[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Cesc

@Behemoth and anybody else following my Laura issues:

I imported a genuine Garrett turbo from Germany. All I was getting here were Chinese turbos for 35-40k. Tried some reputed sellers also but no luck. So I got one from Germany - cost me 50k (inclusive of shipping and customs). Installed it and what? Problem remains as is. Car still smokes and still feels underpowered. I never felt that my turbo was gone but every single mechanic and A** were admanant that the turbo was my problem. So now my car has been sitting in the A** and has had a change of EGR as well as throttle body. Issue remains as is. I will wait a couple more days and if the problem remains unsolved then I am gonna kick the car out. It has wasted way too much of my time already.

Pls get your throttle body aligned. It may solve the problem as it will then learn the correct air throttle valve position and then deliver the correct air to fuel ratio. I have a VCDS and if you need my help we can do it on Saturday. I will pm you my contact details and address.

[dkaile]

Originally Posted by Cesc

Car still smokes and still feels underpowered.

I was always told as a rule of thumb in most cars that if a car smokes it means some oil gasket/oil seal/head gasket is leaking and needs replacement. Kindly also get that checked along with the throttle body as Behemoth suggested.

[Cesc]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Pls get your throttle body aligned. It may solve the problem as it will then learn the correct air throttle valve position and then deliver the correct air to fuel ratio. I have a VCDS and if you need my help we can do it on Saturday. I will pm you my contact details and address.

Thanks a ton for the offer. I will surely take it up. Please do PM me your contact details and we will go from there.

Originally Posted by dkaile

I was always told as a rule of thumb in most cars that if a car smokes it means some oil gasket/oil seal/head gasket is leaking and needs replacement. Kindly also get that checked along with the throttle body as Behemoth suggested.

Thanks. If things do not improve then I will have the mechanic check the head gasket. I am beyond frustrated right now.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by dkaile

I was always told as a rule of thumb in most cars that if a car smokes it means some oil gasket/oil seal/head gasket is leaking and needs replacement. Kindly also get that checked along with the throttle body as Behemoth suggested.

Nope not necessarily. It depends on the colour of the smoke. If it is bluish white then it is a gasket as the bluish white is engine oil burning.

If it is black smoke then it is either less air going in or too much diesel.

[Cesc]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Nope not necessarily. It depends on the colour of the smoke. If it is bluish white then it is a gasket as the bluish white is engine oil burning.

If it is black smoke then it is either less air going in or too much diesel.

Which has been my understanding as well. I have black smoke coming out. Thats why I started with air related components (filter, turbo, EGR, MAF) and also had the injectors scanned (for the too much diesel theory). Nothing has helped till now.

[Seacat]

Originally Posted by R. Kotwal

You were absolutely correct,-I went out just now and tried the way you advised about how to turn the DRLs off, and you know what, It Works!! Thank you mate, you rule

Hi Kotwal, this is strange !! I tried in on my Ambiente and it did not work. I know it is written in the manual but...

[Seacat]

Hi,

The Skoda in question is a Laura Ambiente version

1. DRL's : Tried pulling the light stalk towards me and down within 3 secs with ignition on to activate DRL's but no luck. The question here is if the Ambiente is equipped with this feature ?

2. Wipers - rain sensors: These are activated but;
I have noticed that when the wiper stalk is in off position and if it drizzles then wiper does not come on. ( this would be natural I would guess ) So which is the auto mode to enable this ? Is it the very first step up of the stalk?

Mod team note: Please use the Search options to find the relevant thread.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Seacat

Hi,

The Skoda in question is a Laura Ambiente version

1. DRL's : Tried pulling the light stalk towards me and down within 3 secs with ignition on to activate DRL's but no luck. The question here is if the Ambiente is equipped with this feature ?

2. Wipers - rain sensors: These are activated but;
I have noticed that when the wiper stalk is in off position and if it drizzles then wiper does not come on. ( this would be natural I would guess ) So which is the auto mode to enable this ? Is it the very first step up of the stalk?

Mod team note: Please use the Search options to find the relevant thread.

