Glow plug system light, failed fuel injector and no confidence in my 2010 Octavia

[Malcolm-Lock]

Dear Forum Readers,

 

Sadly I come to you seeking guidance as to why my Skoda Octavia SE TDI GR 1.6L (2010) is suddenly playing up and hoping that there may be a known fix so I don't have to get rid of a car that has served me so well over many years.

 

Here is the story. About 3 years ago I was doing long daily driving commutes, nearly 2 hours each way. Irregularly the glow plug system light would appear on the dashboard but the car would never go into engine protection mode as the handbook and many forums suggested it would. Restarting the engine would often clear the light from the dashboard. My local garage could find no cause for this irregular error light, on two days in a week then a couple off then on again, etc. Changing my driving style (booting the car once in a while, or driving in a lower gear to help clear particles from the system) did not seem to have any effect on the warning light coming on.

 

Having stopped the long commutes the light has rarely come on since. The car is barely driven to be honest maybe once a week with once a month long trips to help family. The battery had to be replaced, finally finished off by the cold weather. Then a slight judder from the engine block returning from Christmas, the glow plug system light came on again rapidly followed by the engine management light and the Octavia went into engine protection mode on the M40....not fun.

 

The problem was a failed fuel injector #2, a known common fault. Repaired and serviced I hoped to rebuild my trust in a car that had never let me down until that part failed. However, the cruise control has not become active since the repair and the glow plug system light is back on, almost constantly only 50 miles having been driven since the repair. I haven't felt any juddering in the engine but last time that sign only came moments before the part failed.

 

Has anyone sadly experienced events like this? Is the glow plug system light linked to further failing fuel injectors? Is my non working cruise control an omen of future engine failure leading to stranding on another busy motorway?

 

Thank you for any advice, all appreciated. My apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere and I have failed to find the topic.

 

Good health and safe travels to you all.

Malc

[MikeTheThinker]

Octavia mk2s are very particular about battery voltage/condition and interconnection quality. I suspect (based on my control systems background) that there would have been software changes made to later Octys to build in some resilience for power supply fluctuations but for this generation the cars are very sensitive to poor battery or intermittencies.  What this may mean for you is that your intermittent fault states may be down to ageing connections between elements of your car's control systems.   First step (I suggest) is to check that the relevant fuses and control modules are cleanly connected and there is no wiring damage or breaks.  If it helps I have the Octy2 wiring diagrams from Mr Haynes manual.

 

There are a number of forum members whose detailed experience far outweighs mine and hopefully one or more of them will step in.

 

[TheClient]

Sorry to hear about the troubles. A fault code read on obd eleven or vcds is a very good place to start. It could point to the issue with a logged fault or series of faults. If it doesn't, then the investigation starts.  Is the cruise control acc with the radar or just fixed speed? 

[pikpilot]

I assume that 1.6GR is meant to be CR (Common Rail)  [Engine code CAYC].

If yours had the dieselgate "fix" it seems that once one injector fails the others follow soon after.

 

Faulty cruise control is more likely to be caused by a faulty cruise control switch or related wiring or clutch switch. You need to run a diagnostics check with history. 

[Malcolm-Lock]

Thank you for your quick responses.

 

"TheClient": There were no fault codes when the car was released from the garage. They suggested the cruise control might re-establish after a few good drives. It is just a fixed speed cruise control. I am not that technically capable, seeking to have the knowledge before my garage gives me choices. I have unfortunately spent over £2,000 in recent bills and I cannot afford any major work.

 

"pikpilot": My apologies for the error. It could well be CR, I opted for GR as I believed the model was GreenLine. I was told by Skoda that no fix was possible on my model so no work has been carried out to rectify that issue. I did think that was a bit odd at the time.

 

Thank you for all your suggestions.

[TheClient]

4 hours ago, Malcolm-Lock said:

Thank you for your quick responses.

 

"TheClient": There were no fault codes when the car was released from the garage. They suggested the cruise control might re-establish after a few good drives. It is just a fixed speed cruise control. I am not that technically capable, seeking to have the knowledge before my garage gives me choices. I have unfortunately spent over £2,000 in recent bills and I cannot afford any 

 

Thank you for all your suggestions.

Hi. Yes. But that was before.... and this is now. Since the injector replacement you had a car properly operating for a bit but now don't. So a fault code read at release may not be the same now.. 

 

You have to start with a fault read everytime you undertake to do repairs and resolve an issue, even if you checked say last week and the fault messages the dash seems to show similar behaviour. 

 

The cruise control does sound more like a connection or switch or clutch switch fault as @pikpilotsuggests. A fault code in a full code read would often be expected for that.. it was very unlikely  to magically start working by itself.

 

I understand your reluctance to spend more cash. There is a vcds owner  listing on here. I'll try to link later.  If you contact someone one they may help you out for a small compensatory token or two. 

 

If I was close, I could run something for you as a start. But I doubt you are, what county are you in? 

