10 year old estate with 260,000km on the clock

 

Driver side heating has been cold for 9 months

 

Then a month or so ago car started using coolant - I'm currently topping up with a pint every 2-3 days depending on mileage (car is on its' 3rd water pump)

 

In the past few weeks another issue; from cold on turning the key all I get is a brief click, doesnt seem to turn over. I wait a minute and try again and it seems to start fine. No issues after its warmed up. (Original battery is fitted).

 

So my question is, could these issues be related at all?

What engine?

Manual or auto?

Issues not very likely to be connected for  problems 1 & 3. Two things to check first - 

- Check if coolant expansion tank is "Mit Silicat" type. It is possible that the heater matrix and/or radiator has become partially blocked due to known issue with coolant additive bag.

- Get the battery properly tested, at 10 years, it may well be nearing end of life.

Edited 28 October, 20241 yr by Warrior193
added information

6 hours ago, ords said:

What engine?

Manual or auto?

Manual

I can accept that the battery is getting old - but why would just waiting for a minute then trying again make any difference? Tempting fate but she's always started fine after doing this, sounds a bit rough for a minute then settles down and drives fine after that.

1 hour ago, chelon said:

Manual

What engine?

15 hours ago, ords said:

What engine?

sorry....1.6 diesel

Charge cooler can leak causing the engine to be harder to turn over. Not sure if the 1.6 has a charge cooler though 

It doesn't have a charge cooler. I've asked a mechanic mate now and he's almost certain its  the head gasket. Which isn't worth repairing, so new car time

 

I bought the car new and 260,000km = just 161,000 miles

 

I bought a Skoda cos I thought they'd be reliable and good for high mileage....I find this quite shocking if I do need a new car now...

Are you certain you don't have a charge cooler? AFAIK, modern turbos usually have one.

41 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

Are you certain you don't have a charge cooler? AFAIK, modern turbos usually have one.

My mechanic mate tells me it doesn't have one, is there any way I can check for sure?

On the last page a charge cooler is mentioned.

Thanks for that, I'm still not sure how to tell if the charge cooler is the cause?

 

From cold on opening the water tank lid there is always a loud hiss of pressure - I'm pretty sure that shouldn't happen - does that point to the head gasket?

 

Also this has been going on for a month or more now - if all that coolant has bene leaking into the engine and oil, would the engine even continue to run? After a minute of warming up it seems perfectly fine...

My 2.0 TDI also has no heat and coolant leak with no visible leak. Currently on 152000 miles.

 

Yesterday it dropped a full tank in a few miles though, with a fair bit of "smoke" and water from the exhaust and research is pointing me to the EGR cooler being at fault for the coolant leak. The heater matrix being blocked will be why there's no heat. The silica bags in the expansion tanks are known split, but there's also sand from the forming and rust from the coolant in the coolant channels that block the matrix. Not a quick job if done properly. My original expansion tank still has the bag intact but I have had an orange tinge to the coolant which suggests a presence of rust in the system and will need to be flushed fully for a few hours. Head gasket failure seems pretty rare on modern VAG engines, unless it's been majorly overheated.

 

My other 1.9 Octavia had the click when starting from cold, battery was very tired. New battery and it's been fine since. 

 

In terms of being reliable, yes they are. But with everything modern there are small issues. Also things wear over time, and 'just' 161k miles is generally a worn in mileage for the engine, but a good life for the things that are bolted onto it!

Edited 31 October, 20241 yr by TalibanTed

Get yourself something like this to check whether the head gasket has gone pop.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Block-Tester-Bt-500-Combustion-Leak/dp/B06VVBSFTF/ref=asc_df_B06VVBSFTF/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1637813912064832664&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006886&hvtargid=pla-2281435177418&psc=1&mcid=1fdade9073cd38bfb253b430a031dd37&th=1&psc=1&hvocijid=1637813912064832664-B06VVBSFTF-&hvexpln=74&gad_source=1

Spoke to a mechanic yesterday, he says it's almost 100% certain the coolant loss is due to a faulty ERG cooler - anyone know if thats correct and if its a big job?

 

Also the brown stuff appearing in the water is due to the faulty heating element - quoted €1300 by Skoda dealer to repair - anyone know if thats a good deal?

What is this 'heating element' that your dealer is referring to? I don't see any reference to this in your previous posts.

5 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

What is this 'heating element' that your dealer is referring to? I don't see any reference to this in your previous posts.

Sorry maybe badly worded - he said theres a bag that bursts and can leak into the coolant, thats why I'm seeing debris in there. 

41 minutes ago, chelon said:

Sorry maybe badly worded - he said theres a bag that bursts and can leak into the coolant, thats why I'm seeing debris in there. 

He's referring to the often mentioned silica bag in the coolant header tank. See if your coolant header tank has the words "mit silicat" on it?

40 minutes ago, chelon said:

Sorry maybe badly worded - he said theres a bag that bursts and can leak into the coolant, thats why I'm seeing debris in there. 

That will be the 'Mit Silicat' bag that was fitted into the coolant expansion tank to prolong the service life of the coolant. The bag type were prone to breaking down and releasing granules into the cooling system and causing blockages, particularly in the heating matrix. I believe these fault prone additive bags are no longer fitted.

It does indeed have "mit silica" written on the tank.

 

So that could well explain the crud in the water and driver side heating not working.

 

Could it also explain the coolant loss?

 

I'm really not impressed with Skoda reliability....

If the radiator has also become blocked, the coolant loss could be the result from overheating - has this been happening?

22 hours ago, Warrior193 said:

If the radiator has also become blocked, the coolant loss could be the result from overheating - has this been happening?

Not at all - sitting at a steady 90 degs all the time

1 hour ago, chelon said:

Not at all - sitting at a steady 90 degs all the time

Skoda (in fact all VAG) temperature gauges show 90 degs for a wide range of temperatures (too many owners were reporting problems which were just normal variation in temperature when going downhill or driving hard), so don't believe the temperature gauge as an accurate measure of actual coolant temperature.

If your heater matrix is blocked the engine won’t overheat. There are three separate coolant circuits on the engine, engine, egr cooler and charge cooler. If the matrix is blocked when doing a regen the egr cooler gets substantially hotter and it can’t then pass through the full circuit to be cooled as the matrix is blocked so bypasses it back to the tank where it can boil the coolant out of the thank. The engine temperature sensor is on the block so will still read a steady 90