Idiot buys car ( Octavia Mk1 Estate )
Discussion
Great thread. Is that rust in the coolant channels and in the cylinder on the right? I assume coolant (pure water?) slopped into the cylinder when you took the head off and then it's sat for a while? Does the engine overheat and lose coolant through over-pressurisation of the system? You'd expect to see that if the combustion chamber and coolant is joined through a cracked head.
Right didn't expect so much intrest in this snotter so I better continue the story.
But first up I will mention that this all happened over a period of a few weeks so I had a bit of time to diagnose the issue, this old boat anchor doesn't have anything fancy like a PCV valve and although the symptons were a bit weird it definately was burning coolant.
Still don't know what is the issue, wasnt washing a particular cylinder or set of valves to point me in a direction but was definately chucking it out. And the coolant system would never build any pressure, a sure fire sign of a leak.
Car had had some sort of no coolant / overheating event leading to some heat and munching some oil, how or why I don't know.
Anyway moving on!
So I needed to get the existing lump out of the car, having had a quick look about I reckoned I could just drop it through the bottom of the engine bay. No significant subframe was going to be a godsend for this engine swap.
So much room!
So I drained all the oil and using a cheap furniture dolly and a load of wood I made a ramp to slide it out, came out a treat.
I don't think there are many cars you can still remove the engine on with the gearbox in situ, saved me a lot of work.
Turning my attention to the new engine I built it back up using the parts I had put on the old engine, namely a water pump, timing belt and a few seals.
Did I mention a timing belt kit was 11 quid from ECP?! bargain eh?
The clutch was also a bit worn so I looked how much a new kit was, a whopping 17 quid. So I slapped one of those on!
I found a really sound lad to rent a hoist off and while I was a bit suspect of wether I would ever see my 150 quid deposit again all in all for the 24 hours it cost me £20, was tempted to buy one but it would be cluttering up my already crowded garage.
Now I wasn't entirely sure the new engine would go in from the top and it was a tight fit, did involve a bit of swearing and the assistance of my Mrs but the input eventually went into the clutch and I could do up the bell housing. Then I had to leave it for a while!
I think I had a few things on and one of them was going to America for a week or so.
Odd place is America but the Udvar-Hazy Center is a geeks wet dream, amazing!
Then I started little by little building the car back up as the evenings got longer, Aux side, all the cooling lines and the intakes and exhaust.
Then one night I got to the point where I could give it a turn of the key
Bit of the normal condensation youd expect no clouds of sweet tasting pink vapour. Yes I did taste it I was that paranoid!
Now there was still a bit to do, I changed the original fuel filter for a start..
Few other bits.
Now it runs fairly well but not perfectly, has this odd problem of a bit of hesitation if provoked, not so bad when hot but I don't think its running quite as it should. The old engine displayed similar issues so there is some sensor prehaps a miss somewhere? I changed the intake valve for a cheap chinese one and that didnt change things, all vac lines have been replaced. Leaves the usual suspects of the MAF and maybe exhaust sensors? Will run a code reader on it at some stage.
Now before I continue I did mention about the dead dash and non working windows?
Well the dash issue it turns out is a common issue, the typical lead free solder causing issues with a particular regulator and some resistors cuasing the dash dials to not work. Not ideal for a car that now has no MOT!
Some reflowing of connections and it sprung into life, super!
The other thing that wasn't going to cut it was all the windows not working, the Octavia uses the crappy cable regulators and ALL FOUR had failed.
Now how long ago these had failed is anyones guess but what I hadnt quite grasped untill I came to put the new regulators in was
SOME t
t HAD SILICONED ALL THE WINDOWS UP 
Which ruins the window seals which are 2 or three times the price of a new regulator.
Seriously the effort that has gone into penny pinching the car is unreal, a new regulator is about 15-20 quid.
Yep I was fixing windows ( in the rain at night by the looks of it) and a dashboard on a car that at the time had a dead engine in it.
From one extreme to the other with this cars ownership.
I also swapped out the front door speakers for some cheapo JVC ones. They are st wish I had spent more.
Anyway where was I.
Thats it, engine in and working so I thought fk it take it for a MOT and see what comes back.
Spent the day hammering F5 on the MOT website...
Urgh, I figured a cable had come away when I was messing with the window regulator. No worry the garage will surely pop the door card off and sort it to send it through?
Would they fk had to wait till the following week to retest it.
Now that annoyed me! More so as if I had left it full of silicone it would have passed!
Anyway 15 mins work on the drive later I put the cable sleeve back into its recess and the door unlocks.
And the following week.....
Much rejoicing.
So I was aware the rear breaks were sticking on, so immeadiately after getting it's MOT I stripped down the brakes to sort that, pads rusted solid into the carriers.
Wire wheel on a angle grinder soon saw to that.
Yeah not great, got new disc and pads in the post but for now this will stop my wheels setting on fire.
So I used the car today for work, prob covered around 70 miles or so. Drives great nice and comfy just need to sort that odd bit of lethargy from the engine, don't think its pulling quite as it should though sometimes you catch it through the gears and it goes quite well.
Will sort it!
