Skoda Fabia VRS mk2 CAVE engine rebuild advice

[Yaseen97]

Hi All,

 

as the title says, I’m looking to rebuild my engine and need help!

 

i have a 2010 mk2 fabia vrs on 84k, the week that i bought it, engine went. Had it checked at skoda and they said its lost compression on cylinders 2 and 3. Spoke to a few engine rebuilders, they recognised it straight away as pistons cracked and the repair is going to cost more that 2 grand so hoping to do it myself. I’ve looked into it extensively and read all the advice on the forum especially from Toot which has really helped. I’ve got decent experience with cars but nothing on engines so hoping to make it work otherwise going to have to sell the car as spares or repairs. 
 

I want to get this done on a budget hence probably won’t be able to do a perfect rebuild but want to get it atleast running well again.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185796086932?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Q1lNk_RVRhW&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=19FGbvMtTx6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

i found this rebuild kit on ebay with kolben pistons which i hear are the ones to get. 
 

if anyone has any thoughts on what else needs to do be done besides the pistons please let me know!

 

thanks in advance

[Ootohere]

Welcome to the forum.

@Mickmartin, @thomasaspinor others might assist you.

I do not get my hands dirty, i do bodywork / painting my mate does my engines or another gearboxes. 

 

PS

I see a 2010 vRS i had was on 85,000 miles so you do not have that one.

It had a good rebuilt engine put in it before it was sold on and the very good tuned engine removed.

Edited 25 May, 2023 by toot

[Yaseen97]

2 minutes ago, toot said:

Welcome to the forum.

@Mickmartin, @thomasaspinor others might assist you.

I do not get my hands dirty, i do bodywork / painting my mate does my engines or another gearboxes. 

Hi Toot,

 

any help would be amazing!

 

if you guys know any good repair manuals aswell for timing the engine and disassembly that would he great also. Please let me know what you think of the repair kit i linked

[Ootohere]

Are you even sure it has the original engine in now?

There were only a few early 2010's and members here had them.  Some got rebuilt engines / short units, and others replacement base engines and some might still be running the original.

 

?

Do you want to put up the Registration Number?  Maybe the past owner is here.

[Yaseen97]

Yeah the reg is lb10wgw, i got it off copart as it had a very minor rear door hit which i just bought a new door for. 
It doesnt have the service history with it or anything but i found an old green slip in the car for a tracey hardcastle in tonbridge if that helps, purchased in 2013 

[Skodinho]

That’s the green one aye been ragged to pieces was notorious a few years back 

[sepulchrave]

33 minutes ago, Yaseen97 said:

Please let me know what you think of the repair kit i linked

 

I think you get what you pay for.

[Yaseen97]

1 minute ago, sepulchrave said:

 

I think you get what you pay for.

Any recommendations on what to get? All i know is the kolben pistons are the ones to get

[sepulchrave]

6 minutes ago, Yaseen97 said:

Any recommendations on what to get? All i know is the kolben pistons are the ones to get

 

Kolbenschmidt pistons are ok, but they're about £90 each with rings, you need to get the head off first so you can inspect the bores otherwise you might find you need to order oversized pistons to suit a rebore.

[sepulchrave]

These are OE quality:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123658930308?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=mOcu-M9kQhS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=_BlMq7ebT3O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Unlike those fake Chinese sh1tters in your link!

[Gasbeg]

You need to just send it on the m56 that should sort most issues out 

[Yaseen97]

3 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

These are OE quality:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123658930308?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=mOcu-M9kQhS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=_BlMq7ebT3O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

Unlike those fake Chinese sh1tters in your link!

Thanks!

other than the pistons replacing is there anything else thay needs changing to get the car sorted? Planning on changing plugs ofc

[Ootohere]

@Yaseen97  lets see if @Crashercan give you some advice.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/511109-skoda-fabia-vrs-cave-interference-or-not/page/2

 

[sepulchrave]

I'm going to be brutally honest here @Yaseen97, the questions you're asking suggest to me that you don't have the facilities, the tools or the talent to remove and rebuild a complex high performance engine like the 1.4 twincharger unit, it's not something you can do on the drive outside the house!

[Mickmartin]

You’ll be looking close to or over 2 grand rebuilding it yourself if you don’t have the tools at your disposal.Worst case scenario can you make your money back selling it spares or stripping it?I’d personally start stripping it and see the extend of damage first mate, then go from there and see where your at and calculate the damage to the body into the matter.

 

Can put you onto a few bodys that have rebuilt these blocks if need be.