[pikpilot]

6 hours ago, Malcolm-Lock said:

I believed the model was GreenLine. I was told by Skoda that no fix was possible on my model so no work has been carried out to rectify that issue

 

As i know well, the garages were put under great pressure to apply the notorious dieselgate fix. You can check yourself whether not it has been applied by looking near the spare wheel for a small label containing 23R6.

[Malcolm-Lock]

 

"pikpilot": Thank you. I have to empty the bits from the boot so I will have a look and get back to you.

 

"TheClient": Thank you for your kind offer. My family are very close to Guildford. If I can trust the car to get me down later in February I could let you know. Not sure I have the confidence to do the M1 run though - not sure about facing a breakdown in a live lane due to smart motorway restrictions.

 

I would value any feedback to my following plan please: I am going to disconnect the new battery and turn on the lights to fully drain any electricity from the systems. I hope this might reset the electronics fully and might clear any gremlins. I will also pull and reset all the fuses at the same time. I did try and charge the battery so I wonder if there might have been some weird voltages in the system. If the Octavia is sensitive then this reset should purge the system.

 

Thank you for your contiued thoughts and opinions.

 

Malc

[T2000]

Do your brake lights work?

[Malcolm-Lock]

 

T200: Yes they do but I will double check in case I am wrong. I would have expected a warning light for failed lights, but is that always the case?

[pikpilot]

The mk 2 has a failed light warning for brake light bulb failure. 

This was not the case with the mk1. My son had an audi A3 and the glow plug light lit soon after after he bought his three year old car. Not knowing that the glow plug light was used to indicate all failures he booked the car into an Audi garage for an expensive diagnostics - for a failed bulb!

[Malcolm-Lock]

 

I can confirm that the brake lights are working perfectly and that there is no sticker so I am very sure no diselgate fix has been applied.

 

I drove the car this morning and no error lights on the dashboard (glow plug). Seemed to drive okay, slight judder from the engine disappeared once the engine had warmed up. Cruise control still not working so I will go back to the garage and see if they can provide the fault read. If so i will try and post it here for anyone who is interested.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to talk this through with me.

 

Malc

[TheClient]

1 hour ago, Malcolm-Lock said:

 

I can confirm that the brake lights are working perfectly and that there is no sticker so I am very sure no diselgate fix has been applied.

 

I drove the car this morning and no error lights on the dashboard (glow plug). Seemed to drive okay, slight judder from the engine disappeared once the engine had warmed up. Cruise control still not working so I will go back to the garage and see if they can provide the fault read. If so i will try and post it here for anyone who is interested.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to talk this through with me.

 

Malc

Well that is all in all, good news.

 

The fault read needs to include all the subsidiary modules. You won't get a full scan of all systems with a basic ODB scanner. Worth asking the garage can / have they scanned ALL modules.  VCDS or OBD eleven are used on these forums, I'm sure there are trade specific tools that also allow ALL module interrogation. Although a fair share of independent VW specialists use VCDS as their main diagnosis platform.

 

Was common for the on/off switch on the stalk to get dirty and fail to switch on properly as well.  Disassembly and a clean can resolve if that be the case.

[T2000]

9 hours ago, Malcolm-Lock said:

 

T200: Yes they do but I will double check in case I am wrong. I would have expected a warning light for failed lights, but is that always the case?

I was thinking it may have been brake light switch, that causes CC to stop working

[Ootohere]

@Malcolm-LockNo sticker means nothing.  Some dealerships did the fix without having permission to.

 

Does the VIN come up showing outstanding or not required whicj might well mean already done?   Engine Management Software & flow device fitted.

http://skoda-auto.com/services/recall-actions

 

[SuperbTWM]

6 minutes ago, T2000 said:

I was thinking it may have been brake light switch, that causes CC to stop working

 

or clutch switch.

 

It sounds like this car just needs a good diagnosis to me with somebody that knows what they are doing. If you are getting warning lights they are most certainly some error codes

[Malcolm-Lock]

Thank you for continued support.

 

The car is going to the garage on Monday and I will pass on your recommendations (TheClient). The cruise control isn't a major loss but its apparent failure alongside the fuel injector collapse is worrying to me. Hopefully the diagnostics can home in on the cause.

 

I have not had my Octavia serviced at a VW/Skoda garage for many years. Possibly that lack of care has led to this situation. However the letter from Skoda clearly stated that no fix was required regarding diesel gate. I will check the VIN as you proposed.

 

Have a good weekend. Malc

[Malcolm-Lock]

Dear All,

 

I have collected my Octavia from the garage who have replaced the DPF differential pressure sensor. The documentation they provided included three error codes, as follows:

 

• 01 Engine Management:
  • P245400 Diesel particulate filter differential pressure sensor circuit low
  • U111300 Function limitation due to received malfunction value
• 09 Central electronics
  • 01134 Alarm horn (H12)

I haven't driven the car far enough to try the cruise control but the engine does sound a lot smoother and the knocking in 3rd gear has gone (warmer weather perhaps?). I am a little worried reading other forum post about needing to run an adaptation before starting to the engine. Is this well known and employed by garages?

 

Hopefully almost a fully fit Skoda Octavia back in the line of duty. Any thoughts gratefully received.

 

Malc