Name that tune!

 

Ok, strange one this morning. 

 

No fault codes, slightly hesitant at low revs going through the gears. At first I thought it was clutch slippage ( DQ381 AUTO ) 

 

But then rev'd it in neutral whilst coasting and knew straight away it wasn't the gearbox.

 

Got to the garage, they could here me driving up the street and even came out to greet me !

 

Again, no fault codes, I thought it might be injectors , unplugged one at a time and tried the throttle a little. No descernable difference. 

 

10K KM since service, didn't check the filter yet. Oil in the filler cap and dipstick looks ok.

 

It sounds top end , but it's hard to hear over my crying 😭 

 

Any thoughts?

Aircon pump shear plate semi disintegrated with one of the straps flailing.

 

Is the aircon working? Does the noise change when you switch it on or off?

9 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Aircon pump shear plate semi disintegrated with one of the straps flailing.

 

Is the aircon working? Does the noise change when you switch it on or off?

 

Didn't check. Heater was on but couldn't say if the Aircon was working. I'll try that. 

3 hours ago, J.R. said:

Aircon pump shear plate semi disintegrated with one of the straps flailing.

 

Is the aircon working? Does the noise change when you switch it on or off?

If you get that right it’s the call of the century!

Well, Diagnosis is in. 

 

Good guess J.R., but unfortunately for me, you were wrong.

 

 

 

Fairy dust in the oil. Game over.

 

On the hunt for a replacement engine now.

So is it as simple as finding another DFHA Engine?

 

Any insight is greatly appreciated 👍 

Following on from this drama.

 

New engine purchased today. 

 

That looks new new rather than just new to you. Dare I ask how much?

3400€ including Vat Delivered from Europe. Sub 1000KM

 

Not much choice out there, all around similar money, the lower the mileage the better.

 

Looking at the failed engine, looks like it was either a spun bearing or oil deprivation. From perfect running to failed engine in less than 60KM. Only fully serviced 10k KM previously. 

Edited 12 December, 20241 yr by defsix

21 minutes ago, defsix said:

3400€ including Vat Delivered from Europe. Sub 1000KM

 

Not much choice out there, all around similar money, the lower the mileage the better.

 

Looking at the failed engine, looks like it was either a spun bearing or oil deprivation. From perfect running to failed engine in less than 60KM. Only fully serviced 10k KM previously. 

Reciprocating and rotary parts will start failing almost immediately once lubrication system fails. 

Hello All!

Today's update, still awaiting my replacement engine. On route at the moment.

 

Today the engine was removed. 

 

 

 

2½ Casual hours. 

 

When taking off the wheel arch liners I was surprised at the amount of mud between it , the body work and the peace of foam. It looks like a great spot for rust!

 

 

 

Edited 28 December, 20241 yr by defsix

What mileage was on the engine and what was the service schedule like? was it on fixed or variable? What oil was used?

 

To me it seems unlikely that it was a low oil pressure issue from the pump as these engines have redundancy. When in low oil pressure mode it has a low pressure switch and in high pressure mode there is another switch. A discrepancy in these pressure switches can result in limp mode. It would be good to check the condition of the wet belt and oil pick up though.

 

I hope you are planning on taking the bearings out of each rod so we can see which one has failed and how the others look.

 

 

120K Miles. Skoda online service history, appears to be main dealer serviced on long intervals. 

 

Oil pickup is going to be the first look. 

 

All going to plan, I hope to do a teardown and see what was the point of failure. 

Day 30 something.. 

Update in this small issue. I believe this is also in relation to Oil Pump Solenoid Thread. We are on the middle of stripping the engine down, anad looking for possible causes. 

 

Today we found the oil pump solenoid was broken and the solenoid was also jammed. Stuck open or stuck closed were not quite sure. The part that is in the block is rusted solid. The was rust built up around it , from above, and weaped into the solenoid body. 

 

Hopefully the pictures will explain it better.

 

 

 

 

If this was the point of failure, theoretically the oil was running low pressure all the time. 

 

As it is now in the block, my mechanic doesn't know how he could get it out easily.

Water pump or coolant leak?

Looks like there was some coolant leak in the past.  Did a deep teardown of the engine since. The block was rusty in a places, not sure from what. 

 

Removing the coolant system has show a few weak points where rust has got between the seals and the plastic connectors.

 

The mechanic and I both believe this issue was caused by oil starvation, caused by this failed solenoid. 

 

Cylinder 2 failed first, spun bearing. 1 & 3 were reddened. Scoring on the crank. Oil pickup was fine, it caught the bearing debris though. 

A few more pics.

