Hi folks - big decision for me to make on my Fabia which I’ve had since new and only 75,000 miles!! I would welcome your thoughts on what you’d do please!!

Car went into indi. garage because of engine management light. It’s only been driven 0.5 miles (to get to garage) since light came on.

 

The two fault codes are :

   16725 - camshaft position sensor (G40)

    P0341 - 008 - implausible signal

   17549 - load calculation cross check

    P1141 - 007 - implausible value

 

The indi. garage has said they think the tensioner is causing the issue because the chain has come out of position.

 

I’ve been given three options:

(1) replace whole timing chain kit, oil and filter £1,350 

(2) replace tensioner only, oil and filter £550

(3) pay £150 to take car away (cost of diagnostic work so far)

They’ve said because I haven’t driven the car far since issue that the sprockets and chain might not be damaged but won’t know until they take the cover off and get it apart.

 

Would ideally like to keep the car as we know the service history and only 75k miles but don’t know whether to go for the £550 and risk having to pay £1,350 🙈🙈

 

I imagine the car is worth less than £2,000!!

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated - thank you!

Just out of interest what engine is this? 

Hi there, it’s the smallest one - I think 0.9L and 70bhp something like that. 3 cylinder I think?

 

sorry if that’s too vague 

What's the registration plate, or VIN please?

The 70bhp 3 cylinder is  a 1.2 litre non-turbocharged engine.

The work to replace the tensioner (on that engine) is almost the same as for the whole chain, so I think this garage are not too sure what they're dealing with.

There's a fairly straightforward way of checking the chain timing on this engine, without significant time or disassembly work. Sounds like they're unaware of this.

 

Whereabouts in South England are you?

 

Hi Pete- thanks for coming in. The reg is HV10 VHK (sorry for the confusion on engine size!).

 

I think the whole chain will need doing now (tensioner on its own no longer an option as a Skoda technician has said Skoda have changed the tensioner part so now it doesn’t fit with old chain etc).

It may well be the case they’re not sure what they’re dealing with because they’ve said until they get the cover off and look they won’t know). So it’s either £144 and sell the car for scrap. Or pay £1,350 and hope the car works for a while after the repair.

 

They did invite me in to look through a little round cylinder type thing and said the thing that’s visible (gold coloured) shouldn’t be there and there should be a “gap” for something else to slot in there (I’ve attached a picture I took). So they believe the chain has “jumped” (I think he said)

 

I’m in Portsmouth.

 

Are you able to advise the straightforward way to check the chain timing please?

 

Thank you 

That's the 60bhp single cam version.

I think I see what they're getting at with viewing through cam sensor hole. Especially if they set cylinder 1 to top dead centre in compression stroke prior to getting the pic.

I'm more familiar with the twin cam version of the engine to be honest, though. 

 

I think they are getting mixed up with a different engine type when referring to tensioner changes and incompatibility with chain.

 

Whether it's worth fixing may depend on how much the chain has slipped. If it has only jumped one tooth there may not be any valve damage; more and there probably will be.

 

Are you attached to the car, so to speak?

 

Thanks again, Pete.

 

When you say “they’re getting mixed up”.. do you mean they as in the indi garage or they as in the Skoda technician?

 

The indi garage said they could try and replace the tensioner only and if that works it would be cheaper for me.

I called Skoda today to get them to quote and the parts representative spoke to their technician who said the tensioner had changed and would not be compatible with the original chain. 
 

Do you think for the 60bhp single came that a new tensioner would be compatible with the existing chain ? (I’m trying to understand correctly your 2nd paragraph) because this make mean the £550 option is back in play!?!

 

Thanks for the suggestion on checking how much it’s slipped-I guess to check how many teeth it’s jumped can only be determined taking cover off and getting underneath? I think they said it would take another hour to take the (cam shaft? ) cover off to check. 

We are not that attached to the car per se- it is old and bit run down inside-we see it as a good reliable run around. We’re more attached to the fact we’ve had it since new, had it serviced regularly and only 75k miles and only minor things have gone wrong (which I fixed) such as heater resistor, tailgate boot catch.

Hope that makes sense!

milion thanks again!

The Skoda tech, I think.

I believe it may be the 1.2 TSI (turbo'd,  quite different engine) which had a change of chain and so tensioner around  that era.

 

I think the degree of slip could be assessed (by someone with experience of this engine) by seeing how far away the slot that isn't currently visible via cam sensor hole is, if that makes any sense!?

Taking the chain cover off is a big job timewise,  and I can't see why changing chain at same time as tensioner would add greatly to the cost. 

Is it an Indie specialising in VW group cars or a more general one?

I would be tempted to get more quotes. 

How well/badly did it drive on the way to the Indie?

Oooh this could be good news! 
I will call Skoda again tomorrow to check with the technician - fingers crossed there has been no change to the parts for the 60bhp engine! And we could try just the tensioner being replaced.

 

It does make sense yes, I’ll speak to the indie tomoz.

 

They don’t specialise in VW but they do all the taxis in pompey and most of them are Octavias…

 

The garage is only 0.5m away and I drove 20mph most of the way and it was “ok” but revving the engine you could tell something wasn’t right. The garage have recommended I get it towed away if I don’t get them to do the repair and not to drive it to avoid further damage.

 

They said 5 hours to do everything and 3.5 hours for the tensioner only.

 

I might gamble at £550 and hope it’s just the tensioner and the chain/sprocets aren’t damaged.

 

The garage did say that if I went with this option they won’t guarantee it.. I.e. if it goes wrong again there’s no comeback to them.

 

 

No Octavias have the same engine as yours, so the Indie may be getting confused about what's involved in changing just the tensioner (much the same as changing chain really).

Ask Skoda to look at it and give you a quote to repair.

Or a VW group specialist independent. 

Thanks Pete .. will do