Talk about bad luck

WW_VRS · 10-01-2007, 19:19

Met up with Tom_vrs & Kelly + a few of his&her mates yesterday evening in St Ives, as I was staying up there for business.

Had a nice time, enjoyed a little drive around the backroads and then went for a bite to eat & a few bevvies.

Later that night, on the way back to my hotel, my temperature gauge suddenly decided to sweep past 90 degrees.

I was near some industrial estate with good lighting, but it was rather cr*p weather.

Anyway, I popped the bonnet and using sufficient precautions to not burn myself on the steam, let the cap off so I could drop some more water in.

The car was well hot at this point. Once the additional water had spread a bit I got back in the car and waited for about an hour to let the engine cool down.

I really limped it back to the hotel, took off the cap again and left it off overnight to let the engine cool.

Next morning I had no choice but to go to the customer site, so I ran virtually without getting over 1500 rpm all the way up to the point where the engine had warmed up to temperature. It didnt go any higher than 90 degrees at this point, but I pulled over and let it cool down again just in case. Bit more water again.

Looked in a bit more detail and it seemed there was no water coming back from the engine, which isn't a great thing generally

Eventually got to the customer, and at 9am I gave APS a call.

They had to make some arrangements to free up the courtesy car I had before, and got my car picked up & the courtesy car dropped back off to the customer site today. Absolutely amazing service!

The guys are having a look at the car tomorrow, hopefully they can get it back in shape again. Quite scary that the car was only put back together less than 1k miles ago, perhaps 60k is the magic mark for this engine?

Will get an update and will post back, but it is a bit scary that it failed again so soon, no propane used and when the temperature shot up, I was doing exactly 40mph on cruise (road works & average speed cams about).

Big thanks to the team at APS and hope you find what's up with it this time

vRSLen · 10-01-2007, 19:22

It might have just been air locked if you are lucky.

WW_VRS · 10-01-2007, 19:40

It is possible but very unlikely as it was fine for 600+ miles. That said I really, really hope you're right

ScoobyChris · 10-01-2007, 19:43

Not good news at all! Hope it's all sorted soon - it was going back to them this weekend anyway wasn't it?

Chris

WW_VRS · 10-01-2007, 20:33

Yeah - got there a bit quicker than anticipated to be honest

Can't fault APS' customer service here, best ever received so far.

Hopefully it can be resolved without it costing too much this time though, getting near 'just drop in a second hand PD130' territory at this rate unfortunately..

**VRStu** · 10-01-2007, 20:34

Bad news that mate.

WW_VRS · 10-01-2007, 20:38

It sure was - I'm quite far away from the customer's site but have wireless net access here (at a premium) which is nice. I was able to get to site & back to the other hotel yesterday without a problem, that was a shortish distance and I stopped sufficiently (I hope) to avoid damage + no traffic jams.

This hotel is about 45 miles away from site + loads and loads of traffic so I doubt it would have survived that kinda abuse. Really glad I got the A2 again for a bit, just hoping the car can be sorted by Saturday so the original remap Thursday followed by RR pre-meet & actual day can go ahead. SWMBO won't let me RR the Kia for some reason

ric04vrs · 10-01-2007, 21:48

very odd that it was OK for 600 miles then decided to go t1ts up

did you clean the oil out of the coolant reservoir ?

sounds like there is something restricting the flow in the system ,and you've had the obvious fitted , new pump and thermostat , hopefully APS can get to the bottom of it

Tom_vRS · 10-01-2007, 22:42

WW.

Absolutely gutted for you.

Was really nice to meet up, had a bit of a giggle over a few bevvies, and a drive over my favourite road... Shame you couldn't (or refused to

) keep up with the poxy Leon, but needs must and all that!

You should have given me a bell. I'd have run you from St Neots to Camb to get you there without driving the car... Not to worry.

Only a phone call away if you need anything. And please do let me know when you are in the area again. Even my fellow colleagues and girlfriends enjoyed your company, despite us being Skoda nerds!!!

Hope all becomes well with the beast soon.

Oh - nearly forgot - to anyone considering Eibachs on OEM dampers, forget it. Go with the Koni FSDs... WWs car corners hugely better on bumpy roads than my vRS ever did, and the only difference is the dampers.

Basil · 11-01-2007, 04:18

That's really rough mate - hope it's something simple.
Let us know when you find out what it was,

keeping my fingers crossed for you......

Bas

WW_VRS · 11-01-2007, 05:52

Will definitely post back again as soon as I know

Fingers crossed here as well it isn't something big

chris_newell41 · 11-01-2007, 13:29

shame about meeting up with Tom and Kelly

was that not the bad luck???