But first up I will mention that this all happened over a period of a few weeks so I had a bit of time to diagnose the issue, this old boat anchor doesn't have anything fancy like a PCV valve and although the symptons were a bit weird it definately was burning coolant.
Still don't know what is the issue, wasnt washing a particular cylinder or set of valves to point me in a direction but was definately chucking it out. And the coolant system would never build any pressure, a sure fire sign of a leak.
Car had had some sort of no coolant / overheating event leading to some heat and munching some oil, how or why I don't know.
Anyway moving on!
So I needed to get the existing lump out of the car, having had a quick look about I reckoned I could just drop it through the bottom of the engine bay. No significant subframe was going to be a godsend for this engine swap.
So much room!
So I drained all the oil and using a cheap furniture dolly and a load of wood I made a ramp to slide it out, came out a treat.
I don't think there are many cars you can still remove the engine on with the gearbox in situ, saved me a lot of work.
Turning my attention to the new engine I built it back up using the parts I had put on the old engine, namely a water pump, timing belt and a few seals.
Did I mention a timing belt kit was 11 quid from ECP?! bargain eh?
The clutch was also a bit worn so I looked how much a new kit was, a whopping 17 quid. So I slapped one of those on!
I found a really sound lad to rent a hoist off and while I was a bit suspect of wether I would ever see my 150 quid deposit again all in all for the 24 hours it cost me £20, was tempted to buy one but it would be cluttering up my already crowded garage.
Now I wasn't entirely sure the new engine would go in from the top and it was a tight fit, did involve a bit of swearing and the assistance of my Mrs but the input eventually went into the clutch and I could do up the bell housing. Then I had to leave it for a while!
I think I had a few things on and one of them was going to America for a week or so.
Odd place is America but the Udvar-Hazy Center is a geeks wet dream, amazing!
Then I started little by little building the car back up as the evenings got longer, Aux side, all the cooling lines and the intakes and exhaust.
Then one night I got to the point where I could give it a turn of the key
Bit of the normal condensation youd expect no clouds of sweet tasting pink vapour. Yes I did taste it I was that paranoid!
Now there was still a bit to do, I changed the original fuel filter for a start..
Few other bits.
Now it runs fairly well but not perfectly, has this odd problem of a bit of hesitation if provoked, not so bad when hot but I don't think its running quite as it should. The old engine displayed similar issues so there is some sensor prehaps a miss somewhere? I changed the intake valve for a cheap chinese one and that didnt change things, all vac lines have been replaced. Leaves the usual suspects of the MAF and maybe exhaust sensors? Will run a code reader on it at some stage.
Now before I continue I did mention about the dead dash and non working windows?
Well the dash issue it turns out is a common issue, the typical lead free solder causing issues with a particular regulator and some resistors cuasing the dash dials to not work. Not ideal for a car that now has no MOT!
Some reflowing of connections and it sprung into life, super!
The other thing that wasn't going to cut it was all the windows not working, the Octavia uses the crappy cable regulators and ALL FOUR had failed.
Now how long ago these had failed is anyones guess but what I hadnt quite grasped untill I came to put the new regulators in was
SOME t
t HAD SILICONED ALL THE WINDOWS UP Which ruins the window seals which are 2 or three times the price of a new regulator.
Seriously the effort that has gone into penny pinching the car is unreal, a new regulator is about 15-20 quid.
Yep I was fixing windows ( in the rain at night by the looks of it) and a dashboard on a car that at the time had a dead engine in it.
From one extreme to the other with this cars ownership.
I also swapped out the front door speakers for some cheapo JVC ones. They are s
t wish I had spent more.Anyway where was I.
Thats it, engine in and working so I thought f
k it take it for a MOT and see what comes back.Spent the day hammering F5 on the MOT website...
Urgh, I figured a cable had come away when I was messing with the window regulator. No worry the garage will surely pop the door card off and sort it to send it through?
Would they f
k had to wait till the following week to retest it.Now that annoyed me! More so as if I had left it full of silicone it would have passed!
Anyway 15 mins work on the drive later I put the cable sleeve back into its recess and the door unlocks.
And the following week.....
Much rejoicing.
So I was aware the rear breaks were sticking on, so immeadiately after getting it's MOT I stripped down the brakes to sort that, pads rusted solid into the carriers.
Wire wheel on a angle grinder soon saw to that.
Yeah not great, got new disc and pads in the post but for now this will stop my wheels setting on fire.
So I used the car today for work, prob covered around 70 miles or so. Drives great nice and comfy just need to sort that odd bit of lethargy from the engine, don't think its pulling quite as it should though sometimes you catch it through the gears and it goes quite well.
Will sort it!
Edited by bungz on Thursday 8th June 00:08
There's something oddly satisfying about seeing someone (else) use graft to keep a car on the road that would otherwise be scrapped. My father had a 1989 Passat with that same engine, and it's a tough old bugger, taking all the abuse that teenage me could throw at it. Quite funny to see that the same lump was still being used over a decade later!
This was a great read, thanks for posting it up - practical fixes on simple cars are definitely some of my favourites!
The 'plank slide' made me chuckle - how many cars made after 1990 could do that I wonder? Onwards and upwards, looks like a straightforward engine but kudos for the significant work required to get stuck in.
