Hello, 

I purchased a 2017 Octavia diesel estate 1.6 two months ago.  It went back the garage within the first week of owning it because it smelt of burning and the fan staying on every time I switched off.  
 

I thought it was the DPF regen after doing some research which they confirmed it was but the fan staying on after every switch off was for one, annoying and two why was is it doing it?  They thought it was the air conditioning unit fan coming on to cool it down.  The thing is the fan comes on even if the air conditioning hasn’t been switched on?!

 

So wondering if anyone else’s does this, is it normal/ok?  Thanks 😊 

Hi @GillySmiff - welcome to the forum. FYI, there is a pinned post on the Octavia III forum page here which should help you: 

 

Thank you, I did read that post before I posted but was also wondering why my fan comes on every time I switch off my engine, surely that shouldn’t happen? 

The fan should only normally stay on if you've interrupted a regen cycle and the engine bay is super hot. It shouldn't be a common occurrence or happen every time you stop the engine...

 

How long are your journeys and what mileage has the car done? If it's been sat around a while it might just need a decent journey to fully clear the DPF out, if it's a higher mileage car the DPF may be getting full with oil ash.

 

Might be worth adding where you're based as a local member with VCDS/OBDeleven can check for fault codes and the soot/oil ash loading in the DPF

Thank you, I didn’t think it was right coming on all the time.  It’s done 52300 and I live in Oxfordshire Long Hanborough. 

I am a dog walker so I use the car locally on short runs picking up dogs, although last week did two long runs with it so that should have cleaned out anything lurking.  I know short runs probably aren’t great but I bought it for it’s space inside and being economical.  I had an older Octavia before 2009 plate and it was a brilliant car, hence buying a newer one.

 

When I took it back to the garage a week after I purchased it they did check for any fault codes and couldn’t find anything and a air conditioning specialist looked at it and couldn’t find anything wrong.  It did settle after driving it around a bit more but in the last few days it’s started up again now with every switch off, it’s as loud as when I park up at night in my quiet road, I can’t think I’m very popular currently! 🥴

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you’ve found, you’ve bought the wrong car for short journeys.

You are interrupting the regens, if you hear the fan is on then continue driving until the regen is completed, otherwise you risk the extra fuel injected post combustion from running down the bores and diluting the engine oil.

 

You can tell while you are driving that a regen is in progress by a change in engine note but the most obviosu indication is that the idle speed will be raised to 950rpm & if you open the window you will hear the fan running.

 

When I say continue driving I mean at above 1600rpm not dawdling along, a fast dual carriageway or motorway run, 5km max will do it under those conditions.

Thanks but I did have an diesel Octavia before which I did 100k miles in, did exactly the same job with short miles with occasional long mileage and it was perfectly fine!  An older model granted but surely this newer model should be capable of doing a similar job without the fan coming on after every switch off?! 
 

 

Just now, GillySmiff said:

Thanks but I did have an diesel Octavia before which I did 100k miles in, did exactly the same job with short miles with occasional long mileage and it was perfectly fine!  An older model granted but surely this newer model should be capable of doing a similar job without the fan coming on after every switch off?! 

But did your previous Octavia have a DPF?

 

You say it was a 2009 model, so the answer will be no.

 

The addition of a DPF has fundamentally changed the suitability of a diesel for short journeys, basically it's not suitable as the DPF regen won't properly happen.

 

Don't blame Skoda for fitting the DPF - it's a legal requirement under the increasingly severe emissions standards.

 

So whether yoy agree, or like it, a DPF equipped diesel is NOT suitable for your driving pattern.

@GillySmiff

?

How long is the fan actually staying on for when you switch off?

It can not be until the next time you start the car because the battery would be flat and the car would not start.

Thank you all your comments, I did realise that my old Skoda didn’t have a DPF fitted but clearly after reading various things about them and the comments on here I didn’t realise it was such an issue.

 

I’ll take is for a long pipe opener and hopefully that will help! 

The fun runs for five minutes. 

“Fan”

4 minutes ago, GillySmiff said:

“Fan”

Click on the ellipsis "..." top right of a post, and you will get an option to edit your post, for 1 hour after you made it.

17 minutes ago, GillySmiff said:

Thanks but I did have an diesel Octavia before which I did 100k miles in, did exactly the same job with short miles with occasional long mileage and it was perfectly fine!  An older model granted but surely this newer model should be capable of doing a similar job without the fan coming on after every switch off?!

 

Your newer model is absolutely not the same animal and cannot be abused in the same way, if you do not interrupt the regens the fan will never come on when you stop, if you carry on as you are it will continue to do so every time and eventually will go into limp mode and you will have to pay the Skoda dealer to carry out a forced workshop regeneration.

 

There is little point in telling you that your vehicle is not suited to your journey profile as its too late, you can however adapt and make the most of an imperfect situation by allowing any regens to complete, I like many others have had to do this during lockdown.