Glider · 11-01-2007, 13:36

Your luck will turn.
Overheated diesels are bad news, my mate runs 50 Skodas as part of his Taxi fleet, if they overheat they are fixed and sold PDQ.

WW_VRS · 11-01-2007, 13:52

It depends a bit on what the guys find, if it sounds like it's remotely doubtful I will probably end up trying to source a 2nd hand engine and drop all the other bits over onto that. Would be a complete pain though as that would cost a fortune in labour again

Not looking too great as yet but I've got to give them time to do their checks

Tom_vRS · 11-01-2007, 14:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris_newell41

shame about meeting up with Tom and Kelly

was that not the bad luck???

Gee, thanks.

ScoobyChris · 11-01-2007, 16:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by WW_VRS

Would be a complete pain though as that would cost a fortune in labour again

I'm sure someone did a howto on here somewhere .... now who wrote it

Chris

Basil · 11-01-2007, 16:19

Hopefully it will something simple like a seized pump from some coolant contaminates.

Worst comes to worst, perhaps you should put a 2.5l diesel in it!

good luck mate!

Bas

**VRStu** · 11-01-2007, 16:30

Any news yet mate?

WW_VRS · 11-01-2007, 16:39

Yesterday they swapped my car for the A2 - no work could be done on it as they're v busy, today they are taking it back down to bits and trying to ID the issue.

It is likely I won't hear much for another day, visiting them Saturday

WW_VRS · 12-01-2007, 11:54

Little update:

Head gasket etc all look fine, there was a lot of crud (oil) in the system as per a previous posts regarding this.

The guys have checked out the oil/water heat exchanger and that looked ok too. So they're gonna put it back together and assuming it looks like it is not going wrong again, do the remapping on my second ECU so that is at least done.

If it decides to fail on us again, it is likely to end up being an engine swap job, which would cost a fair bit more I suppose, but that may end up happening.

The amount of oily crud was quite worrying though and although I noticed it when the car was put back together initially, hopefully it will be a one-off bad luck.

The cost of this work is none (to me) for what they're doing at the moment, and as the guys at APS picked up my car from Cambridge to swap it for the A2 (bringing it back to site) I really feel they are doing the very best they can to get my engine sorted & keep me mobile.

And yes, I will probably be sporting an APS sticker on the back of my car soon as a result of their most excellent customer services. You don't tend to get this kind of bending-over-backwards-to-help-attitude unless the whole business attitude is like that, which the team at APS has really shown me.

Just hoping it will come together in a timely fashion to allow a safe RR day, there won't be any propane in the car as I really can't afford to risk it and the additional stresses would be a bad plan right now.

10-01-2007, 19:19	#1
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Talk about bad luck Met up with Tom_vrs & Kelly + a few of his&her mates yesterday evening in St Ives, as I was staying up there for business. Had a nice time, enjoyed a little drive around the backroads and then went for a bite to eat & a few bevvies. Later that night, on the way back to my hotel, my temperature gauge suddenly decided to sweep past 90 degrees. I was near some industrial estate with good lighting, but it was rather crp weather. Anyway, I popped the bonnet and using sufficient precautions to not burn myself on the steam, let the cap off so I could drop some more water in. The car was well hot at this point. Once the additional water had spread a bit I got back in the car and waited for about an hour to let the engine cool down. I really limped it back to the hotel, took off the cap again and left it off overnight to let the engine cool. Next morning I had no choice but to go to the customer site, so I ran virtually without getting over 1500 rpm all the way up to the point where the engine had warmed up to temperature. It didnt go any higher than 90 degrees at this point, but I pulled over and let it cool down again just in case. Bit more water again. Looked in a bit more detail and it seemed there was no water coming back from the engine, which isn't a great thing generally Eventually got to the customer, and at 9am I gave APS a call. They had to make some arrangements to free up the courtesy car I had before, and got my car picked up & the courtesy car dropped back off to the customer site today. Absolutely amazing service! The guys are having a look at the car tomorrow, hopefully they can get it back in shape again. Quite scary that the car was only put back together less than 1k miles ago, perhaps 60k is the magic mark for this engine? Will get an update and will post back, but it is a bit scary that it failed again so soon, no propane used and when the temperature shot up, I was doing exactly 40mph on cruise (road works & average speed cams about). Big thanks to the team at APS and hope you find what's up with it this time __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive* progress on my car: here

10-01-2007, 19:22	#2
vRSLen Bully Bully :) Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 5,049 Thanks: 169 Thanked 178 Times in 123 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck It might have just been air locked if you are lucky. __________________ Current car: Black MKII Octavia vRS Combi Previous: Black MKI Octavia vRS Combi Black Fabia Elegance 100 BHP

10-01-2007, 19:40	#3
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck It is possible but very unlikely as it was fine for 600+ miles. That said I really, really hope you're right __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

10-01-2007, 19:43	#4
ScoobyChris Briskodian Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Andover Posts: 18,117 Thanks: 15 Thanked 326 Times in 284 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Not good news at all! Hope it's all sorted soon - it was going back to them this weekend anyway wasn't it? Chris __________________ Holding up the traffic in a little Italian..........

10-01-2007, 20:33	#5
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Yeah - got there a bit quicker than anticipated to be honest Can't fault APS' customer service here, best ever received so far. Hopefully it can be resolved without it costing too much this time though, getting near 'just drop in a second hand PD130' territory at this rate unfortunately.. __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

10-01-2007, 20:34	#6
VRStu Briskoda Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Hampshire Posts: 20,407 Thanks: 113 Thanked 918 Times in 825 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Bad news that mate. __________________ Stu - Freedom Pimp Stu's Websites - http://www.fabia-vrs.com & http://www.octavia-vrs.com Stu's Car - 2007 Octavia vRS, Race Blue, Xenons, Columbus Navigation, Rear Parking Sensors, Maxi Dot, Light Assist, Jumbo Box, 18" Alloys, Stu's Cruise Control & OEM Integrated Bluetooth Telephone. SWMBO's Car - 2008 Seat LEON TDi Stylance, Black Magic, Sports Pack, Rear Parking Sensors. Something for Weekend - 2002 Lotus Elise RaceTech, Gunmetal, Radio, Carpet Mats.

10-01-2007, 20:38	#7
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck It sure was - I'm quite far away from the customer's site but have wireless net access here (at a premium) which is nice. I was able to get to site & back to the other hotel yesterday without a problem, that was a shortish distance and I stopped sufficiently (I hope) to avoid damage + no traffic jams. This hotel is about 45 miles away from site + loads and loads of traffic so I doubt it would have survived that kinda abuse. Really glad I got the A2 again for a bit, just hoping the car can be sorted by Saturday so the original remap Thursday followed by RR pre-meet & actual day can go ahead. SWMBO won't let me RR the Kia for some reason __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

10-01-2007, 21:48	#8
ric04vrs I parked up 1st Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: not near enough to the Ring Posts: 6,092 Thanks: 29 Thanked 177 Times in 172 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck very odd that it was OK for 600 miles then decided to go t1ts up did you clean the oil out of the coolant reservoir ? sounds like there is something restricting the flow in the system ,and you've had the obvious fitted , new pump and thermostat , hopefully APS can get to the bottom of it __________________ not so bored now

10-01-2007, 22:42	#9
Tom_vRS Briskodaholic Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Fenland, Cambridgeshire Posts: 11,031 Thanks: 584 Thanked 373 Times in 255 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck WW. Absolutely gutted for you. Was really nice to meet up, had a bit of a giggle over a few bevvies, and a drive over my favourite road... Shame you couldn't (or refused to ) keep up with the poxy Leon, but needs must and all that! You should have given me a bell. I'd have run you from St Neots to Camb to get you there without driving the car... Not to worry. Only a phone call away if you need anything. And please do let me know when you are in the area again. Even my fellow colleagues and girlfriends enjoyed your company, despite us being Skoda nerds!!! Hope all becomes well with the beast soon. Oh - nearly forgot - to anyone considering Eibachs on OEM dampers, forget it. Go with the Koni FSDs... WWs car corners hugely better on bumpy roads than my vRS ever did, and the only difference is the dampers. __________________ 97/R BMW 328i in Boston Green. Don't miss the new DR COLORCHIPS GROUP BUY!

11-01-2007, 04:18	#10
Basil Hardcore Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bahrain Posts: 3,150 Thanks: 183 Thanked 183 Times in 144 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck That's really rough mate - hope it's something simple. Let us know when you find out what it was, keeping my fingers crossed for you...... Bas __________________ Fab vRS - Black Magic - PD160 intake - Forge FMIC - colour coded front grille -SLC Splitter - K&N Airfilter -SEAT Strutbrace - Jabba ARB - IC Waterspray (need to wire it in!) - 312mm TT brakes - Eibach Springs - Skoda Reversing sensors - Devonutopia Tuning (tm) Custom Exhaust (2 1/4" straight pipe) - Short shifter mod- 5 brake light mod - Helix Steel SMF + Organic Clutch + pressure plate - Peloquin LSD - TD stage 2 Hybrid - Washbrook remapped ECU - Uprated injectors - Cupra bushes -Poly-filled dogbone - Allard racepipe - Pirelli Dragons - Forge Rear Strutbrace - DIY SS upper boostpipe delete -Koni FSD's - elephant pipe CCV mod

