Hi all, been a long time lurker on the site but need a little help/advice. 

 

So 2019 Mk3.5 (Mk3 FL) petrol VRS Hatchback, bought in March 2020 with 6000 miles on (think it was registered June 2019) at the minute I'm sat on around 15,700 so maybe call it 16K miles, all services carried out when Skoda told me (So FSH).

 

Easier of the issues (probably) is the passenger headlight washer has poor pressure, water pretty much dribbles out onto the headlight, drivers side is fine. Wondering whether I can wash the screen/headlights and turn the ignition off to trap the headlight washer stalks out of the bumper to give it a good clean? don't fancy taking the bumper off or just trying to pry the stalk &/or cover out. Sure skoda will be expensive for this?

 

Next issue, rear suspension clunk. I generally go slow over humps and avoid pot holes but there is a fairly loud clunk coming from the Octys arse. Quite certain stuff in the side boot pocket compartments can't be making the noise as they're wrapped in an old blanket, admittedly I haven't checked the spare wheel well (Will do tonight to rule out my stupidity)  Have seen this german forum http://www.skodacommunity.de/skoda-forum/skoda-octavia-iii-forum/87256-polternde-hinterachse-ursachen-%C3%BCbersicht-in-startbeitrag/ mentioned in this thread about shocks so may be something to pass onto Skoda dealership when it goes in.

 

Final issue is coolant; one which i know is prevalent on here shall i say. was going out for a friends stag at the start of October and was sat with the engine on in a maccys carpark for 15 minutes and got a low coolant bong and there was a few millimetres of coolant in the tank, left it at a friends house and collected later on and it was a few millimetres below the min level so crawled home (4 Miles) topped up with some G13 Evo (bought from Skoda) and a family friend mechanic told me to take it for a motorway blast then check the level and over the last few weeks its dropped a few millimetres every week or so. Skip to the end of last week and my normal 4 miles journey to & from work will average 30-35 Mpg (depends how i drive; boy racer mode 30, behave 35) it has suddenly dropped to 20/21. Fairly certain after searching the forum that this'll be the Water pump or the thermostat? Happy to proven wrong obviously!

Cars due in this weekend for its free winter health check, is it worth mentioning all three issues? i think i've listed them in ascending order of seriousness but i don't think they'll be too happy to have a look during a free check, and as its now just out of warranty (bugger) i know the diagnostic fee will be a chunk, TIA for any help/advice and what not! 

 

 

The coolant loss you describe was very similar to what I experienced with my 1.4tsi which was caused by the water pump.

I also think the consumption deterioration occurring at the same time is too much of a coincidence. These new engines have pretty complicated cooling configurations and a defective pump would confuse the engine management system.

For such a short commute your previous 30 to 35 mpg was actually pretty good in my opinion.

 

Is the noise from the rear coming from either or one particular side when you encounter a bump/pothole? Is it a new phenomenon?

 

You are really unlucky to get these issues in such a low mileage car just outside warranty

Thanks for your reply!

 

That's what I thought, my local Skoda dealers has agreed to have a look at the weekend when it's in but looking at other forum posts and seeing similar instances its kinda made up my mind that that's the issue now, but gonna take it easy the next few days. 

That 30-35 is with stop/start doing its thing and obviously relies on my lead foot behaving 🤣 

 

The clunk is just from the rear in general can't decipher if its from the left or the right hand side sorry! definitely a new thing, I'd say the last few weeks/months, did think it was stuff in the compartment boxes so that's why I wrapped them in an old blanket to see if it made any difference!

 

I was thinking to myself should I buy an extended warranty when mine ran out but never bothered, as I'm uncertain in march 2024 whether I'm keeping the car or handing back, I only do 160 miles a month for work and maybe another 100 on other things so the car is not hammered or certainly not abused just the occasional spirited drive when its fully warmed up 😈 but we'll see how I go this weekend and I can report back

If you are checking your loads the don't forget to check the spare wheel and tools are properly secured. It was an issue for me on another car especially on speed bumps.

Unlikely to be the problem but a simple check and a good excuse to check the tyre pressure on the spacesaver spare, which reminds me I haven't done mine for a while.