For the DRLs pull the stalk towards you and then pull up, and not down. If it doesn't happen like that the DRLs will have to be first made active through VCDS, you can ask the dealer for that.

As for the wipers, the first position up is the auto position.

[Sandy28]

Hello friends

Few weeks ago, one of my acquaintance, who owns a 4 year old Skoda Laura L&K had a peculiar problem. The car was running absolutely fine when suddenly one day it just stalled and broke down in the middle of the road. The vehicle was towed to the authorised workshop and after inspection, they sent a repair estimate of nearly Rs. 8 lacs. They said the enigne was damaged due to water ingressions through the intake air filter due to external influence becuase of which other related parts like the crank shaft, piston, connecting rod, etc were also damaged and needed to be replaced.

This was quite surprising as the car was always well maintained, driven by the same person, running was also very limited (primarily office commuting), had no history of any problems, had not been driven thru water or rain in the past few days. So we couldnt figure out how could such a damage occur.

They explained that the Hydraulic lock is caused due to water entry into the engine combustion chamber which creates a back pressure resulting in extra load on the engine. This extra load gets transferred to the crankshaft and connecting rod through the piston during the compression stroke. When exceeds the limit, it damages the engine component namely piston, connecting rod, crankshaft, etc.

Although i understand that the damage is somethign very serious and severe, I could not make head or tail of the technical explanation.

My questions:
1) Can somebody explain the issue in a simpler manner?
2) Considering that the car is a high end model with many safety features, is it really possible that water can enter the engine chamber thru the air filter?

Thanks and regards

[Swanand Inamdar]

Was the engine bay washed with jet spray or something?
Its possible (?) for the water to seep in through the air filter, in that case. Not too sure, but possible.

As for the expenses, if the car is out of warranty, and the damage is as indicated, then the amount seems to be right. Give or take a few k's.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

That's why an extended warranty plan is essential. It's a good thing that they started the 2+2 warranty so that at least for 4 years we can have peace of mind. After that it will be time to sell the car and move onto something else!
Cesc, did you finally get your turbo replaced and which option did you go for?
Regards,
Behemoth

Behemoth,
What all is covered in extended warranty of 2+2 years? Also any idea of what are the Parts (Wear & Tear ones) which are not covered in this?
Cheers

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

They explained that the Hydraulic lock is caused due to water entry into the engine combustion chamber which creates a back pressure resulting in extra load on the engine. This extra load gets transferred to the crankshaft and connecting rod through the piston during the compression stroke. When exceeds the limit, it damages the engine component namely piston, connecting rod, crankshaft, etc.

In theory, water can enter the engine through 2 places, the intake, and the exhaust.

Water can enter through the intake if the level of water on the road is higher than that of the air filter, and if there is a lot of water in the fuel tank (some water is always separated by the sedimenter).

Water can also enter the engine if the exhaust is under water and the engine stalls/stalled.

A sedan seldom faces both the situations, however, if water has entered the engine in significant amounts, the engine would have almost immediately stalled due to the presence of water in the cylinder head and the resulting combustion failure.
The remedy is an engine rebuild, which IMO should not cost INR 8 lac, even for a Skoda.

Coming to the repair part now, unless the user tried to start the engine multiple times, the pistons can be reused, and the crankshaft, connecting rods and the other parts would, at most, need bearing replacements only.

So, the parts list should ideally read.

1. Piston rings set/kit for all the 4 pistons.
2. Gudgeon pin bearings for all the four pistons.
3. Gasket kit for the head and engine.
4. Connecting rod bearing set.
5. Cylinder sleeve (if required)
6. Crankshaft bearing (if required).
7. A few oil seals, O rings and packings.
8. Engine oil, grease, and other lubricants and gasket shellac compounds.
9. Labor charges including lathe charges for bearing removal and seating.

If you can scan and paste the estimate given by the ASC, it would help to clarify things to a much greater extent.

