[Spiritauto]

Wow!! That car looks great after the wash and wax..

I too own an identical Superb also into its 12 year. Still looks and runs smoothly... Of course, it has never missed a service all these years and Tafe Access, Bangalore has been working hard to keep it shipshape.

However, it shows its age here and there. I just recently replaced the roof upholstery as the original adhesives had dried out and the fabric had started to sag slightly in places. The upholsterer was very good as he was an ex-Tafe man and he knew the job. Good work... I am satisfied.

A couple of led lights in the speedometer back light has gone and I needed help to get it replaced. Obviosly, I do not intend to replace the whole assembly. Its not worth the expense. Would have loved some advice..

[ajaykp]

Originally Posted by Spiritauto

A couple of led lights in the speedometer back light has gone and I needed help to get it replaced. Obviosly, I do not intend to replace the whole assembly. Its not worth the expense. Would have loved some advice..

I too am finding 2 speedometer lights (leds) have gone, will be checking with my service person next week if those alone can be replaced.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Spiritauto

However, it shows its age here and there. I just recently replaced the roof upholstery as the original adhesives had dried out and the fabric had started to sag slightly in places. The upholsterer was very good as he was an ex-Tafe man and he knew the job. Good work... I am satisfied.

A couple of led lights in the speedometer back light has gone and I needed help to get it replaced. Obviosly, I do not intend to replace the whole assembly. Its not worth the expense. Would have loved some advice..

Could you please let us know who the upholstery person is and his number along with a few pictures of the work? This is not against forum rules as it is your personal experience with a vendor.

[Spiritauto]

Hi,

The upholstery guy is Mahesh. Cell no. +91 98801 59115

Regards

[dkaile]

40,000 kms up 29-01-2024

So went on a recent 500km trip to a hidden gem - Shaheen Bagh in Dehradun. Bought up the 40000km mark on the odo after nearly 12 years in service. Zero issues. A few shots of the car yesterday at the resort -







Pristine as ever. Best ageing car that I have experienced.

Cheers...

[dkaile]

Passenger Side Wiper Change - 22-03-2024

The Driver Side Wiper was last changed on 04-08-2023 and was working perfectly fine but the Passenger Side Wiper was last changed 04-06-2015 and was nearly 9 years and still working but though a little long in the tooth... lolz. So it was time to get the Passenger side one replaced. Now it comes as a set from Skoda and they were asking around 5000 bucks for a set, whereas I had just changed my Baleno wipers to Hella ones for just 300 bucks and they were working perfectly!! So why the propensity to ask 5k for these??

Searched in local market, not immediately available in Meerut but a spare parts dealer assured to procure for around 900 bucks for the pair. Searched online and I hit one which was just for 489 bucks for a pair!! with a nearly 4 star rating - https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 And with Amazon, I could always return/replace it if it was not worthwhile. So I bit the bullet and ordered and received these ones from Valeo from the seller, which I have heard good things about -



They were the exact size as needed for Superb 2012 MK2 - 24" and 18"



The new Driver Side received with the old OE Passenger Side one replaced -



Now there was a difference of the attaching latch, as is visible in the photo, and I was disappointed at first glance. But when I fitted it to the car, it fit like a glove and clicked and locked into place... Relieved!!



The quality is 'superb' and both my wipers are now giving a crystal clear wipe of the windshield without any streaks.

Cheers for now...

[prawns.curry]

How were you able to use these wipers for so long? I usually have to change every year for my xuv500.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by prawns.curry

How were you able to use these wipers for so long? I usually have to change every year for my xuv500.

Skoda OEM wipers are typically very high quality. Never needed to change my Octavia ones even after 6 years of ownership.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Skoda OEM wipers are typically very high quality. Never needed to change my Octavia ones even after 6 years of ownership.

Originally Posted by prawns.curry

How were you able to use these wipers for so long? I usually have to change every year for my xuv500.

Since dkaile paid about a tenth of the price compared to Skoda OEM wipers, it will be interesting to see how long the new ones last.

I've had similar experiences with VW wipers. OEM did a better job and lasted much longer than other options I tried.

[dkaile]

Brake Oil / Coolant / Fuel Filter Service - 40479 kms - 10-04-2024

I was having NO issues, however it had been 12 years since either the Brake Oil or the Coolant had been changed. The service manual specifies that the Brake Fluid should be changed first at the 3rd year and subsequently every 2 years. The Coolant, they say, is LIFELONG, but I decided to get it changed anyways -

So off we went to try the local Meerut Skoda dealership - Brite Skoda, Meerut, for the 1st time for actual mechanical work -



The odo was at 40,479 kms



The car was lifted up



The DOT 4 Brake Fluid and the Ready Mix Coolant (no need to dilute). Plus my new battery clamp had also arrived, which as I had mentioned in my previous battery change post, had completely corroded - old corroded battery clamp visible here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attac...9072023_11.jpg



Total 6 liters of Coolant and 1 L of Brake Oil is required for this job -



The first thing that needs to be done was that the air box needs to be removed -



Now the special thing in the 1.8 TSI Manual car is that the Clutch Slave Cylinder is also supplied the same brake fluid for it's operations, so that needs to be bled too. Here the arrow is pointing to it's drain plug in the picture below -

From Briskoda -
"According to the service manual you should drain 0.3 l from each of the the rear calipers and 0.2 l from the front ones, so that's 1 liter. If you have a manual gearbox like mine, the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder should be drained together with the brakes as the clutch shares the fluid with the brake system - service manual states that 0.15 l should be drained from the slave cylinder.
The order of bleeding is:

• Clutch slave cylinder (not if you have a DSG gearbox obviously)
• Right rear caliper
• Left rear caliper
• Right front caliper
• Left front caliper

According to the service manual you should use new brake fluid that conform to USA standard FMVSS 571.116 DOT4 and VW standard 501.14.
(It seems that the VW 501.14 is a low viscosity version of the DOT 4 fluid that works better with ESP?"



Now the car is raised -



And first it's time to replace the fuel filter that was lying with me since several years as official replacement time is more than 50k kms. Here's the old petrol filter -



Which was now removed -



And replaced with this new one, a 5 minute job -



The brake pads were serviced and checked -



The front brake pads had plenty of life left in them as is visible -



But the rear brake pads were at end of life and needed to be changed within the next 1000 kms. But they were not available at the dealership, hence cleaned and back ordered -



The car was lowered back down back to bleed the brakes -



Now I was not very happy with the 2-man manual brake bleeding followed at this dealership. They should have had some automated equipment to ensure zero air bubbles in the system. Anyways, here's the rear brake plug for the brake oil after oil removal -



What was surprising to note that the brake fluid removed was absolutely clear, as is evident in this sample I took, even after so many years -



Again the clear brake oil is visible in this photo -



Absolutely fresh and clear Brake Fluid was fully replenished as is now visible in the Brake Fluid Reservoir -



The battery clamp was also replaced with the new one as is visible in the top circle and the slave clutch cylinder in the lower circle in red -



Getting ready to drain the coolant with the engine bash plate also removed now -



The Lower Radiator Hose, as is visible in this picture, needs to be unclipped, to drain the coolant. Sad to see that there is no coolant drain plug here -



Here you can see the coolant draining. As is visible, it is also absolutely clear and pink in colour as the original. It really is lifelong as they claim -



Coolant being collected in the drain tray placed below, no signs of any oil in it, as someone was earlier mentioning, and clear as visible -



Fresh Coolant being replenished. It took in about 5 liters (after engine start and auto burping) as 100% drain is never possible without total engine flush. Kept the rest in reserve -



Total Damages were Rs. 6210/- (3712 for parts and 2500 for labour). Not bad.



While I was there, also did the PDI for the new Kodiaq, that was coming into our extended family -





All done and ready to depart -



The brake felt a little spongy at first. I talked to the service advisor and he remarked that they will get perfect within the next 2-3 short rides. And they did get better in this single 10 km ride back home. Will keep a lookout if the sponginess fully disappears or not, as claimed by them, in the next 2-3 days, otherwise would re-bleed them properly. Final odo at home after testing etc. -




Cheers for now...

[mugen_pinaki27]

Originally Posted by dkaile

All done and ready to depart -

Attachment 2593361

Cheers for now...

She looks lovely @dkaile. The Skoda of yesteryears had such a timeless design. Look forward to more updates on her. On another note, are you planning for any rides? Would love to read more of your ride reports on the GS or the 350 Classic.

[Highh5]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Brake Oil / Coolant / Fuel Filter Service - 40479 kms - 10-04-2024

I was having NO issues, however it had been 12 years since either the Brake Oil or the Coolant had been changed. The service manual specifies that the Brake Fluid should be changed first at the 3rd year and subsequently every 2 years. The Coolant, they say, is LIFELONG, but I decided to get it changed anyways -

So off we went to try the local Meerut Skoda dealership - Brite Skoda, Meerut,
Cheers for now...

I was not aware that Meerut Brite Skoda also has a workshop within their Sales outlet even though I live in the same neighbourhood.
40000 km is very low mileage for a 12-year-old Superb, which looks pristine even today.
Congratulations on the acquisition of Kodiaq, I was recently very close to replacing my harrier with a Kodiaq, however later on decided to stick with Harrier for a couple of more years. Looking forward to hearing about your experience with Kodiaq.

[ankitsharma]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Brake Oil / Coolant / Fuel Filter Service - 40479 kms - 10-04-2024

I was having NO issues, however it had been 12 years since either the Brake Oil or the Coolant had been changed. The service manual specifies that the Brake Fluid should be changed first at the 3rd year and subsequently every 2 years. The Coolant, they say, is LIFELONG, but I decided to get it changed anyways -

And first it's time to replace the fuel filter that was lying with me since several years as official replacement time is more than 50k kms. Here's the old petrol filter -

Now I was not very happy with the 2-man manual brake bleeding followed at this dealership. They should have had some automated equipment to ensure zero air bubbles in the system. Anyways, here's the rear brake plug for the brake oil after oil removal -

Here you can see the coolant draining. As is visible, it is also absolutely clear and pink in colour as the original. It really is lifelong as they claim -

The brake felt a little spongy at first. I talked to the service advisor and he remarked that they will get perfect within the next 2-3 short rides. And they did get better in this single 10 km ride back home. Will keep a lookout if the sponginess fully disappears or not, as claimed by them, in the next 2-3 days, otherwise would re-bleed them properly. Final odo at home after testing etc.
Cheers for now...

Thank you for the update and I must say you have really taken great care for a 12 year old.
Maybe it is such low running (40K / 12 years) that the coolant and brake oil is intact visibly. However, these HOAT coolant that VW group uses will not show visible sign of deterioration if only topped with the premix coolant that you have used. But still the additive package depletes eventually and hence it is needed to be changed more frequently than you have done.

Briskoda and Obdeleven/VCDS both states that the bleeding can be done easily with the BCM allowing it via VCDS. I have seen the feature on my OBDeleven too (Rapid). Surprising that they used the manual bleeding method.

Also brake should be feeling more crisp after bleeding instead of spongy. I did the bleed myself sometime back on my Rapid and they were more crispier.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by ankitsharma

Surprising that they used the manual bleeding method.

Also brake should be feeling more crisp after bleeding instead of spongy.

Exactly. So I too was not convinced by their argument and deducted it to lack of trained personnel and automated equipment at this satellite branch of Brite Skoda Noida at Meerut. Also gave them a mouthful on their feedback call from their main Noida dealership.

Now I had more or less made up my mind to bleed the brakes myself. Also came across this very helpful video by Ganesh Balan doing the same on his Polo including the clutch slave cylinder bleeding -

https://youtu.be/E_vPjKn2LJI?si=dSYth7k-7gyl28Dq

Now since the clutch was back to it's original crisp feel and feeling even a little lighter, I felt there was no need to touch that as, luckily, that had been bled properly as the clutch pedal hits the floor and has to be manually lifted during the bleed process, as mentioned in that video too. But I had to bleed the brakes again. Going by that video, I checked both front tyres, as they do not have to be removed to bleed the brakes, to see whether I was competent enough to bleed them myself... Lolz

So I rotated the front right wheel to access the bleeder plug. You can notice the 8mm transparent pipe which plays the most important part in manual bleeding -



Here's a close up the bleeder plug with the rubber cap removed -



Close up of the rubber bung cover for the bleeder plug -



Now with the pipe attached -



A close up of that -



And the final bleed position with the 11mm close end spanner attached -



A view of the front left wheel bleeder plug -



A close up of the bleeder plug with the cap still on -



Now they were contacting me to come to the service station so that they could rectify the job properly, this time around with a better trained technician. And I had to go to the dealership to do the final pdi of the Kodiaq that was being delivered on Monday, anyways, so I decided to take the car to the dealership and give them a lesson or two in the correct manual bleeding process... lolz

All 4 wheels were now properly bled, as per the video and the photographs you see above -



See the additional gung brake oil I was able to remove now till the clear brake fluid came into view. So there was actual deterioration of the brake oil, unlike what I presumed, and it was only visible once you drain out the old oil into a transparent bottle -



Lessons learnt and key takeaway -

1. Transparent hose is most essential ingredient in case of manual bleeding (see the above video to understand fully). Everything else is secondary.

2. This is the feedback from Ganesh who replied to my comment on that video -Hi bro. Yes this is the standard procedure for brake bleeding in all cars. You also have the electronic means of doing it by using the ABS module and the VCDS application but it is complicated and lengthy. You can do this with the car turned off - no problems. If you don’t have to bleed the clutch, it is all the more simpler. Just remove the wheels and bleed each brake one after the other, starting from the farthest wheel from the brake fluid reservoir first which is the one behind the front passenger side. Please have one more person sit in the driver side to press the brake pedal as you command, after the bleeder valve is loosened. Very important - tighten the bleeder valve after the pedal is depressed. Good luck!

The brakes were immediately absolutely crisp and even sharper than before on my 10km journey back home.

I hope this is helpful for members planning to bleed their brakes.

Cheers...

[Rehaan]

Spark Plugs Change - Comprehensive Guide - 40505kms - 17-04-2024


Post has been moved to its own thread here