Hi all. I did a quick search but this is general so keywords won't help. I'll try explaining and giving any history and hope for some informed insights.

 

I have an Octavia II 2009-2010 Greenline 1.6 TDI, 5 speed manual gear box. Got +190k miles. Practically one owner before me who used it on motorway.

Everything about this car is perfect. I've had it for 4 years with no big issues. Changed a bulb or two, and a tailgate strut. Don't think I did anything else other than regular servicing. Car has been serviced regularly all its life.

 

One thing I noticed when I bought it was that the steering wheel felt a bit heavy (moving from a Citroen C3, I assume this is just car-to-car difference), so moving on.

 

The one thing it does is if you move in slow traffic, or keep engine revs fixed at a low gear, say for a minute, it says engine faults, and you get a glow plug light on the dashboard. Which clears when you turn the car off and back on.

An OBD scan at the mechanic says it's the EGR flow is insufficient. My mechanic adviced that the job is not economically worth doing, and that I could leave it as it is for a while - do it if I really have to. I've now done a rescan and got the same result. No new codes or faults coming up.

 

 

Now, both myself and my wife feel the same thing: it feels like the steering is a tiny bit heavier, and that the car overall feels a bit heavier. Still works and no codes reported on OBD, no visible issues, but just car feels like it needs more effort to move, for maintaining speed going uphill, moving from a standstill, or taking junctions. Tyres are the right pressure, before you ask. Our normal in-town driving, we never reach 3k rpm or over-rev. Mostly 1.5-2k rpm. Consider which engine we have.

 

Can I have your insight on this? Is it just us or are these supposed to have firm/hard/heavy steering? And what would you think if the car starts to feel like it needs a bit more effort to roll, but no faults come up.

Edited 7 November, 20214 yr by KingRoach

Check for binding brakes, an easy test on level ground with gearbox in neutral and handbrake off is to squat facing a rear wheel, grasp the tyre on opposite sides with both hands and you should be able to roll the car forward and backwards easily.  Another test requiring a bit of judgment is coasting to a stop on flat ground in neutral from walking pace.  If the car rolls to a stop but feels like you braked gently it's probably a front brake binding, if it rolls to a stop with a slight squat from the rear and rebound sensation it's the rears that are binding.  Of course there are other ways to check such as jacking up each corner or measuring brake disc temperatures.

 

If you usually run at such low engine RPM I'm not surprised if it's feeling a bit choked up, take it out for a good rasp regularly.

 

I have often thought the Octavia had heavy steering compared to several other cars I've driven/drive, but only at slow speed.

10 hours ago, KingRoach said:

are these supposed to have firm/hard/heavy steering?

Compared with a V@*xh@11, for sure. Compared with a pure hydraulic PAS Citroen, not so much.

 

As to the lack of power, I'm fairly sure you have a chocked EGR. A good mechanic (so not a Skoda main stealer "technician" then) would have ideas for how to clean it out.

Have you tried unplugging the MAF sensor to see if it makes a difference?

I would agree that it looks like your EGR is sticking & causing loss of power.

If it gets worse the DPF will start to get clogged as well.

 

Suggest if you have the CAY engine you fit one of these :-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181994477873?hash=item2a5fb75931:g:xEUAAOSwhvFZAvHt

 

This will disable the EGR & restore the engine to full power again.

No problem with MOT either.

If the car had the emissions fix done by Skoda, then EGR failure is a common occurrence, with some people having had 3 failures in two to four years. First replacement is usually done free under the Trust Building Measures within the two years limit after the fix.

Thanks for the replies all! I didn't see my email so didn't realise there were replies.

 

On 07/11/2021 at 03:57, MicMac said:

Check for binding brakes

 

This is a very good suggestion. I'll try that out. Which remidns me, last MOT the mechanic did mention something about one caliper probably binding or something, he pry-barred it or something (I didn't hear or see well) and since then I got some slight squeaks every now and then. Now I don't drive that car anymore so can no longer tell, but this is definitely worth looking into as a potential culprit.

 

I do take the car out on a motorway every now and then. Like I said, 4 hours on a motorway not too long ago, and over 40 minutes of gear-4-driving (2-3k rpm) on a motorway. I'm pretty sure the DPF is clear. The EGR less so. I've been considering using one or two of those EGR cleaner spray cans that go into the intake while the car is running. Worth a shot, or... see comment at the end?

 

On 07/11/2021 at 10:20, KenONeill said:

Compared with a V@*xh@11, for sure. Compared with a pure hydraulic PAS Citroen, not so much.

 

Don't you mean they are similar to the Vs and different from the Citroen? My previous Citroen was light as air (not in a pleasing way) my current Merc A180 is light as water (in a pleasing way) - I haven't driven V's, but just test driven a 2013 passat recently and it may not have been far off the Octavia. Still think the Octavia is heavy-steered to an unpleasant degree.

 

On 07/11/2021 at 13:02, wiilydog said:

Have you tried unplugging the MAF sensor to see if it makes a difference?

 

What would that help? No I haven't.

 

On 07/11/2021 at 15:27, PipH said:

I would agree that it looks like your EGR is sticking & causing loss of power.

If it gets worse the DPF will start to get clogged as well.

 

Suggest if you have the CAY engine you fit one of these :-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181994477873?hash=item2a5fb75931:g:xEUAAOSwhvFZAvHt

 

This will disable the EGR & restore the engine to full power again.

No problem with MOT either.

I don't know which engine code I have yet. Haven't looked. This is a complete blanking that tricks the system into thinking the EGR is still present and is funcitoning happily, correct? I'm not sure I want to do that to my car even though I understand the benefits. I have kind of just kept it as stock as possible all this time. Not even taken it to do the emissions test. Follow comment below.

 

On 07/11/2021 at 22:45, pikpilot said:

If the car had the emissions fix done by Skoda, then EGR failure is a common occurrence, with some people having had 3 failures in two to four years. First replacement is usually done free under the Trust Building Measures within the two years limit after the fix.

I haven't done the emissions fix, why would I? How would I know they wouldn't install some other bug or claim my car needs something it doesn't. No I don't trust dealerships with anything.
But this is very interesting, you are saying that if I get he fix done and get EGR problems as a result within 2 years, they would replace the EGR for me? That sounds like a free EGR replacement opportunity.

5 hours ago, KingRoach said:

Don't you mean they are similar to the Vs and different from the Citroen? My previous Citroen was light as air (not in a pleasing way) my current Merc A180 is light as water (in a pleasing way) - I haven't driven V's, but just test driven a 2013 passat recently and it may not have been far off the Octavia. Still think the Octavia is heavy-steered to an unpleasant degree.

No, I meant what I said, and have driven a Citroen Xantia back to back to back with a Vectra and an Octavia (the Vectra and Octavia on the same roads at that).

 

The Vectra was light and feel-free to the point of feeling anaesthetised, which criticism I would not level at the other two.

6 hours ago, KingRoach said:

But this is very interesting, you are saying that if I get he fix done and get EGR problems as a result within 2 years, they would replace the EGR for me? That sounds like a free EGR replacement opportunity.

 

If you get the fix done then you will soon see that one free EGR is small compensation for other negatives.

Skoda have taken down their VIN checker where you could check if they had applied the fix. It is replaced by three other items: https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/ea189

 

In several places they say the fix is optional, not mandatory and not a recall. This is different to the stand they were taking when they were sending out letters or getting the fix applied during service work without asking.

 

Read their comments on the legal cases against them in the third section. Next in court in March next year.

 

I would agree that VAG car steering is not as light as some cars. The Xantia I had was very light at parking speed (like American cars with one finger steering) but only slightly lighter to VAG cars when moving.

 

38 minutes ago, pikpilot said:

The Xantia I had was very light at parking speed

Ah that would explain it a bit; I tend to minimise the amount of steering I do at parking speed.

If you unplug the MAF and the car runs better it could be a faulty MAF, as MAF controls the fueling so if it was under fueling then it would feel very sluggish.

On 13/11/2021 at 10:23, pikpilot said:

 

If you get the fix done then you will soon see that one free EGR is small compensation for other negatives.

Skoda have taken down their VIN checker where you could check if they had applied the fix. It is replaced by three other items: https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/ea189

 

In several places they say the fix is optional, not mandatory and not a recall. This is different to the stand they were taking when they were sending out letters or getting the fix applied during service work without asking.

 

Read their comments on the legal cases against them in the third section. Next in court in March next year.

 

So in short, getting the fix done by them is not recommended. I'm sorry I cannot go through any reading material at the minute, can you give me a summary for information? I'm not aware of any updates after the time they sent me that letter a couple years ago. It does say optional on my letter.

 

7 hours ago, wiilydog said:

If you unplug the MAF and the car runs better it could be a faulty MAF, as MAF controls the fueling so if it was under fueling then it would feel very sluggish.

I see what you mean now. I may give it a test.

 

 

I've now tested the above suggestion for brake caliper binding, and there seems to be non. I could make the car move on a flat surface while in neutral by turning the rear wheel with one hand. Pushing that wheels, the car keeps moving for a bout 50cm.

Coasting the car at walking pace also yields no sense of braking, neither at the front nor rear.

 

The one thing on my radar now is the EGR delete (with EGR simulator). I'd attempt that on this car for for £30 if I can find a kid cheap second hand, but not for £100 as it's not a priorty. The car is nearing 200K and I want to minimise risks of failure.

Is the air filter serviceable or clogged?  Easy to check/clean for an extended life.

2 hours ago, MicMac said:

Is the air filter serviceable or clogged?  Easy to check/clean for an extended life.

New filters every service. New ones have been installed last MOT, about 9-10 months ago. Nothing in the weather this year have clogged anything. I can check but 100% sure the air filter will not be a source of any issues here.

A little update. My neighbour, who's driven Audis for as long as I've known him, has had a chance to use my car for a couple days. I asked him if he feels it's underpowered or heavy, and he said it feels fine.

 

I suppose the culprit in this story may have been a low tyre pressure, as I found one tyre losing pressure after a while.

 

Thank you so much for all the useful information, may this thread be informative to others for years to come.