Hope this helps.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

Behemoth,
What all is covered in extended warranty of 2+2 years? Also any idea of what are the Parts (Wear & Tear ones) which are not covered in this?
Cheers

I was going through the list of components covered in the extended warranty recently in the extended warranty booklet and it does cover most of the engine components but some things like clutch slave cylinder, clutch plates, brake slave cylinders, timing belts etc are not covered. The booklet also lists out quitfe a few exclusions including even hydrostatic lock in which the extended warranty will not be honored. Tampering with electricals and also installation of non skoda approved equipment will also lead to warranty not being honored. If you have the extended warranty booklet, do go through it well.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Was the engine bay washed with jet spray or something?
Its possible (?) for the water to seep in through the air filter, in that case. Not too sure, but possible.

As for the expenses, if the car is out of warranty, and the damage is as indicated, then the amount seems to be right. Give or take a few k's.

No, the car was not jet sprayed. Only the body cleaning was done daily by mopping with water and wet cloth. Rest was done only during the regular servicing which was done at the authorised workshop only.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

In theory, water can enter the engine through 2 places, the intake, and the exhaust.

Water can enter through the intake if the level of water on the road is higher than that of the air filter, and if there is a lot of water in the fuel tank (some water is always separated by the sedimenter).

Water can also enter the engine if the exhaust is under water and the engine stalls/stalled.

A sedan seldom faces both the situations, however, if water has entered the engine in significant amounts, the engine would have almost immediately stalled due to the presence of water in the cylinder head and the resulting combustion failure.
The remedy is an engine rebuild, which IMO should not cost INR 8 lac, even for a Skoda.

Coming to the repair part now, unless the user tried to start the engine multiple times, the pistons can be reused, and the crankshaft, connecting rods and the other parts would, at most, need bearing replacements only.

So, the parts list should ideally read.

1. Piston rings set/kit for all the 4 pistons.
2. Gudgeon pin bearings for all the four pistons.
3. Gasket kit for the head and engine.
4. Connecting rod bearing set.
5. Cylinder sleeve (if required)
6. Crankshaft bearing (if required).
7. A few oil seals, O rings and packings.
8. Engine oil, grease, and other lubricants and gasket shellac compounds.
9. Labor charges including lathe charges for bearing removal and seating.

If you can scan and paste the estimate given by the ASC, it would help to clarify things to a much greater extent.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the details.

As far as I know, the car has not travelled thru deep water or rain. It was in perfect running condition. Infact it was running when it suddenly stalled and stopped.

As for trying multiple times to restart the engine when the car stopped, I think the driver would have done that since it must never have occured that the problem could be water entering the engine.

The repair estimate received is as below:
1) Engine Block :- Rs. 2,25,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
2) 4 pc piston with ring :- Rs. 90,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
3) 4 pc connecting road :- Rs. 60,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
4) Crank shaft :- Rs. 1,05,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
5) Piston & crank shaft bearing :- Rs. 24,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
6) Thrust washer :- Rs. 4,500/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
7) All oil seal :- Rs. 12,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
8) Oil pump :- Rs. 18,500/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
9) Timing kit :- Rs. 15,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
10) Head gasket :- Rs. 06,500/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
11) Engine oil & oil filter :- Rs. 9,500/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
12) coolant :- Rs. 2,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
13) Head lath work :- Rs. 28,500/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
14) Valve oil seal :- Rs. 11,500/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
15) Crankshaft main bearing :- Rs. 15,600/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR
16) Cam shaft :- Rs. 78,000/- + TAX + VAT + LABOR

We are still not able to understand what must have really happened. So any more inputs on what could have gone wrong as well as on the estimate would be really helpful.

[raul]

Wow, that hurts! Unfortunate to have to spend 8 lakhs, does insurance cover this kind of damage?

Given this is Skoda you should try to get a second opinion on the nature of the damage and the possible cause.

Also since the car is in your possession if it is confirmed there is water damage then you will have to account for the fact that it may have been driven through water, or some out of the ordinary situation causing water to get into the engine. Regular cleaning, even pressure cleaning cannot cause engine damage. There is no pattern or reports of water damage on Skodas

Is the car used by you alone, were you with the driver when it stalled etc