Our 2018 Fabia Estate 1.0 110HP DSG developed a knocking noise yesterday while driving. The noise is coming from the engine bay and is loudest at idle and low speeds but less noticeable at 60Kph. Brought it to a local mechanic as they are very close to where I live, he listened to it and immediately said "that engine is finished" 😧. He said he couldn't be sure without properly looking at it but that is sounded to him like the 'batten bearings' are gone. Given I have had it serviced in a dealer since new, he recommended bringing it to a Skoda dealer and getting it towed to them.

 

Pretty shocking news to hear from a car that's been well looked after and just 57000km on the clock. I've rang a dealer and am waiting on a mechanic to call me back but thought I'd check here in case anyone has any useful advice. I know its not guaranteed the local mechanic is correct but wonder is this a known thing to happen to these engines?

 

Thanks

I’m guessing that “batten bearings” could be bottom bearings or big end bearings - the bearings on the crank shaft that the connecting rods from the pistons are attached to. What is the engine oil level like, if it’s been run with low oil or low oil pressure that could cause bearing wear over time. It might be possible to have the oil analysed if it contains significant levels of white metal bearing material that would support the initial diagnosis. When you say regular servicing is that annually so it’s had 6 oil changes or is it flexible which could fewer if the latter it might be a factor.

Sorry to hear of your problem. Has the low oil pressure light (red) been seen to be lighting correctly when the ignition is switched on - and going out after the engine starts?

Has the car EVER been run with the red oil pressure light showing? 

Are you in the habit of physically checked the engine oil level on a regular basis?  

@thamestrader Yeah probably that as the guy had a thick eastern European accent. Service was yearly in Skoda dealer from new with all recommended things done as per schedule. The only difference was the most recent service was due in Oct 2024 or at 60000km. For various reasons I wasn't able to get it in then and was planning to get it done this month but we do so little mileage I wasn't overly concerned. However, now I've realised I haven't been as diligent with checking oil levels so its possible a low oil level has caused it.

 

@Warrior193 Thanks - Haven't noticed the oil pressure light, checked it there and a ton of lights light up briefly but didn't see any oil can symbol. Will check again in the morning - didn't start engine just pushed the start button though. Car has never had an oil light show or been run with that type of error. As mentioned above, no I haven't regularly checked the levels I'm afraid. 

 

Bringing it to another mechinaic tomorrow who said they'll give me an indication of what it is by Friday but if it is anything major they won't be able to sort it for some time as they (like all mechanics here apparently) as up the walls!

 

If it is the crankshaft bearings, is that really the engine done for and only option is a whole new engine? If that's the case how much would I be looking at? Original mechanic was saying he wouldn't know if he could even get one of these engines and to go to Skoda dealer about it.

10 minutes ago, mark_irl said:

If it is the crankshaft bearings, is that really the engine done for and only option is a whole new engine?

 

If it is then your driving it around to other garages will be the final nail in the coffin, crankshafts can be reground and fitted with new bearings but the labour costs are so high these days that it usually doesn't get done, mind you a new engine is equally pricey and lots more labour on top, owners who cannot DIY usually end up giving the car to the garage in lieu of payment.

 

There is every chance it could be something else, a loose flywheel sounds like destroyed main bearings.

I am an avid CAR SOS watcher they often have to repair cranks and bottom end bearings. Fuzz Townsend removes the sump, the sludge in the sump can reveal if the crank bearings have worn away. That might be possible without engine removal. Fingers crossed it’s repairable. Where in the country are you? There is a well respected independent VAG garage in Nottingham C&R it’s run by one of the Admins on the VW and Briskoda Forums, I’ve not used them personally though, but I’ve had very good advice from him thru the forums.

Edited 14 January, 20251 yr by thamestrader

One other thing that has been said to "happen" to these 1.0TSI engines is, the variable cam pulley "comes apart" and as it is powered by engine oil pressure, when that assembly comes loose - screws/bolts slacken off it seems, the pressurised engine oil escapes and that could account for the sudden lose of engine oil and drop in engine oil pressure.

 

If that is what has happened, VW Group advise you to stop ASAP when you hear the first noises which should be coming from the cam shaft end of the engine - a good plan in theory, probably not so good in practise!

 

If that is what has happened, you might be able to oil has been escaping from the RHS of the engine.

One thing you can easily check without starting the engine is the current oil level on the dipstick, if it's not too low and you haven't topped it up previously then it's unlikely to have been too low since the last engine oil and filter (you'd hope and they should have mentioned to you if the oil level was too low before the "service").  57,000km isn't a very low mileage so annual engine oil and filter changes should have been sufficient under normal circumstances.

 

For the warning lights have a look in your 'Owner's Manual' for the car, if you no longer have the very useful paper printed copy you can get a free VWŠkoda pdf copy from their website. -  https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

 

Good luck.

 

14 hours ago, J.R. said:

 

If it is then your driving it around to other garages will be the final nail in the coffin, crankshafts can be reground and fitted with new bearings but the labour costs are so high these days that it usually doesn't get done, mind you a new engine is equally pricey and lots more labour on top, owners who cannot DIY usually end up giving the car to the garage in lieu of payment.

 

There is every chance it could be something else, a loose flywheel sounds like destroyed main bearings.

Very difficult to say without knowing if oil pressure has failed for some reason. Engine can be rebuilt, but labour cost is likely to be fairly high, depending on how much damage has occurred - especially if the reported noise is due to damage caused by lack of lubrication.

  The red 'Oil Can' warning light should show every time the ignition is switched on - then extinguish almost immediately the engine is started - are you sure that this warning light does not show up?

The start up warning light test sequence is critical, anyone driving a vehicle really needs to be aware how important it is to check them every time.

Thanks for all of the suggestions/info. Latest update is I checked the oil level this morning after letting the engine get up to operating temp and then giving it 5 mins after turning off before checking. Oil level was just over half-way on the marked section A (see pics). According to the manual the oil needs to be topped up if it drops below the A section, so it wasn't below that area but it wasn't at the top either. 

 

I've also attached a pic of the lights after turning ignition on. They all go out either after a few seconds or after engine is switched on.

 

I drove to the other mechanic this morning and noticed that when I got to 50km/h, I couldn't hear the noise anymore. It's noticeable at idle to 30km then drops off. The car seems to drive completely fine and I wouldn't know there was any issue but for the noise.

 

I have a slim glimmer of hope all is not lost, the mechanic said that it'll be a few days before they get to work on it but his initial thoughts were it's not the bearings as he said that bearing knocking is usually more a metallic sounding knocking. To me, mine sounds more like something hitting off plastic but what do I know!

 

I'll update when I hear from the mechanic next 🤞

 

 

 

 

Edited 15 January, 20251 yr by mark_irl
clarified km/h not distance

Stupid question but have you checked everything is attached and not vibrating under the bonnet (engine cover, wiring / pipes etc.) - we had a weird noise one time on another car and it was something like a brake pipe that had come loose from its clip and was vibrating in time with the engine revs making a deep knocking noise...

The Red oil can or the Yellow oil can do not come up with the Lights check when turning on in a mk3 do they, they did not with mk2,s.

 

That is something best answered by Mk3 drivers. 

I can't think of the oil warning light coming on briefly with ignition but car isn't with me now to confirm - still a very good practice to get into to check (those that should) do light up, you then do notice if one is missing or remains on, or another warning light comes on after ignition, more by the pattern as they go out so quick.

 

Edited 15 January, 20251 yr by nta16
typos

I am pretty sure they do not check when ignition goes on.

 

@rum4mo is likely on the right track with the 'Cam pulley'. 

I can confirm the oil can light does not illuminate on start up on my mkIII. I only noticed that it was like this when doing its first oil change.

Seems a bit strange but that's what it says in the manual, so no bulb check on startup, just have to assume it's going to work if the oil pressure does drop.

Simply Clever? or not?

