Hi all,

Not bought a haynes manual yet (is there one?) and I am thinking of changing the sparkplugs out for new ones. 

 

Anyone got the details like plug number, socket size, gap size?

 

Jan

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Edited 22 May, 20215 yr by classic
Error

looks like the coil pack tool is the best way of removing them safely.  as I have also established I have only used about 50% of the life of the plugs, I will leave it for now and probably let the dealer do it.

 

Jan

They are pregapped double platinum plugs, good for 40,000 miles. Highly recommended to use the correct extraction tool to avoid breaking the coil packs when you lift them.

Is it 40,000 miles or 5 years like with cambelt???

Skoda show them as @ 4 years / 40,000 miles, which was at the 2nd Major Service with their old system for Minor & Major Servicing, or Major & Major.

Edited 25 May, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

Thanks for that- i bought my 5 year old MK3  last August with 15,000 miles on from a Ford dealer and it had only had one service at a Skoda dealer prior at around 2 years so clearly no new plugs fitted- i will get some NGK at the weekend as im sure its slightly missfiring- i even paid a Skoda dealer to give it a health check and they said everything was fine? After i have changed the plugs i will report back on here if there is any difference- the Skoda dealer did point out about the cambelt but i had two different stories on two separate visits to them on that too! Needless to say i do not rate my local dealer at all sadly so will service my car myself and get the difficult stuff done at a trustworthy independent garage.

well all I will say about the cam belt is that the reason we just bought this skoda is that the aux belt went on the volvo xc70 and it dislodged the timing belt, which sent the pistons crashing into the exhaust valves.  car was a financial write-off.  We had replaced the belt within the time/mileage, but it appears the alternator clutch pulley failed and vibrated the belt off.  The moral of the story is that it is worthwhile ensuring the pulleys as well as the belt isn't overdue. 

 

I am hoping that a low mileage SKODA isn't going to have that issue for a while - Though I do want to make sure my inlet valves don't gunk up prematurely as its a TSI.  Starting to realize all cars have some sort of achilles heel.

Thanks for all your useful comments.  I will make sure the plugs are done on the next service.

I was recommended a better oil than the Skoda/VW dealers/companies use which helps keep the engine from gunking up apparently- i would also say that some people have done well over 100,000 miles without this gunking problem so perhaps its not as bad as has been reported- plus the hybrid Skoda and VW cars still use this engine and not the 1.5tsi so perhaps it was/is the best engine??

@Michaeldavis39 would you like to share with us what better oil which is to VW504 / 507 00 or VW508 / 509 00 so. 5w 30 FS III. Or 0w 20 FS IV you were adviced to use, or do you mean your were adviced not to use Castrol, Quantum,Fuchs etc and use Mobile or some other?   Were you adviced with a TSI to do fixed service intervals and use VW 502 00 spec which is not Long Life oil?

Edited 30 May, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

Yes i should have said, anyway heres a photo of what was recommended by a garage that has seen a reduction in oil usage and less gunge since using this👍

Edited 30 May, 20215 yr by Michaeldavis39

Nothing special or magical then, Asda, Tesco, Comma, Fuchs, Comma etc etc will be just as good.  There are oil with additives / detergents  and fuels with additives / detergents so gunge with fixed or variable servicing should be a thing of the past. 

Maybe not but was recommended over the oil dealers use- im ocd on oil changes and have never gone by manufacturers recommendations interval wise- ive always changed at 6000 intervals no matter- its not expensive and in 33 years driving ive never had an engine failure or big bill- or ive veen lucky haha👍

@Michaeldavis39how often does 6,000 miles come up for you?

There are some that do high miles and each 6,000 miles might mean them changing oil 3 or 4 times a year.

There are high mileage drivers that are fine with the correct spec of oil changed at Variable / Flexible service intervals and they might do 100's of thousands of miles and have no engine failures.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/476057-vag-independent-uses-fusch-oils

 

 

 

 

Edited 30 May, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

Each to their own. I only do around 12,000 miles in my own car but used to do anywhere around 18 to 25 thousand plus, I had an original Mini 1000 and changed the oil every 3 months on that for 18 months- it was the quietest smoothest Mini I have ever known- no tappet rattles and no engine problems. I had a Citroen 1.6hdi with the known design problem now of oil blocking the turbo feed pipe - because it was actually too small by design after the Ford engineers messed about with it- anyway I never had any problems with that terrible engine and that car was sold to a friend of mine with 139k on the clock- i warned him to change the oil regularly but its not my problem now its down to him- in my experience yes modern cars are capable of large mileages and to be fair stuck in top gear on a motorway is not going to stress or wear an engine out its the stop start speeding up and down in town thats worst or short journeys isnt it? 

So yesterday i fitted my new Bosch Double Platinum spark plugs. Old ones looked to me to be originals from when car was new- see photo. Im pleased to say that the slight misfire/hesitation has completely gone and car feels slightly livelier and engine is definitely quieter and smoother. So as i suspected this car did not have a service when we bought it and taking it to a Skoda dealer for a check over to find out what was causing hesitation/misfire at a cost of £65 and being told it was fine had been a waste of time and money- lesson learnt check car and service it myself - get hard jobs done by an independent trusted mechanic as i have done for past 15 years too👍

Edited 5 June, 20215 yr by Michaeldavis39