11-01-2007, 05:52	#11
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Will definitely post back again as soon as I know Fingers crossed here as well it isn't something big __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

11-01-2007, 13:29	#12
chris_newell41 Briskodian Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,505 Thanks: 2 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck shame about meeting up with Tom and Kelly was that not the bad luck??? __________________ Fabia Vrs Blackmagic! Xenons, Cruise Control, Heated Seats and ESP Wednesday 12th may 2006 was my VRS day

11-01-2007, 13:36	#13
Glider Briskodian Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Central Scotland Posts: 2,409 Thanks: 5 Thanked 50 Times in 31 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Your luck will turn. Overheated diesels are bad news, my mate runs 50 Skodas as part of his Taxi fleet, if they overheat they are fixed and sold PDQ.

11-01-2007, 13:52	#14
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck It depends a bit on what the guys find, if it sounds like it's remotely doubtful I will probably end up trying to source a 2nd hand engine and drop all the other bits over onto that. Would be a complete pain though as that would cost a fortune in labour again Not looking too great as yet but I've got to give them time to do their checks __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

11-01-2007, 16:19	#17
Basil Hardcore Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Bahrain Posts: 3,150 Thanks: 183 Thanked 183 Times in 144 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Hopefully it will something simple like a seized pump from some coolant contaminates. Worst comes to worst, perhaps you should put a 2.5l diesel in it! good luck mate! Bas __________________ Fab vRS - Black Magic - PD160 intake - Forge FMIC - colour coded front grille -SLC Splitter - K&N Airfilter -SEAT Strutbrace - Jabba ARB - IC Waterspray (need to wire it in!) - 312mm TT brakes - Eibach Springs - Skoda Reversing sensors - Devonutopia Tuning (tm) Custom Exhaust (2 1/4" straight pipe) - Short shifter mod- 5 brake light mod - Helix Steel SMF + Organic Clutch + pressure plate - Peloquin LSD - TD stage 2 Hybrid - Washbrook remapped ECU - Uprated injectors - Cupra bushes -Poly-filled dogbone - Allard racepipe - Pirelli Dragons - Forge Rear Strutbrace - DIY SS upper boostpipe delete -Koni FSD's - elephant pipe CCV mod

11-01-2007, 16:30	#18
VRStu Briskoda Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Hampshire Posts: 20,407 Thanks: 113 Thanked 918 Times in 825 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Any news yet mate? __________________ Stu - Freedom Pimp Stu's Websites - http://www.fabia-vrs.com & http://www.octavia-vrs.com Stu's Car - 2007 Octavia vRS, Race Blue, Xenons, Columbus Navigation, Rear Parking Sensors, Maxi Dot, Light Assist, Jumbo Box, 18" Alloys, Stu's Cruise Control & OEM Integrated Bluetooth Telephone. SWMBO's Car - 2008 Seat LEON TDi Stylance, Black Magic, Sports Pack, Rear Parking Sensors. Something for Weekend - 2002 Lotus Elise RaceTech, Gunmetal, Radio, Carpet Mats.

11-01-2007, 16:39	#19
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Yesterday they swapped my car for the A2 - no work could be done on it as they're v busy, today they are taking it back down to bits and trying to ID the issue. It is likely I won't hear much for another day, visiting them Saturday __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

12-01-2007, 11:54	#20
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,736 Thanks: 44 Thanked 70 Times in 61 Posts	Re: Talk about bad luck Little update: Head gasket etc all look fine, there was a lot of crud (oil) in the system as per a previous posts regarding this. The guys have checked out the oil/water heat exchanger and that looked ok too. So they're gonna put it back together and assuming it looks like it is not going wrong again, do the remapping on my second ECU so that is at least done. If it decides to fail on us again, it is likely to end up being an engine swap job, which would cost a fair bit more I suppose, but that may end up happening. The amount of oily crud was quite worrying though and although I noticed it when the car was put back together initially, hopefully it will be a one-off bad luck. The cost of this work is none (to me) for what they're doing at the moment, and as the guys at APS picked up my car from Cambridge to swap it for the A2 (bringing it back to site) I really feel they are doing the very best they can to get my engine sorted & keep me mobile. And yes, I will probably be sporting an APS sticker on the back of my car soon as a result of their most excellent customer services. You don't tend to get this kind of bending-over-backwards-to-help-attitude unless the whole business attitude is like that, which the team at APS has really shown me. Just hoping it will come together in a timely fashion to allow a safe RR day, there won't be any propane in the car as I really can't afford to risk it and the additional stresses would be a bad plan right now. __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there) Lummox'/Ross thread on Unit18 Automotive progress on my car: here

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