@mark_irl just some general advice, not moaning at you, engine oil changes are based on time as well as milage and particularly for a car that is used for mostly short journeys and/or more arduous or in hotter or cold climates annually is really the maximum time limit you should go for.  Also whilst the oil being in the A section is fine better to top it up to 'max' or just below than leave it until it drops below the 'A section'.  Unless your driving conditions are normally quite/very bad or other cause then the lateness of this engine oil and filter change would not have caused any of the suggested issues, nor of course the oil level being in the 'A section'. 

 

There is hope as to be fair to your first mechanic he did say he couldn't be sure without properly looking at it (but he could have had a better beside manner) and you have being driving the car around.  Good luck, let us know how you get on.

 

34 minutes ago, nta16 said:

@mark_irl just some general advice, not moaning at you, engine oil changes are based on time as well as milage and particularly for a car that is used for mostly short journeys and/or more arduous or in hotter or cold climates annually is really the maximum time limit you should go for.  Also whilst the oil being in the A section is fine better to top it up to 'max' or just below than leave it until it drops below the 'A section'.  Unless your driving conditions are normally quite/very bad or other cause then the lateness of this engine oil and filter change would not have caused any of the suggested issues, nor of course the oil level being in the 'A section'. 

 

There is hope as to be fair to your first mechanic he did say he couldn't be sure without properly looking at it (but he could have had a better beside manner) and you have being driving the car around.  Good luck, let us know how you get on.

 

Yeah I'm aware of that, service has always been done within or at 12months every year from new. Unfortunately, life events got in the way this time around (family members diagnosed with cancer, deaths etc.), so sometimes these things are not a priority.

 

In saying that, I'll definitely be more diligent in keeping an eye on the oil as that's something I'd let slip. Used to think by servicing every 12 months I'd be fine but obviously, I realise now I should be checking more frequently myself.

 

Thanks for the well wishes, I'll update once I hear back. We're on tenterhooks here as it's our only car and losing its sale/trade-in value would be a massive blow.

You do more than many car owners so don't worry about being a bit late with just the most recent engine oil and filter change as having the oil level in the 'A section' is fine and things with the car might not be as bad as you think or even possibly no where near as bad.  If, and that is if, the engine has a fault then that is on VW and the longevity of these engines isn't fully helped by all of the dictates of VW.  Once sorted and if you want to stick with this car and engine for a long time advice and suggestions can be given to help it perhaps last longer than VW care about.  

I've seen them spin the thrust bearings on the crankshaft.

Hi All, as promised I'd come back with an update.

 

Picked the car up an hour ago after speaking to the mechanic's place yesterday when looking for an update.  The issue was "Camshaft variator bolts all found to be loose - threads damaged". They investigated and couldn't find any reason and were convinced someone had done work on the engine and asked had the belt been replaced - I told them that wasn't the case, it's the original belt and that the last service was 14 months ago in a Skoda service centre. They were very surprised at this, didn't seem like an issue they'd come across before. They had to regrind the threads, build and test everything. Drove home and everything sounded fine and drove fine (although it was always driving fine other than the noise). 

 

The manager of the place told me it was the bolts hitting off the timing cover causing the noise. They said I was lucky as it could have ended a lot worse.

 

Decided to get an oil and filter done with them while the car was in so will keep an eye on the levels as I saw on some other threads on Briskoda people mentioning a leak in the cam actuator can cause this issue - I asked about this and they said they didn't see any evidence of a leak. They did however find evidence of oil leaking/weaping from the sump gasket. They said they cleaned it up and to bring it back to them in 1 month/2000km FOC to see if it's still leaking. They also had thought someone incompetent was working on things as they said that shouldn't be leaking on a car with 58000km on it. They said something about it not being properly sealed when installed.

 

So all in for the main issue cost me €486. A lot better than the many thousands I thought were down the drain after my experience with the first mechanic. We're very relieved to have the car back and to have not lost a lot of money but also aware it sounds like we were lucky the bolts hadn't completely come loose as that could have caused some serious damage.

