What did you do to your Octavia today?

[Gerrycan]

At the lights the other day I had a mini drag off with mk2 vrs... Needless to say, the vrs won, lol

Take the kids seats out and leave them and the kids at home. They are holding you back

How did you go at the dealers the other day regarding the noises you mentioned earlier?

[Gerrycan]

A country run with incidents

Had to make a late impromptu 260 km out and back the other night.
Once the 110 kph dual carriageway section ended I just settled four seconds back from a truck who knew what he doing and enjoyed some music cruising at a true 100 kph
It's not worth the effort of overtaking at night as there is always another truck in front and it only saves you 5 minutes on such a short run. Case in point only one car overtook me and then spent 5 minutes right up the trucks clacker dodging in and out and then only passed when an overtaking lane became available. A 'P' plater of course and in dire need of some good training before he becomes a statistic.
I averaged 5.2 L/100 for the trip out.

Got a low pressure warning about my rear offside tyre, but handling did not seem affected so drove the next 10 km to the town and an open service station. As is the modern way you can buy milk, bread, coffee, a meal but there is no tyre service near midnight so on goes the Nexen 16 inch space saver tyre. Better there in a lighted area with hard surface than just off a dark one lane highway.
Got home at 4 am after restricting my speed to about 95 kph on the open sections (yes I know I should only do 80, but it was dry, windless and virtually traffic free by then).
Average consumption for the journey had dropped to 5.0 L/100 . Makes you wonder what I would have got if I had restricted my speed to 80.

Learnings:
Don't ignore tyre pressure warnings, I only had 10 lbs pressure left in it when I pulled over and would never have known from the handling on the straight.
Nexen tyre was really noisy compared to original Dunlops fitted but it did the job ok although I would have preferred the full size spare I had in my Mk 2.

[woofy]

Did you really have a full size spare in your Mk2, I have an 08 RS and it still has the steel spare with higher profile tyre. I meant to negotiate in a proper spare this time but didn't. In my experience if or when the TPS goes off, you are probably at least 15PSI lower than you should be. It has a lot of room in it.

[Gerrycan]

Did you really have a full size spare in your Mk2, I have an 08 RS and it still has the steel spare with higher profile tyre. I meant to negotiate in a proper spare this time but didn't. In my experience if or when the TPS goes off, you are probably at least 15PSI lower than you should be. It has a lot of room in it.

I only had the base Ambition 1.9d Mk2 with 15 inch wheels but the spare was a full size alloy.

[Martin]

Timing chain tensioner replaced - this has fixed the start up rattle which started at 81k

Walnut clean of the inlet - was dirty

Reduced front negative camber to avoid inner tyre wear - not happy with the feel, may undo this change

For those with an engine using a lot of oil, European Autotech advised me that they getting good results from the use of Liqui Molly "Visco Stabil Visco Plus" which increases the viscosity of hot oil without changing the cold viscosity - I'll give it a try

[code618]

Any learns from the tensioner replacement?
I was thinking of doing this proactively at 75,000 even without a rattle....

[Martin]

Any learns from the tensioner replacement?
I was thinking of doing this proactively at 75,000 even without a rattle....

I learnt a few things
My car is a Nov 2011 vRS - it had the early model tensioner
It was out at it's maximum adjustment - the new version seems to have a longer rod and range
When replacing the tensioner ($120) the plastic timing chain cover ($300) is also replaced (don't know why)
If you get the rattle and are under warranty you should be in a position to get it fixed for free

[Lucas_R]

^ the timing chain cover is a very thin metal - not plastic. It is known to warp/bend when removing, which can cause leaks if you reuse it - which is why they recommend replacing it.

[Smiley_Walsh]

New plugs installed. Wow! What a difference. Old ones were very worn. Now running much more smoothly, and efficiently. 👍🏼💥
36mm socket purchased so I can do an oil / filter change too.

[MickeyB]

What did you do to your Octavia today?

Washed mine on the weekend...

Took it in today for firmer of rear brakes (fronts already done), and some troubleshooting: airbag light is still on, and the fuel guage is failing (irrespective of fuel level) intermittently; somewhat ironically, only ever when I'm pulling into a servo! Lol!


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

[donweather]

New plugs installed. Wow! What a difference. Old ones were very worn. Now running much more smoothly, and efficiently. ������
36mm socket purchased so I can do an oil / filter change too.

How old (kms) were your old plugs?

[MickeyB]

What did you do to your Octavia today?

Got mine back with rear brakes fitted: all good!

However.... After scanning for fault codes, it appears a number of issues have been logged: short story: it appears I have CANBUS issues... *sigh*

The car was cheap enough to purchase that it's not a major issue for me, but I want it running right. Guess I'll book it in at Skoda to diagnose the exact cause. It's all niggly things like the intermittent fuel guage failure, etc.


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

[donweather]

Sunday:

Finally gave her a very much needed wash.....and typical, it's now rained in Brisbane since Sunday!!!!

[brad]

Got mine back with rear brakes fitted: all good!

However.... After scanning for fault codes, it appears a number of issues have been logged: short story: it appears I have CANBUS issues... *sigh*

The car was cheap enough to purchase that it's not a major issue for me, but I want it running right. Guess I'll book it in at Skoda to diagnose the exact cause. It's all niggly things like the intermittent fuel guage failure, etc.

Where are you?

It might be better to go to an independent.

If it's the actual canbus then it's not a big deal.

[MickeyB]

I'm located on the Gold Coast: happy for any suggestions regarding someone reliable to take a look: I'm new to VAG vehicles, so please feel free to guide me!


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy