Hopefully it will be a reasonable fix and you can stick with the car you like too, fingers crossed!

The car was initially registered to Skoda HQ in Milton Keynes (or so I was told), and then it had another owner for a year, and then me.

 

At present, it's suspected that any bearing damage has been caused by oil starvation from when the turbo went.

Like you say, it's difficult to find a car with so much space, power, spect and 4x4 for this budget.

I’d agree with others and say get it sorted, suck it up and keep it knowing it’ll be reliable as you’ve had it done properly vs the unknown of another car. 
I’d also agree with others (as I’ve stated before) saying that the tuner you’ve chosen is not a reliable map and I’d have got it off at the first sign of trouble when the turbo went. Obviously an expensive bitter pill to swallow but the likes of revo have a good reputation for a reason. There’s always someone who knows someone who can do it cheaper and there’s usually a good reason why that’s a bad idea....

Definitely need to name and shame the tuner. Sounds like they've done a lot of damage to your car. Hopefully you'll get it sorted. 

On 30/01/2021 at 19:20, TheBinarySheep said:

The car was initially registered to Skoda HQ in Milton Keynes (or so I was told), and then it had another owner for a year, and then me.

 

At present, it's suspected that any bearing damage has been caused by oil starvation from when the turbo went.

Like you say, it's difficult to find a car with so much space, power, spect and 4x4 for this budget.

So prior bad treatin of the car cannot be really excluded. In any case you're just not having much luck with this particular one it seems. Ironically, these engines are some of the best of the VAG with none of the old TSI issues, reliable, very easy to tune and able to push 400+ bhp on stock block, it's one reason the cars that sport them have been so popular among enthusiasts, many of which have switched cars but simply got the same underpinnings again just in a different guise.

The only weakness, more so on the earlier ones is the turbo but again only a fraction of the owners has had that failinh and even then, it's usually a turbo/swap repair and keep moving on, that's where you got double unlucky, assuming it's what the garage thinks it is.

Let's see what the full assesmet of the issue is...

2 hours ago, newbie69 said:

So prior bad treatin of the car cannot be really excluded. In any case you're just not having much luck with this particular one it seems. Ironically, these engines are some of the best of the VAG with none of the old TSI issues, reliable, very easy to tune and able to push 400+ bhp on stock block, it's one reason the cars that sport them have been so popular among enthusiasts, many of which have switched cars but simply got the same underpinnings again just in a different guise.

The only weakness, more so on the earlier ones is the turbo but again only a fraction of the owners has had that failinh and even then, it's usually a turbo/swap repair and keep moving on, that's where you got double unlucky, assuming it's what the garage thinks it is.

Let's see what the full assesmet of the issue is...

 

That's it, you never know, it could just be a lack of oil pressure and the noise it coming from the timing chain tensioner. 

I did some research over the weekend, and if it's the crankshaft shells, then it really doesn't look like a big job and it's something that can easily be done with the car on a ramp, so costs shouldn't be too excessive. Like I say though, my biggest concern is what problems might come at a later date through further wear.

I've been racking my brains all weekend thinking of an alternative car if I do need to get rid. I'm 40 so don't want anything to chavvy, have two kids so could do with something with space, but it needs to be quick, handle well and make some noise. Then it's do you stick with something big and sensible like a Volvo V60 T5, or get something like a Renault Megane 280, both of which have less space, but have the fun factor that the Superb lacked.

I'm hoping to get some news today, so fingers crossed I'll know more and have a better idea where we're heading.

Update: sump has been pulled off and there's a couple of lumps of metal, so they're going to have to remove the gearbox and the crank.

 

I got an estimated cost of around £1,300 to replace all the bottom end bearings.

They're going to crack on with it again tomorrow and I'll probably get an update later this week.

Another brief update.

Crank is out and is fine. Garage have ordered new seals and bearing and may start rebuilding tomorrow.

22 minutes ago, TheBinarySheep said:

Another brief update.

Crank is out and is fine. Garage have ordered new seals and bearing and may start rebuilding tomorrow.

Does that mean the 1300 estimation is still valid or...?

23 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

Does that mean the 1300 estimation is still valid or...?

 

Yeh. That was to remove the bottom end and replace the bearings and put it all back together. 

 

I've spent the last few days online looking for what car I'm going to replace the Superb with, but then I can't help think I might as well keep it once it's fixed. It'll still be cheaper to keep the car and change the engine at a later date if it needs it than it will be to change car.

 

But, for the last few days I've had my heart set on a 3.0 V6 with associated exhaust note.

Edited 3 February, 20215 yr by TheBinarySheep

2 hours ago, TheBinarySheep said:

But, for the last few days I've had my heart set on a 3.0 V6 with associated exhaust note.

Hehe, this was one of the options I was considering. Very nice and practical package and (as used) not too much more expensive than the Superb (i'm assuming it's the C43 in question here...), depending on the market of-course.

3 things that put me off further consideration, which probably don't apply to everyone else but just for the sake of chatting:

a) My neighboor got one last year so it'd look like I was copying him, I'm more used in setting the example  
b) Can't imagine going back to a car with an analog dash any more, makes it feel as if it's a decade old in my eyes. Obviously not an issue if you don't have a digital dash already (or if not too fond of it as opposed to myself )  and that tablet in the middle of the console just looks wrong.
c) Slower than my Superb currently so there I'd go with tuning and burning cash all over again on top of the purchase cost and I've made it a requirement that if I am spending say another 10K on top of the Superb's current value it'd better be on a car that's at least just as fast in stock form.

But in general it's a very attractive and competitive package (as used)


 

Edited 3 February, 20215 yr by newbie69