 

 

Today we swapped the engine accessories over, different cooling system. The diner engine had different gearbox cooling setup. That's sorted now. 

 

Wiring loom had 2 different plugs, DPF sensors were missing on the old engine.

 

Flywheel was wrong. Mine is gone, but was lucky to get the engine with the fly wheel, but alas, wrong part number. New one on the way. 

 

Turbo rebuild next week. 

 

Will update later on!

 

Just to add, oil pump and wet belt were checked and appeared to be working fine. 

Edited 4 January, 20251 yr by defsix

This is the solenoid?

Looks like it, behind the Air Con pump.

 

It regulated the oil flow directly into the oil pump. 

Edited 4 January, 20251 yr by defsix

Did your oil vacuum pump made ticking sound on cold start? Main skoda dealer told me it is normal and nothing to worry about..

 

Check video pls

 

https://youtu.be/g08CYMs1kMU?si=oyb3CpyZB_8hBTkt

No abnormal noises beforehand.

 

Car was driven 30KM briskly with no issues. The following day after 15KM , the knocking started. 

It might be oil starvation but this solenoid is not to blame IMO. I find it very unlikely for the car to be stuck in low oil pressure mode as the car has to see the High oil pressure switch make or you will get a limp mode situation, at least that was my experience when diagnosing a faulty pressure switch on this engine.

 

Even if the high pressure switch had failed in the closed position, I believe the car will throw an error as when in low pressure mode it knows the switch should be open.

 

I mean the coil end of that solenoid looks horrendous, were there any codes for it being open circuit?

On 04/01/2025 at 22:14, ile7 said:

Did your oil vacuum pump made ticking sound on cold start? Main skoda dealer told me it is normal and nothing to worry about..

 

Check video pls

 

https://youtu.be/g08CYMs1kMU?si=oyb3CpyZB_8hBTkt

 

They all make this noise when cold

Edited 6 January, 20251 yr by SuperbTWM

22 minutes ago, SuperbTWM said:

It might be oil starvation but this solenoid is not to blame IMO. I find it very unlikely for the car to be stuck in low oil pressure mode as the car has to see the High oil pressure switch make or you will get a limp mode situation, at least that was my experience when diagnosing a faulty pressure switch on this engine.

 

Even if the high pressure switch had failed in the closed position, I believe the car will throw an error as when in low pressure mode it knows the switch should be open.

 

I mean the coil end of that solenoid looks horrendous, were there any codes for it being open circuit?

 

 

There were no fault codes at all, that's the crazy thing. 

 

When we started investigating the issue, the first this we check was this Solenoid, this was because I'd mentioned it to the mechanic as being a preventative thing to unplug from looking at other engines that have suffered from oil starvation because the pump runs at low pressure.

It wasn't going to be my first check, I had assumed the oil pickup was clogged, oil pump had failed etc.

 

When we undid the bolt the coil of the solenoid cracked off into my hand, I barley pulled it. The needle for the valve was lose inside and we pulled this out, the body of the poston itself is stuck for good inside the chamber, which is part of the block directly in fron to the oil pump, ie. very hard to remove 😁.

 

The could itself has 2 pieces that clamp the pin, they should move freely as the coil is energised. They were jammed. After a bit of wiggling with a screwdriver, they became lose and fell out.

 

My understanding is the coil could have been energised or not , but would not move the piston. 

 

Without live data on the pressure values it's hard to say for certain what was happening. I would have assumed there are 2 points for measuring pressure, but if so, and if there was a blockage in an oil chamber, would this not cause an error also?

 

It's probably going to remain a mystery 😭

 

Failure sequence was 2, this bearing had disintegrated on one side and had spun the other side, scoring the crank. 1 was reddened, 3 less so, 4 looked ok. 

 

If anyone had any other suggestions, ideas or theories, i'd be curious to hear.

 

When I get the new engine in, we're going to run a few tests with and without this solenoid plugged in. Pressure readings and live data.

Your right, I don't think you will ever know for sure, I just don't think the solenoid is the smoking gun your mechanic might think it is but it doesn't change the fact the engine is ruined.

 

What would be interesting to know is the exact behaviour of the oil presure when it transitions between low and high. If you suddenly give it a bootfull, how fast does the oil pressure increase.

 

I don't think i've seen any information on when the car even decides to reduce the oil pressure. Is it just coasting or low rpm/speed/load, is it in low/high pressure for motorway cruising, who knows.

 

 

Live data might help, need to get the new engine in first !

 

My mechanic, a VW/Audi trained, independent had never even heard of this solenoid before I pointed it out to him.

 

I'll update as I got more news.