The 'plank slide' made me chuckle - how many cars made after 1990 could do that I wonder? Onwards and upwards, looks like a straightforward engine but kudos for the significant work required to get stuck in.
Spinakerr said:
This was a great read, thanks for posting it up - practical fixes on simple cars are definitely some of my favourites!
The 'plank slide' made me chuckle - how many cars made after 1990 could do that I wonder? Onwards and upwards, looks like a straightforward engine but kudos for the significant work required to get stuck in.
Not too many would be my guess, had it been more complicated to remove it might never have got swapped! Gravity was a great help.The 'plank slide' made me chuckle - how many cars made after 1990 could do that I wonder? Onwards and upwards, looks like a straightforward engine but kudos for the significant work required to get stuck in.
Ran a Code reader on it and have a code for injector 1 and 4 so will replace those, have them on my desk but its far too hot to mess with it today
Also have some seals and a new air con drier to go in, slightly podgy middle age man cannot survive without AC.
Fantastic! Love these cars and I owned one for about four hours once. Paid £350, went to pub to celebrate buying my cheap shed and sold it to the landlord for £1000 on the promise I'd give it 12 months MOT and a service. I'd have another in a flash. Good solid cars, these, and it's great to see a bit of effort going in to keeping this one running.
Swapped the 2 suspect injectors.
No codes have come back but it still hesitates now and then.
Hmmm, anyone with any experience of these?
And the only way I could get tickets for the festival for the unexceptional was to take a pre 2003 car.
This is my only 2003 with a MOT so it will be there somewhere
No codes have come back but it still hesitates now and then.
Hmmm, anyone with any experience of these?
And the only way I could get tickets for the festival for the unexceptional was to take a pre 2003 car.
This is my only 2003 with a MOT so it will be there somewhere
Gallons Per Mile said:
Fantastic! Love these cars and I owned one for about four hours once. Paid £350, went to pub to celebrate buying my cheap shed and sold it to the landlord for £1000 on the promise I'd give it 12 months MOT and a service. I'd have another in a flash. Good solid cars, these, and it's great to see a bit of effort going in to keeping this one running.
Think you made a far more financially sound decision than I have 
Aaaaaaaand it st the bed.
Mid last week we had a brown trousers incident mid rush hour in a huge line of cars. Car died, not a hint of it restarting.
Not one rotten bd stopped to help me push the thing across the junction either.
But then again I do look a bit of a scruffy oik in it so hey ho.
So I actively collared a couple of lads in a yard of a closed garage opposite and they helped me push the heap into it. Good lads they said I could keep the car there long as I wanted.
Engine just died, I feared it was the timing belt and I was right, the tensioner was roasting and the back of the belt had clearly been run against something that wasnt moving. It was all red hot.
So, luckily the engine stopped as soon as it slipped a single tooth meaning timing it back up with the old tensioner ( always hoard old parts ) and no damage done, and limped it home. Not a fun way to spend a few hours on a Wednesday evening but I would have been pretty sad if I nerfed the engine after 400 miles. Its annoyed me as I had a bit of faith in the car, don't now! I drive it to work a couple of times on a smart section of the M6, will not be doing that for a while.
The new kit was made by SKF which is the OEM for the car ( tensioner is identical for the audi stamped original off the donar engine).
Thing is the tensioner is behaving now its off, its not jammed. Not sure what happened and a bit scared now, I wont get that lucky twice.
One thing that is obvious is how "sprung out" the tensioner is, though once bolted up not sure how this would effect things.
New kit ordered and will stick it on the weekend, got to get it kind of fettled for the run to Fest of Unexceptional, it will cover alot of ground that weekend.
t the bed.Mid last week we had a brown trousers incident mid rush hour in a huge line of cars. Car died, not a hint of it restarting.
Not one rotten b
d stopped to help me push the thing across the junction either. But then again I do look a bit of a scruffy oik in it so hey ho.
So I actively collared a couple of lads in a yard of a closed garage opposite and they helped me push the heap into it. Good lads they said I could keep the car there long as I wanted.
Engine just died, I feared it was the timing belt and I was right, the tensioner was roasting and the back of the belt had clearly been run against something that wasnt moving. It was all red hot.
So, luckily the engine stopped as soon as it slipped a single tooth meaning timing it back up with the old tensioner ( always hoard old parts ) and no damage done, and limped it home. Not a fun way to spend a few hours on a Wednesday evening but I would have been pretty sad if I nerfed the engine after 400 miles. Its annoyed me as I had a bit of faith in the car, don't now! I drive it to work a couple of times on a smart section of the M6, will not be doing that for a while.
The new kit was made by SKF which is the OEM for the car ( tensioner is identical for the audi stamped original off the donar engine).
Thing is the tensioner is behaving now its off, its not jammed. Not sure what happened and a bit scared now, I wont get that lucky twice.
One thing that is obvious is how "sprung out" the tensioner is, though once bolted up not sure how this would effect things.
New kit ordered and will stick it on the weekend, got to get it kind of fettled for the run to Fest of Unexceptional, it will cover alot of ground that weekend.
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