Hi,

Just driving to work I had a sudden large plume of black smoke leave my exhaust and then I lost the majority of power to my car, it moved but very slowly and progress was painfully slow. At the bottom end of the gearing I had a bad rattle too which is very noticeable when I started my engine back up. This is very worrying :(

Any ideas what it could be? And would it be covered under warranty as I can't really afford a big repair bill at the moment. The car isnt' completely standard as it has been lowered on Eibach's, rear arb, strut brace and Blueflame exhaust. I'm guessing Skoda will try using the exhaust as a get out clause as they tried when replacing my head gasket when that blew. They said because it was modified Skoda will probably refuse to pay however they did in the end.

Thanks for any advise anyone can give.

Sounds like it could be the intercooler hose blown off which is fairly easy to check and fix. Failing that it might be the turbo.... as for whether Skoda will pay - that depends on how the mods are viewed - is the exhaust a cat-back system or a turbo back one?

Chris

A cat back, you should be fine.

Turbo back increses spool (i think) so would probably void any turbo warranty...

Check hose though as said as that is pretty common...

Thanks I decided to get Skoda assistance out to have a look as I'm not so good with DIY so when they come hopefully it will be simple. My exhaust is a turbo back so I'm hoping the turbo is fine. I had a word with Ed at APS as he's just down the road from work and he said it could be a stuck turbo vein or something like that or a sensor which I forgot the name of.

Thanks all advice is appreciated.

On the bright side, if it is the turbo, it might be a good time for an upgrade

Chris

That was a thought I had as either way it's going to be an expensive job. My car was actually due to go in to APS on Monday and have it's 40k service and new Sachs Clutch as the current one is slipping and spending a little bit more on an uprated clutch means I'll get more life out of it and come end of year will be out of warranty anyway so may aswell get it ready for APS to work there remapping magic and get the best from my car.

Thanks

That was a thought I had as either way it's going to be an expensive job. My car was actually due to go in to APS on Monday and have it's 40k service and new Sachs Clutch as the current one is slipping and spending a little bit more on an uprated clutch means I'll get more life out of it and come end of year will be out of warranty anyway so may aswell get it ready for APS to work there remapping magic and get the best from my car.

Thanks

clutch slipping with standard car within 40k?

Good job...!

I have actually took it back to Skoda to ask about the slip and they said it wasn't slip and that it could be the turbo pipe that is the problem but said run it and see. I believe someone else on here had problems with there clutch slipping and it was found to be a dodgy clutch which there dealer knew about (by part number) and they replaced it for them. I tried asking them about this and they had no idea apparently and said it wasn't the case. They took it out for a drive and said nothing noticeable. I got fed up going back to them so saved up my pennies for a sachs clutch which I got on a gb from elsewhere. Will eventually get it fitted and then remapped once out of warranty.

clutch slipping with standard car within 40k?

Good job...!

Mine was slipping terribly at 17-18k with a standard setup. The garage unfortunately "burnt" off the evidence by dropping the clutch with the handbrake on, but it still slips a bit in 5th or 6th gear at 27k. Not having much joy getting it fixed though 'coz the garage don't believe me, and the warranty is out next month :irked:

Incidentally, I had a large bout of black smoke when my car was new. May be normal for a new one of course, but I later found that it had been ranted by a potential buyer before I bought it - AS NEW! I didn't even get a discount!!!

Story so far is: a Skoda Assistance guy came out to look started it up and said that it looks very much like the turbo has gone as when he revved it there was slight smoke coming from the engine bay and the rattle was coming from that area. It's now been taken from me :( and they are going to look at it later today and if need be order the parts. They were good enough however to say they'll give me a car after my courtesy car provided by SA has gone back on Monday for a further few days which should keep me going till Wednesday when they hope to have it repaired.

let us know how it goes with the warrenty 'situation'....

I was under the impression a "performance downpipe" would cause the turbo to spin up quicker, maybe a bit too quick?

Sorry to hear this but as they say if you cant afford to fix it...

Think a used turbo was sold recently in the for sale section. Shame you may have to called turbo dynamics/allard

I was under the impression a "performance downpipe" would cause the turbo to spin up quicker, maybe a bit too quick?

Sorry to hear this but as they say if you cant afford to fix it...

Think a used turbo was sold recently in the for sale section. Shame you may have to called turbo dynamics/allard

Don't be giving them ideas all they said when I had a brief chat with a service guy is that they will look and then order the necessary parts tonight and hopefully have it done by Wednesday. They'll hopefully call me Monday to let me know the outcome of the inspection and if it's a new turbo that's not going to be covered I may just have to contact one of these companies you mentioned and see what kind of prices I need to expect. Could be a pricey few days at APS as when I get the car back it still needs it's service, so may aswell get it all done at once. That however also means it needs remapping due to the new components not being used to their full advantage, oh dear that's some expense. I'm gonna ask work for a pay rise, who knows with some bad luck may come good luck and they may take pitty on me

I'll let you know more when I've heard back.

Cheers

Incidentally, I had a large bout of black smoke when my car was new. May be normal for a new one of course, but I later found that it had been ranted by a potential buyer before I bought it - AS NEW! I didn't even get a discount!!!

A bit off topic I know... but that car isn't therefore new so you are well within your rights to say no.

IIRC A garage can't use a new car for a demonstrator then sell it on as "new".

Story so far is: a Skoda Assistance guy came out to look started it up and said that it looks very much like the turbo has gone as when he revved it there was slight smoke coming from the engine bay and the rattle was coming from that area. It's now been taken from me :( and they are going to look at it later today and if need be order the parts. They were good enough however to say they'll give me a car after my courtesy car provided by SA has gone back on Monday for a further few days which should keep me going till Wednesday when they hope to have it repaired.

This is exactly what happend to me.

It was taken back to the dealers where they replaced the turbo and intercooler under warranty. My exhust is completely standard. Took them nearly a week but at least it was sorted.

Well I've had a phone call today, saying that they had a look last night and on first inspection there was no oil in the engine. He then said did I not get a warning light come on which obviously I never as if I did I would've put oil in. I don't wait for the warning lights to come on I regularly check water and oil levels which is why I couldn't believe that it is down to this. I asked how low the oil had to be for the light to come on and it normally comes on when it reaches the litre mark. I normally do my oil checks at about the 5k intervals in between services as my oil has never been low come service time. The guy said he needs to speak with the technician more on monday as he only briefly spoke to him yesterday but there is a possiblity that it won't be covered under warranty due to the lack of oil.

Do you think there is anything I can now do due to the fact I received no warning lights and even when the assistance guy came out and turned the car on there was still no lights so surely this is cause for concern alone. Any chance when they changed the head last year something went wrong which caused this malfunction with the warning indicator, or am I being hopeful. I'm going to continue arguing the fact if they get a definite no on Monday from Skoda as it was not entirely my fault if I received no warning whatsoever. But it definitely needs a new turbo and it's a big job and not cheap, those were the final words.

Thanks for all your help

It was mentioned that my turbo failure was cause by oil starvation, but mine is checked every week sometimes twice (It has never used any oil since new) and it had had it's 40k service about 2 weeks before the failure. There was plenty in when it went but it could be possible for a channel to become blocked especially if there was head work done recently ( I am presuming that the bearing is supplied with oil by some means).

Don't take that as gospel though thats just my 2c's

Chances are it could have used the oil itself, whatever failed may have caused the engine oil to enter the combustion chamber burning it off leading to how the dealer found the car.

Wow thanks for that info guys, I'm so glad this forum exists. I'm going to cross my fingers now until I speak to them on Monday and hopefully it'll all go ok and they'll do it under warranty. What sort of costs would I be looking at if it did come to me paying and how much more do you think it would be to go the hybrid turbo route?

Thanks again

Hi, the latest is that Skoda technical are refusing to pay out for the work needed, the garage couldn't give me any particular reason and said it's mainly down to there being no oil. I've now contacted Skoda customer services and they are investigating why it's been refused. The funny thing is the guy at the garage agreed about the possibility of the turbo using the oil and said there probably is oil in the engine it's just not showing on the dipstick. He also mentioned they've had Octavia's with the same engine come in for the same work but not many fabia's. All I want to know is why they've covered work for similar on other cars but are not covering mine. Only time will tell now.

The service manager at my dealer said he had seen Audis and Vw's in their droves in for the same thing and there was never any question of doing it under warranty despite my car being a bit more than standard.

Have you had it serviced at your dealer?

I've only had the first service carried out by Pilling and then decided I'd use APS in Brackley as they were more competitively priced and have used them ever since. I searched the Internet most of yesterday and found a number of Octavia's, Golf's, Bora's etc with the same problem all done under warranty so it's really annoying they are refusing mine without giving any other reason then no oil. I've told them that I found all these cars and a number of the fabias I found were around the 2yr 40k mileage as well which seems worrying. One of my colleagues says he thinks they don't want to pay out because it wasn't too long ago they covered the head replacement and don't want to fork out again. He also said that he read an article in the Driving section of the Times saying that majority of manufacturers/dealers will put up a fight to pay out for warranty work after they've already replaced something.

Thanks

Mine has been serviced from day one by the dealer, which means they know everything about the work done on the car which makes them slightly more responsible...

If the turbo has shot it oil seals the oil gets pumped up from the engine and into the turbo. Check to see if there is any oil in the Air intake, as vapour of the oil that wasn't burnt off by the turbo will collect there.

MY local dealer had just such a thing happen, seals went, oil was burnt very quickly, residues of the oil collected in the intake via the breather hose, and caused the engine to continue running on the vapours even after the igniton had been turned off. That destroyed the whole engine.

I've only had the first service carried out by Pilling and then decided I'd use APS in Brackley as they were more competitively priced and have used them ever since. I searched the Internet most of yesterday and found a number of Octavia's, Golf's, Bora's etc with the same problem all done under warranty so it's really annoying they are refusing mine without giving any other reason then no oil. I've told them that I found all these cars and a number of the fabias I found were around the 2yr 40k mileage as well which seems worrying. One of my colleagues says he thinks they don't want to pay out because it wasn't too long ago they covered the head replacement and don't want to fork out again. He also said that he read an article in the Driving section of the Times saying that majority of manufacturers/dealers will put up a fight to pay out for warranty work after they've already replaced something.

Thanks

I feel for you fella... this sucks from your point of view... I've had this attitude from SUK as well.... they ****ed me off so much I changed manufacturers...... their loss if they are not going to honour their warranty, and loose customers...

from my point of view, if you've been checking the oil often, and there were no warning lights, it CANNOT be blamed on you... it is a mechanical faliur that should be covered under warrenty......

best of luck, keep us posted on the outcomes.