Engine check light

[Difinity]

More fun this last weekend. On the way to Sydney, had the check engine light flicker on and off (not on and fixed)...
Stopped and checked bay, oil etc. no indication of any issue, and stayed off at lower speed (80-95) so continued on.
Left it in Sydney with an issue with some of the coil sets. Seems inconsistent.
Time hopefully will tell and be resolved.

Has over 66k kms, almost no issue prior to this.

Skoda roadside were great - organised the tow, arranged a hire car (high one way cost, but at least transport) and offered to return the car home when fixed. Hope it doesn't take too long.


Difinity

[Snail Style]

1.2L? Most likely the leads or corrosion in the coil itself.

[Difinity]

1.4 twincharge. Dealer says there is oil fouling the spark plugs. Refuse to fix until oil consumption tests completed, but I live 380km/s from where the car is. VAG/Skoda have pulled the plug on the hire car too...


Difinity

[Difinity]

Got the dealers report now:
Says compression on cyl 1 & 2 is 220 psi, and on 3 & 4 is 210 psi; noting that these are correct to spec.
All the Briskoda blogs I can find say compression ratio should be 10:1, giving an approx compression standard of 170-180 psi.
Engine shows oil fouling plugs. Has been 'cleaned' and req oil consumption test.

I'm not sure I can trust the engine again though - if there is oil fouling the ignition sufficiently to shut the engine down into 'emergency mode', it shouldn't matter how much oil is being used - it's in the wrong place!

Been without the car 5 weeks now and not started to fix yet. Bloody not happy right now...


Difinity

[Lucas_R]

There were some revised spark plugs to help combat this issue that VW/Audi/Skoda released. The new spark plugs are shorter to move them out of the way of the fuel injector (normally they foul due to fuel spraying on them because they stuck out to far). 1st ive heard of the plugs being fouled with oil though.

[zei20t]

Spark plugs and a revised oil breather pipe is the solution for CAV engines.

[Lucas_R]

Spark plugs and a revised oil breather pipe is the solution for CAV engines.

Plus revised oil squirters for the underside of the pistons.

[brad]

Plus the plugs need to be changed a lot more often than the book says. Like every 30,000km.

[Difinity]

Update:
Compression suddenly down from 220 psi on cyl 2 to 108. Dealer is now (finally pulling the engine down). 7 weeks on sat and counting...


Difinity

[Difinity]

Still no car. 10 weeks on now. Car is in Canberra, where they found a sudden drop in compression on one cylinder. Have reinstated a hire car until mine is available. Waiting on parts now - not sure which parts but would not be surprised if that means near new engine...


Difinity

[Umai Naa!!]

Under warranty, it'll be a brand new engine.

[Difinity]

Latest advice is a rebuild. Might finally get the car back in the next few weeks. Asked about a new crate engine but was told that the bore was not damaged and it was to be rebuilt.
Asked about a full replacement car too. They didn't think that was funny.
Next is to get car back and go down ACCC/lawyer path I think...


Difinity

[Umai Naa!!]

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with the car itself which would warrant a complete new car. Besides, the engine failures in these relatively common, so it's not like you've bought a dud.

The engine's just the engine. If they feel it can be reubilt with new pistons and consumables, it'll be fine. There's enough documentation at dealer level to build one to the correct specs, and if the technician's done a good enough job, you'll struggle to tell it's ever been apart.

[Difinity]

My concern is that, given the commonality of the failures, and the service bulletin and change to components and software which were released prior to my car being built (was a special order and took six months from order to finish), the engine should have been fixed before it was delivered. VW built and sold it to me knowing full well that it was likely to fail within the warranty period. Then they have taken more than 11 weeks to repair it.
In the meantime, I'm still paying lease, and will continue to do so as though it was a new car without this fault.


Difinity

[Difinity]

Update:
Sorry Umai, engine's a bloody dud. Must disagree too - it is completely unacceptable to have a modern engine fail in this way and so early in its life cycle. It is even more unacceptable to take 12 weeks to 'fix' it. If I wanted a car that spends more time in the workshop than on the road, I'd have bought an old Jag or something.
As for the update - back on a tow truck just 1,190 kms post build with the ECR (engine light) back on. Dealer confirms a misfire (cyl 1 this time), but bloody claims that Skoda 'allows for a misfire after a rebuild'. Reality is a rough running car, with an uneven vibration you can feel in the wheel and seat, about +20% increase in fuel use (was 5.9-6.1, now >8-10 l/100), and seems to have lost power. My 'seat-of-the-pants' dyno thinks about 10-15%...
Would have been better if they'd just replaced the engine in the first place. This bloody saga has some time to run yet, and if lost all confidence in the car and VW in general.


Difinity