This filter is causing trouble in lots of cars from lots of companies, it's not only Skoda, Vx are having issues with them as well.

I have been following this thread with interest as I am seriously considering a Superb L&K 2.0 140bhp. Might even buy one tomorrow. Might not, now.

The service bulletin referred to is number 25 dated 27 April 2007 and I have a copy (ask no questions.....). I have attempted to attach a copy; dunno if I succeeded or not.

This appears to call for two actions;

- Regenerate DPF,

- Flash update the diesel ECU.

I would like to think that on new cars this modification has already been done. Does any one know?

Well, at least that confirms that I wasn't talking a load of bull so thanks for getting the copy Tarzey and yes, its been confirmed that the ECU flash is carried-out on all new vehicles.... and those standing on dealers forecourts, if they know it exists! When I called Withams, the Service guy didn't know it exisited either - he looked and hey presto! Anyway, after a 500 mile round trip today, taken the risk and deposit paid on a Black facelifted 2.0 140 Elegance, ex SUK managment car. I'll be banging on the miles in this and hope to get 3 years out of it. If I get one DPF failure in that time, I'll be happy - and having had the massive 1st year depreciation, it's a great VFM car.

About time this was floated back to the top

Oh for god sake.

Oh noes!!! Someone somewhere had a fault with a car!! Quick someone stop production and burn down the factory this crime must be stopped how dare they produce a car that went wrong.

Having supplied and driven countless different 2.0TDi Superbs I have never had this problem, and yes I have some reasonable mileage in them.

Yes the DPF will get clogged up if you drive around town in fifth all day long but don't drive like a spacktard and it will keep it clear or when the light does come on just boot it through the gears to clean it out quickly.

How come I have never heard of this design fault before?

/sits back and waits.

Oh for god sake.

Oh noes!!! Someone somewhere had a fault with a car!! Quick someone stop production and burn down the factory this crime must be stopped how dare they produce a car that went wrong.

Having supplied and driven countless different 2.0TDi Superbs I have never had this problem, and yes I have some reasonable mileage in them.

Yes the DPF will get clogged up if you drive around town in fifth all day long but don't drive like a spacktard and it will keep it clear or when the light does come on just boot it through the gears to clean it out quickly.

How come I have never heard of this design fault before?

James

If you had bothered to read the thread you will find that I am anything but a careful driver, & yet it failed for me, I know of many others who have had the same problem, many have PM'd me, even a local dealers own car came in on limp mode a week ago, the problem does exist for many.

If you read the manual or refer to Skoda technicians self study programme 60 (if your a dealer you will have one) simply ragging the car is not the way to regenerate the filter, there are specific guidelines to achieve this & ragging wont do it

This car is not suitable for prolonged town driving, for anyone who likes to bimble the car round on low revs or descends mountains using engine braking.

We have found being mindful to keep the revs over 2000 when driving & avoiding major congestion has meant we havent had the problem now for many miles. The car also gets a lot of motorway runs which must help

Its also false economy to drive them slowly, if the DPF isnt hot enough & bear in mind its located at the end of the exhaust the car injects additional fuel to raise the temperature of the exhaust gases, partly offsetting any savings you have made with your gentle driving.

Because of the extended injection time on these engines you can not put bio diesel in them. VW self study programme 336 has a detailed explanation on this.

Overall its a great car ruined by a single design comprimise dictated by the Eurocrats but why o why put something that requires exhaust heat to run as far from the engine as you can, that bit I would have thought even a simple designer could have fathomed out.

Stuart

James

If you had bothered to read the thread you will find that I am anything but a careful driver, & yet it failed for me, I know of many others who have had the same problem, many have PM'd me, even a local dealers own car came in on limp mode a week ago, the problem does exist for many.

If you read the manual or refer to Skoda technicians self study programme 60 (if your a dealer you will have one) simply ragging the car is not the way to regenerate the filter, there are specific guidelines to achieve this & ragging wont do it

This car is not suitable for prolonged town driving, for anyone who likes to bimble the car round on low revs or descends mountains using engine braking.

We have found being mindful to keep the revs over 2000 when driving & avoiding major congestion has meant we havent had the problem now for many miles. The car also gets a lot of motorway runs which must help

Its also false economy to drive them slowly, if the DPF isnt hot enough & bear in mind its located at the end of the exhaust the car injects additional fuel to raise the temperature of the exhaust gases, partly offsetting any savings you have made with your gentle driving.

Because of the extended injection time on these engines you can not put bio diesel in them. VW self study programme 336 has a detailed explanation on this.

Overall its a great car ruined by a single design comprimise dictated by the Eurocrats but why o why put something that requires exhaust heat to run as far from the engine as you can, that bit I would have thought even a simple designer could have fathomed out.

Stuart

Well thats reassuring, someone to openly admits to not being a careful driver, interesting approach.

I'm not having a dig at anyone it just annoys me to see a thread titled "Superb 2.0TDI DON'T BUY ONE" when I've never, ever had a problem with them, and I've done all kinds of driving in them from sitting in London for 3 hours trying to escape to driving back from Edinburgh in one hit. I've also never heard of one coming into the service department of either Skoda dealerships I've worked at, and I know 2 taxi drivers who have got them and they have no complaints.

Perhaps they made a small batch of Superbs that had a slight fault but that doesn't mean that all new Superbs are going to break down.

I feel sorry for you if Skoda UK aren't helping you to fix your car and it's unfortunate that it is approaching the end of the warranty. Best thing really to do if it keeps going wrong for you is part exchange it with a dealer and let them have the problem of trying to sell it on with the issues.

Regards,

James

Hmm. Have a look at a few VW/Audi sites - no trouble indeed! The notion of burning extra fuel to shift the soot is crazy.

Remember also that the Superb has a longer wheelbase than any other VAG vehicle using this engine, so the DPF will run cooler.

I'm afraid that this is VAG's half baked attempt at Euro IV and beyond compliance on an old engine and it has caught them out. As for putting the DPF further forward, the floorpan is the single most expensive pressing to tool for, so they're certainly not going to modify it for a run-out hack like the Superb.

rotodiesel.

Well thats reassuring, someone to openly admits to not being a careful driver, interesting approach.

I'm not having a dig at anyone it just annoys me to see a thread titled "Superb 2.0TDI DON'T BUY ONE" when I've never, ever had a problem with them, and I've done all kinds of driving in them from sitting in London for 3 hours trying to escape to driving back from Edinburgh in one hit. I've also never heard of one coming into the service department of either Skoda dealerships I've worked at, and I know 2 taxi drivers who have got them and they have no complaints.

Perhaps they made a small batch of Superbs that had a slight fault but that doesn't mean that all new Superbs are going to break down.

I feel sorry for you if Skoda UK aren't helping you to fix your car and it's unfortunate that it is approaching the end of the warranty. Best thing really to do if it keeps going wrong for you is part exchange it with a dealer and let them have the problem of trying to sell it on with the issues.

Regards,

James

The reason for the strong title to the thread was my annoyance at Skoda UK's attitude, almost we have your money, now its the dealers problem, we dont care. I had the option of sueing the dealer (not his fault) so I thought putting the facts as I had experienced them on the web was far easier & it gave me a way of venting my frustration.

As far as it being limited to a batch of cars I had discussions direct with SUK & all Superbs were the same & there were no plans to do any form of re design

As Ive said many times its a great car & fantastic value for money & provided that it suits your driving style its ideal.

Ours has only completely failed once in 60,000 miles but being in limp mode for 20+ KM down a french mountain ( we were overtaken by cyclists !) & a further 50Km to the nearest town, being without the car for a week meaning we had to completely re route our touring holiday to collect it, AA were useles etc etc etc really tarnished the Superb experience. Skoda UK helped out with our extra hotel bills so credit where credit is due but once home it was a case of its your problem not ours etc, If your not happy sue the dealer

I would add my not being careful was aimed at the way I tend to drive cars reosnably hard although it can I guess be read otherways.

Remember also that the Superb has a longer wheelbase than any other VAG vehicle using this engine, so the DPF will run cooler.

rotodiesel.

How the hell will it run cooler. The DPF is as close to the engine on the superb as it is on all other VAG 2.0TDI DPF units.

I just find it odd that if all the Superbs are the same surely I would have experienced this problem myself in a Superb.

We've got an Elegance TDi at the moment with DPF that has done several thousand miles I forget exactly how many but quite a few judging by the awful scuffed wheels, bloody 48hr test drivers. Anyway that car has not had any problems.

Until I experience it for myself I cannot really understand the issue. Once again very bad customer service on the behalf of Skoda UK if they won't do anything about your car, especially if it is not an isolated incident. I'm assume you have put countless warranty claims through trying to diagnose the fault and the Skoda dealer cannot find a fault or cannot find a fix?

