problems octavia 1.9tdi elegance

[graz126]

the coil light on the dash sometimes flashes, wondering if anybody knows what the problem is or how to fix it.
also i never took much notice as the car was still under warranty last time but i keep losing power when i try to accelarate. i think they said it was a common fault on skodas and volkswagons of that age (x reg mine is). something to do with the air filter i think they said. just wondering if anybody else has this problem and how do i fix it, does it cost much, etc? problem is when i got it fixed under warranty last time i then went away to work for 4 months. when i came back, after a week or so the same problem started occuring again.
yours hopefully, anyone.

cheers graham.

[Mark Lynskey]

Ji There Graham, I am Just Joined Myself and Ive had similar problem to you with my New Octavia combi 1.9 TDI.

The problem is the glow plug light is flashing and the car seems to go into a 'safe' mode, It wont rev past 2000rpm and the coolant from the climate control stops resulting in the windows fogging up quickly, the dealers replaced the foot throttle at first service saying it had a fault but the problem re-emerged about a month later and has been back to dealers since and they're diagnostic failed to identify anything. The problem is Intermittent and seems to be ok for a few days and then a total night mare for a full day at a time. I drove 500kms the weekend and it never gave an ounce of trouble and then today I did about 150kms and it drove me around the bend, The dealers have mentioned something about a crank shaft sensor but when I probed about it he brushed me off as a silly 'punter' Being an engineer Its annoying I appreciate he knows his Job and its my field of expertise. But I feel they don't know what they are at since they haven't found a solution yet. Any Idea's on what the problem Might be and Maybe how I might get my hands on the fault codes for these cars ( I borrowed a mates Adi diag tool and it got a few fault codes up that were not on the audio book.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and Grateful of any advice given.

Mark.

[graz126]

hi mate

the glow plug light flashing i would have thought would be quite easy to sort out. as the glow plugs might be a bit worn, i dont know. thats why im asking for advise. the other problem im having is really the one that worrys me. it on ly tends to happen when i go over a certain amount of revs. although it doesnt sound quite the same as your problem ( i may be wrong). if i try accelerating too hard then the car jerks a little as if its a fuel blockage or something. then after i cannot go over a certain amount of revs until after i have turned the ignition off and back on again. but if i accelerate too hard again the same thing happens.
its really annoying as the car has a decent bit of poke but i can never drive anything other than as if im a sunday driver every day of the week.

but as i have said above apparently a lot of skodas and volkswagons (mostly golf and passat) have been having this problem. thats what the guy told me at the garage anyway. it maybe you are having the same problem as me but i have not notice anything to do with the climate control as of yet. apart from air con is much better than it.

[MarkyTDI]

All of the symptoms you both mention point towards issues with your MAF sensor or
sticking vanes within the turbo. Its possible the glowplug light is unrelated to your powerloss probs, sure it isn't the engine management light. If you have just got the car make sure it hasn't been fitted with a resistor "Tuning chip" as these can sometimes cause problems including flashing glow plug lights.
A new MAF is around 65-70 pounds and takes 10 mins to fit, Sticking turbo vanes can be solved by a good clean or new/exchange turbo. Skoda will quote £1000+vat and labour for a new turbo so i'd run away from them if it is the turbo and find a good independant!!

Do a search on power loss in octy tdi's there is loads on here....

[graz126]

cheers marky

that sounds about right. as the first time i took the car in whilst under warranty they said something about the air flow. im assuming that maf stands for something air flow or filter. please correct me if im wrong.
if i sort this problem out is there much chance of it continually happening though as it could work out very expensive at 70 pounds every month. if so how do ya stop it from happening.
cheers.

[KenONeill]

MAF - Mass Air Flow sensor.
It should last for years (literally), and you should be able to test whether or not it's the problem by cleaning it.

[cjb]

Simplest test for a faulty MAF is to unplug it. Performance should be worse with it unplugged. They usually last about 70-80k miles.

A faulty maf doesn't usually trigger the glowplug light though.

Get someone with VAG-COM to read the fault codes. A sticking turbo will show up as 'overboost detected'.

[graz126]

thanks people i will try cleaning the sensor and see what happens. maybe then try unplugging it and see how bad that is then.

[cjb]

I think it will be something other than the MAF. If it's a TDI 110/115/130 (sorry, not sure what got fitted to Octys) then I'd guess a boost problem. There's a few things to check.

1. Unplug the MAF as suggested. The car should feel very flat. You may not get a flashing glowpug lamp.
2. Check your brakelights. Seriously.
3. Check the hoses, esp the vacuum hoses, to the turbo.
4. You may have a sticking N75 valve.

You really should get it on VAG-COM, read the codes, and do some data logging for the MAF and the turbo boost.

How many miles has your Octy done, and what TDI engine is it? Does the eror only happen if you boot it?

[octywagon]

Hi, go with the checks that CJB suggests and like he says it would be worth getting vag-com on the case too.

sounds like it could be the turbo vanes, if you can build up the revs slowly when driving then try and give it a good rev and clear out all the soot from the turbo.
dealer told me i needed new turbo 18 months ago (overboost fault code) when mine played up but it has been fine since and i never did anything to fix it apart from give it a good thrash.
i just make sure i use full revs regularly now as i was driving 'on the torque' and staying at low revs which seemed to build up the soot and not get the vanes moving enough, also a tuning box may make this worse = more soot.!!

hope you get it sorted.

[octywagon]

try this link - just spotted this thread re: sooted up turbo etc

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/octav...bo-made/75315/

[cheezemonkhai]

Flashing glow plug light can be related to the brake light switch going funny IIRC.

[cjb]

Originally Posted by octywagon

try and give it a good rev and clear out all the soot from the turbo.
dealer told me i needed new turbo 18 months ago (overboost fault code) when mine played up but it has been fine since and i never did anything to fix it apart from give it a good thrash.

That's worth a try. You could also try working the VNT mechanism on the turbo back and forward (from under the car) to see if you can free the vanes up a bit.

It's very good advice to not always drive a TDI gently. Give it a blast one in a while.

[Mark Lynskey]

Having Read the various Opinions On this Fault I have Noted the codes that came up on My Mates diag tool Maybe some of you have answers to them. My Cars Been to the Garage since tuesday and Ive been landed an awful citroen c3 petrol....God what an awful car..A Pure granny Mobile.
The Codes I have gotten are as follows.

04608
00160
37889
01258


Any Idea's On what these are?

My Car is New as off january 2007 and I would be seriously concerned if there was issues with the turbo already..I have 26,000Km put up on the car so far.

As For the air con Issue, Mine is a Elegance with the dual zone climate control and when the powerloss/Glowplug Light problem kicks in the coolant stops but the fan maintains speed. As One Poster mentioned turning off my car for five minutes seems to 'Reset' the problem but this 'Fix' can last from a few days to only 20 minutes before the problem rears its head again.

Hope that might set a spark off in someones head.

Cheer's Mark.


On a Totally Unrelated Note has anyone slapped eyes on the new scout...I think I'm In Love...the thinking Mans 'Allroad'

[fordfan]

The glow plug light also doubles up as an engine management warning light, I suspect that the system is shutting down the air con when the engine is losing power.

Those codes that you have posted, are they VW codes? if so I can't find them listed, if they were generic OBDII codes they will start with P. Have you any descriptions from the scan tool of these codes?

What sort of Octavia is it? I am thinking a MKI going by where this post is, but reading your post I am now thinking a MKII, have you an engine code?

[KenONeill]

Octy A4s are still available new, although supposedly only for the taxi trade.