Edited 25 May, 2023 by Mickmartin

[Yaseen97]

2 hours ago, sepulchrave said:

I'm going to be brutally honest here @Yaseen97, the questions you're asking suggest to me that you don't have the facilities, the tools or the talent to remove and rebuild a complex high performance engine like the 1.4 twincharger unit, it's not something you can do on the drive outside the house!

To be honest i probably dont! However its either this or sell the car for pennies as a spares or repairs as i cant afford to get it fixed properly, nor would it be worth it considering the value of the car. Just going to give it a go if all fails then havent lost any more than i started with

2 hours ago, Mickmartin said:

You’ll be looking close to or over 2 grand rebuilding it yourself if you don’t have the tools at your disposal.Worst case scenario can you make your money back selling it spares or stripping it?I’d personally start stripping it and see the extend of damage first mate, then go from there and see where your at and calculate the damage to the body into the matter.

 

Can put you onto a few bodys that have rebuilt these blocks if need be.

Thanks mate, going to get started on it tomorrow I’ll see what its looking like

[thomasaspin]

If I was doing it proper , I’d be stripping down and checking  for burnt out / bent valves , find it hard to believe two piston have gone at once , i would be using the uprated “3” compression ring pistons I do believe they are by kolbenschmidt, do take into consideration I would be changing the bottom end bearings if taking the conrods out and fitting a new water pump and timing chain , it’s a big job to take on without all locking tools and basic knowledge , might be worth dropping a cthe engine off the old breakers in there instead 

[Yaseen97]

Just got started today stripping the top to get the head off, a lot of oil in the boost pipes but none in the turbo is that likely coming from the pcv valve? Seems to be oil everywhere

[Ootohere]

@Yaseen97What is the back story.

Was it running when you got it and you were driving it then got misfires or into limp mode?

How many miles were you driving before any issue?

 

So what did these engine builders that recognised it straight away as cracked pistons do? 

 

Did the have all 4 spark plugs out, was a borescope used then they did the compression check?

 

Did it get run after that?

?

Where did you start, did you have the 4 spark plugs to inspect in order?

Did you then drain the oil and remove the oil filter and drain the coolant? 

[Yaseen97]

So story is, i bought the car on copart as runs and drives no egm, when it arrives I test drive it briefly and it has absolutely no problems at all for maybe 1 mile. As I was busy at the time just parked it on my drive and planned on fixing the cosemetic stuff at a later date. Brother borrowed the car for a 40 mile round trip and thats where it went wrong so don’t have much detail about exactly what happened.

 

took it to skoda for a “full diag” they said its misfiring cyl 2/3 burning oil in the exhaust and has low compression on cylinder 2. Wanted £400 just to take the head off for further diagnosis so took the car back from them. 

 

engine builders had a chat on the phone theyre princess engineering here in Manchester was recommended them by a few people. The guy said its most likely a cracked piston and hes repaired quite a few in the past, will probably cost upwards of 2k 

 

hasnt been boroscoped but since im taking the head off not much point now, ive just got most of the surrounding items off airbox boost pipes pcv system etc.

 

drained oil coolant and oil filters

 

planning on getting the head off today to get a conclusive answer….

 

just wondering what to do about the oil in the boost pipes and pcv, read on lucifers guide it usually comes from the turbo but the turbo was dry so 🤷‍♂️

[Ootohere]

What a shame.  Not even basic checks done. First it was sitting with what ever petrol in.  Then the spark plugs.   So do you have the plugs.   Main dealer diagnostics have been the trouble for 13 years now with twincharger Engines.   Ps I bought cars rejected and bought back by VW.  They needed the right spark plugs, a remap and 5w 40 fs and super unleaded and not the breather mods 1 or 2, or their software update or squirters.   Then needed used and not rebuilds.    Obviously there are Shagged ones, but that is often because the simple issues were not dealt with correctly. 

Edited 27 May, 2023 by toot

[thomasaspin]

Did the garage even do a compression test ? 

[Jocko]

Try toot's ideas and if they don't work the first thing I would do is buy myself a compression tester and test it myself. You can get one for under £20. I do not know about the VRS engine but in my experience, over many years, low compression on adjoining cylinders is commonly a blown cylinder head gasket. If indeed there is low compression on cylinders 2 and 3, before spending money on a box of parts, lift the head and have a look at the gasket.

[Yaseen97]

still in the job atm taking a break, engine’s definitely been worked on before found some new nuts on exhaust manifold and some destroyed spline bolts on the intake 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

I’ll pull the plugs and send a picture in a sec when i get back to it

[Yaseen97]

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