 

Unfortunately the water pump replacement is not cheap but it maybe worthwhile pushing the fact that the car is such low mileage and legally goods are supposed to be of  merchantable quality especially just outside warranty. I'm sure I have read rare reports in the forum where this has got the complainant some sort of discount on labour and/or parts, but I am certainly no expert on British consumer laws.

So little update;

 

Skoda have said the front headlight washer would need the bumper off to diagnose.

The rear suspension clunk, suspension could need regreasing (have heard of that before tbh) but could do with being diagnosed/investigating more so pretty much break the rear suspension down to have a proper look

There is definitely a coolant leak (Yay 😪) but they're not sure where from so will need the engine bay effectively stripping to find it properly, i'm still sticking to the water pump/housing or thermostat but see what they say as/when it can be booked in.

 

as it's out of warranty they said there's basically two options; the all in one deal two services, mot's, breakdown, warranty for £29pm for two years, but i cant claim for the first 30 days which means that it basically 2023 it gets looked at so **** fuel economy for a few weeks and the service guy i spoke to wasn't sure if i could just cancel if i hand the car back at the end of the PCP as i'll have used some of the services/mot and what not. other option is just hand it in, get a courtesy and fight Skoda UK for the cost or contribution, given the mileage i reckon i'd be in with a good shout but its a risk. i did put the car in in October 2020 for a bad blume of smoke out the exhaust, something i've read is a common thing on here, but wonder whether it was connected back then? even a pressure test can miss slight leaks according to golf gti mk7 forums, but guess i'll have many bridges to cross hahahaha

Any updates @IainLVRS?

2 hours ago, DeanVRS20VT said:

Any updates @IainLVRS?

Thermostat housing is leaking so ended up buying the two year all in warranty and at a vat, parts, labour cost of just on £1,100 the all in warranty being £699 over two years it’s paying for its self! Booked in for Monday 6th feb so should hopefully get fixed up! 
the headlight washer they claim was just blocked/frozen due to the cold despite it not working properly in October so I called BS on that, showed the mechanic and he agreed it’s not working so when the front end is off for the thermostat it’ll be getting looked at/fixed. 
rear clunk, haven’t the foggiest, took a mechanic out on a test drive and it was silent but when I drove home it immediately clunked out the road the forecourt is on, tried to get a video to show them but driving with your phone in hand videoing is dodgy and my dashcam doesn’t pick it up fully, they claim everything is tight suspension wise but once the thermostats fixed I may take it to my trusty Indy let them have a mooch. Checked the boot bump stoppers but they all seem sound so guess it’s a wait and see

@IainLVRS You say you had the car serviced as you were told to so FSH.   What is that @ 16,000 miles.

 

Was it fixed service so and Oil & Inspection each 12 months, 9,400 miles or was the first service @ 24 months so in 2021.

 

Did you get and Oil & Filter change once or more than once.

A pollen Filter.

The Brake Fluid Changed @ 3 Years.

The VAQ Diff (front) serviced @ 3 years?    Anything else, so a FSH of stuff done or a history of what was not done? 

 

The VAQ Diff service interval is @ 3 years / 30,000 miles, 

Have they told you about that?     It does not show below or on other Service Schedule or guidelines or recommendations.

 

Edited 5 February, 20233 yr by toot

5 hours ago, toot said:

@IainLVRS You say you had the car serviced as you were told to so FSH.   What is that @ 16,000 miles.

 

Was it fixed service so and Oil & Inspection each 12 months, 9,400 miles or was the first service @ 24 months so in 2021.

 

Did you get and Oil & Filter change once or more than once.

A pollen Filter.

The Brake Fluid Changed @ 3 Years.

The VAQ Diff (front) serviced @ 3 years?    Anything else, so a FSH of stuff done or a history of what was not done? 

 

The VAQ Diff service interval is @ 3 years / 30,000 miles, 

Have they told you about that?     It does not show below or on other Service Schedule or guidelines or recommendations.

 

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It’s a rather odd one but I bought the car at 9 months old with 6k on it at the start of March 2020 and they serviced it before I even bought it and that’s when it’s been serviced in 2021&22, it’s had it’s brake fluid changed and the front diff has been serviced, sure I’ve got a print out off the works it’s had done pdi and so on somewhere