How the hell will it run cooler. The DPF is as close to the engine on the superb as it is on all other VAG 2.0TDI DPF units.

Unfortunately not. Most are located very close to the engine, on the Superb & some Passats its at the very end of the exhaust, interestingly economy drops in very wet weather, Im guessing again due to the water cooling of the DPF

ah this is the early 2.0tdi superb ? The new one I looked at when we looked at the Scout didn't have the addative tank in the boot.

I just find it odd that if all the Superbs are the same surely I would have experienced this problem myself in a Superb.

We've got an Elegance TDi at the moment with DPF that has done several thousand miles I forget exactly how many but quite a few judging by the awful scuffed wheels, bloody 48hr test drivers. Anyway that car has not had any problems.

Until I experience it for myself I cannot really understand the issue. Once again very bad customer service on the behalf of Skoda UK if they won't do anything about your car, especially if it is not an isolated incident. I'm assume you have put countless warranty claims through trying to diagnose the fault and the Skoda dealer cannot find a fault or cannot find a fix?

Unfortunately its not a fault, the car is as designed & built, its a design problem so its only if Skoda chose to redisign something that the dealer could help. Skoda stated nothing would be done. The map I believe has been tweaked after the early models & ours was checked so there is a little hope for someone with a very early model.

ah this is the early 2.0tdi superb ? The new one I looked at when we looked at the Scout didn't have the addative tank in the boot.

The additive tank is only on the Superb, its hidden somewhere in the spare wheel well & I believe is accesed from under the car. Its certainly not apparent from a quick peer around the boot.

I feel sorry for you if Skoda UK aren't helping you to fix your car and it's unfortunate that it is approaching the end of the warranty. Best thing really to do if it keeps going wrong for you is part exchange it with a dealer and let them have the problem of trying to sell it on with the issues.

Heh , rather than get Skoda/The dealers to resolve the problem you are just suggesting getting shot of it and buying a new car....

Kind of defeats the object of a warranty really

Heh , rather than get Skoda/The dealers to resolve the problem you are just suggesting getting shot of it and buying a new car....

Kind of defeats the object of a warranty really

Indeed. But that's the only option available to him as it seems Skoda aren't going to redesign the Superb because of the fault he has experienced. Seems logical to buy something else that he will not experience issues with.

Indeed. But that's the only option available to him as it seems Skoda aren't going to redesign the Superb because of the fault he has experienced. Seems logical to buy something else that he will not experience issues with.

What would they give me for a 22 month old car with 59,000 miles on it, sub 10K I would guess. Its just such a good car otherwise I believe once its out of warranty the first thing to do is to persue the fix Skoda arent allowed to do

The additive tank is only on the Superb, its hidden somewhere in the spare wheel well & I believe is accesed from under the car. Its certainly not apparent from a quick peer around the boot.

It was a superb I was looking at, and I was having a "discussion" with the salesman and he pointed out the missing tank from underneath.

Anyone thought about putting the thermal exhaust wrap around the DPF to keep the temperatures as high as possible in there?

ah this is the early 2.0tdi superb ? The new one I looked at when we looked at the Scout didn't have the addative tank in the boot.

Ive just had a long chat with a helpful gentleman on Skodas technical desk. All 140 bhp Superbs will have the DPF & Additive, its not however on the lower powered one (didnt even know you could still get one )

Lower powered one ? Maybe thats what bickertons were showing me.

I can only assume they mean PD105 1.9 TDI?

What do you think about fuel quality (up to now i am using only Shell v-power diesel- but price).Maybe it is crucial factor in case of DPF.

The car should operate as intended by the makers on fuel to the specification they publish.

I do this with my Superb - it runs well and the fuel is generally supplied by Tesco.

But then, by careful choice, I don't have a DPF.

rotodiesel.

I dont particularily agree with the way that this thread has been bumped several times by the OP when it seems that it was just one incident with his car that seems to of been resolved.

It did make interesting reading though, learnt quite a bit about the DPF. I googled and found this:

Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) : Diesel particulate filters - The AA

and this:

http://www.iconia.org.uk/files/Diesel%20Particle%20Filter%20Recommendations.pdf

Maybe a sticky should be made (or 2, one in Superb section, one in OctyII section) as a reminder for owners of these cars (superb with 8v and vRS TDi) that have a DPF on how to drive them with consideration to the life of the DPF. I guess that this is all in the manual but things are often overlooked.

Steve