 

Bit perplexed as to why it happened - would anyone know if the cam actuator leaking would have been obvious to the mechanic when working on the parts he was? (Hoping they didn't just do the refitting of the bolts and fob me off saying they didn't see the actuator leaking).

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions and comments on the thread. Hoping that's the end of things and we can relax and continue to enjoy the car. We had to start considering other cars while waiting on the outcome and the whole experience made me consider moving to electric...although I don't want to spark off a different debate on the merits of that 😂.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reporting back.

 

I think there was something about loose bolts but can't remember what or if it was related to this,  Ootohere and others would know.  If you've had the car from new you'll know where it's been in for "service" and other work.

 

Sounds like to me that the garage checked for leaks if they mentioned the sump gasket is possibly leaking (not one I can remember mentioned on this forum (but I forget a lot) and have suggested they would check it FOC.

 

We don't know what country you are in and the standard of Dealership, garages and mechanics where you are, in the UK they can be low and lower but some other countries seem even worse.

 

Personally I would look at buying a (much) older Toyota or Honda as a replacement, I have never been that impressed with the cars from the Germany in this century, perhaps a near to turn of century VW or BMW might be OK-ish (though not for me) certainly not a Merc.  I would not want a Toyota or Honda as new 2018 but that's just me. 

 

Let us know if there are any further developments, keep on top of the oil and filter changes (and engine air filter and spark plugs) for the VW 3-cylinder engine, good luck. 

 

Maybe, if you are concerned, dig a bit deeper, I'm sure that this was the topic of either a recall or hushed up as a workshop action to check/change something away from how it was originally built by Skoda, normally this sort of action covers a named range of unit serial numbers going by production period that this issue was "allowed to happen".

 

I'd be very concerned if I was you and you just got some local garage to sort this out, and certainly if I had used one that knew nothing about this issue.

 

I'd probably send DVSA an email or use their online notification system as that would add to those that hopefully have already done this, in my world, with the early admission by VW Group or at least one of their marques, that this was a known issue that they had addressed - a lesser version of this occurred with the earlier 1.2TSI EA211 engines and that, I think, prompted either a change in the part or a change of venders or something else, to minimise the chance of this happening with later engines.  This is not a "wear out" issue, it seems to be a poor/bad bit of design and/or manufacture of that part - I'd be spitting blood if I had to pay for a car manufacturer's error - well a big error like this. 

6 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

a lesser version of this occurred with the earlier 1.2TSI EA211 engines and that, I think, prompted either a change in the part or a change of venders or something else, to minimise the chance of this happening with later engines.  This is not a "wear out" issue, it seems to be a poor/bad bit of design and/or manufacture of that part - I'd be spitting blood if I had to pay for a car manufacturer's error - well a big error like this. 

 

From a bit of digging, I've found some threads with this issue specific to a 1.0 TSI engine - here, here and here. The last link has the OP of the thread state "VW have been aware of the issue for a couple of years, (June 2020), because they themselves raised an issue notice on their ERwin system. The TPI (Technical Product Information) number that you need to search is 2055431/4. Published 3.6.2020."

 

I don't have access of ERwin but does sound like it's not a random issue and as you say, more of a design fault or quality control issue.

VW owners in the UK are treated like mushrooms and viewed as the fed.

 

If the Dealerships actual done proper service instead of "service" then surely it'd include removing the top cover and checking the belt would be done particularly now the the UK lot have finally come in line (for their own benefit) with Europe and say belt replace at a much higher time and distance interval but to check the belt each year.

 

2019 Fabia owners have reported starting issues in cold weather because a relay on the fuseboard can't cope with the cold,  . . . and another issue I've now just forget. - got it, throttle body (I think).

 

Edited 21 January, 20251 yr by nta16
ETA: deleted error

Problem is a lot of these vehicles are not getting serviced at the dealers. Maybe the first 2 or 3 years but after that they go independent so these tpis etc never get carried out.