[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by Cesc

Marcus, ML

Cost - actually didnt cost me a lot (touchwood). The mech did not need to replace anything. So apart from the lost fuel (which was drained out), I only paid 1.5k in labor charges.

Thanks for the update, do you have a local independent garage that you use in gurgaon, I live in gurgaon to , but have been using a Bosch service center in Delhi.

Best - ML

[Cesc]

ML - I have a few mechs that I usually go to. One of them is ex-Skoda A** and the other has his own garage on Old Delhi road. They really dont have state of the art setups but they surely understand Skodas. I source my own spares (from Kashmere Gate) and get the work done from these guys. If something is only available inside Skoda A** then either the ex-Skoda guy gets it for me or as a last resort I pay those thieves a visit .

[Cesc]

Seems as if I spoke too soon. The car has shut down on me multiple times in the past week. The problem occurs when it is signiifcantly hot and the car has been running for more than an hour. Got it scanned and there were no fault codes (there were a few but they didnt reappear even an hour of driving - which included the car shutting down - after being deleted). Mechanic thinks the fuel pump has been damaged because of the adultrated fuel that got in to the car. The pump motor is hence malfunctioning after some time of operation. Aslo the low FE that I initially observed after the tank cleaning is for real as well. And the car is also having trouble starting at first crank. So it does look as if the mechanic is right.

So now I will need to get the fuel pump replaced and good ol' Skoda A** has quoted 15k just for the part. Labor plus tax will bring that to 20k. I just want to do this to that petrol pump owner who did this to me

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by Cesc

Seems as if I spoke too soon. The car has shut down on me multiple times in the past week. The problem occurs when it is signiifcantly hot and the car has been running for more than an hour. Got it scanned and there were no fault codes (there were a few but they didnt reappear even an hour of driving - which included the car shutting down - after being deleted). Mechanic thinks the fuel pump has been damaged because of the adultrated fuel that got in to the car. The pump motor is hence malfunctioning after some time of operation. Aslo the low FE that I initially observed after the tank cleaning is for real as well. And the car is also having trouble starting at first crank. So it does look as if the mechanic is right.

So now I will need to get the fuel pump replaced and good ol' Skoda A** has quoted 15k just for the part. Labor plus tax will bring that to 20k. I just want to do this to that petrol pump owner who did this to me

Hope the car gets back the health soon, might I suggest you try cleaning the injectors if not already done before you decide to change the fuel pump.

Best - ML

[abhinav.gupta88]

Originally Posted by Cesc

Seems as if I spoke too soon. The car has shut down on me multiple times in the past week. The problem occurs when it is signiifcantly hot and the car has been running for more than an hour. Got it scanned and there were no fault codes (there were a few but they didnt reappear even an hour of driving - which included the car shutting down - after being deleted). Mechanic thinks the fuel pump has been damaged because of the adultrated fuel that got in to the car. The pump motor is hence malfunctioning after some time of operation. Aslo the low FE that I initially observed after the tank cleaning is for real as well. And the car is also having trouble starting at first crank. So it does look as if the mechanic is right.

So now I will need to get the fuel pump replaced and good ol' Skoda A** has quoted 15k just for the part. Labor plus tax will bring that to 20k. I just want to do this to that petrol pump owner who did this to me

A similar thing happened to me.

I will suggest you one thing.
There is a fuel sensor or socket type of a thing under the rear seat, from which there is an access to the the fuel tank.

When i had faced the same situation, my service advisor found that to be faulty causing the same problems you are explaining. It is a black unit with some wires going into it and some coloured labels on it. Try if you can get a mechanic to find that for you, meanwhile i will try to find if i have any picture of the same.


EDIT :

Just googled it



This is most probably the part in which that socket / sensor / plug sits. the FUEL MAP sensor is what it is called i guess.

I think its worth giving this a shot.

[Cesc]

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

Hope the car gets back the health soon, might I suggest you try cleaning the injectors if not already done before you decide to change the fuel pump.

Best - ML

That is at the back of my mind as well. Was hoping not to unseat the injectors. Thanks for the suggestion.

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

A similar thing happened to me.

I will suggest you one thing.
There is a fuel sensor or socket type of a thing under the rear seat, from which there is an access to the the fuel tank.

When i had faced the same situation, my service advisor found that to be faulty causing the same problems you are explaining. It is a black unit with some wires going into it and some coloured labels on it. Try if you can get a mechanic to find that for you, meanwhile i will try to find if i have any picture of the same.


This is most probably the part in which that socket / sensor / plug sits. the FUEL MAP sensor is what it is called i guess.

I think its worth giving this a shot.

Thanks a lot Abhinav. I have seen the part that you are talking about as the fuel pump was opened in front of me. This is the socket sitting right atop the pump. Didnt know that this can cause issues as well. Will try to get that replaced first and report back on how it goes.

I am really missing this car. Having to drive a cousin's Pajero and its making me realise everyday what I am missing.

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by Cesc

That is at the back of my mind as well. Was hoping not to unseat the injectors. Thanks for the suggestion.

Don't worry the car will be back in the road soon. Good luck.

Best - ML

[Cesc]

Just updating this thread a final time. The car is no longer with me. Post the above episode I tried everything to get it back in shape. Spent close to 40k in the process but nothing clicked. The car went to multiple mechanics - including to Skoda A** more than once but no one was able to diagnose the problem or solve for it completely. Skoda A** told me to change throttle body and all pipes after the fuel pump had already been replaced. Throttle body and pipes were quoted at over 50k with no guarantee that it will solve the issue. One mechanic finally changed the cambelt sensor (for 10k) after which the car became 80-90% of what it usually was. But to this day I dont know wether a combination of fuel pump, injectors, valves or cambelt sensor together got it to 80-90% of usual or one of these parts did. The entire time was pretty frustrating and after a while I left it to my brother to sort it out. All I learnt from this - or re learnt from this was - Skoda A** doesnt know their cars.

I sold the car for 1.5 lakhs last month. It had 122k kms on the odo at the time of selling. So I drove the car a total of around 40k kms. I really wanted to keep it with me because I loved driving it everyday but in the end couldnt do so because of this issue. Sad that I had to part company with such a nice and spirited car.

But .. Life goes on ..

[vinit.merchant]

Sad to hear about your vRS.

But seems you picked another Skoda (maybe TSI as your signature suggests).
You are totally sold to the Skoda's. Good choice, for they are good drivers cars and also provide good safety.

Congrats on your new car.

[Cesc]

Yes. I picked up a Laura TSI. That was the only potential replacement for the VRS. I was just used to that engine so much that other cars were not even in consideration. Looked at a few used VRSs as well but all of them were significantly old (7-9 years) and I wanted something that was newer and less run.

[yashb1551]

Before I start with this first post of mine on Team-BHP, I'd like to give a little introduction. I'm a 19 year old engineering student who's been into cars for a long long time. Thousands of hours of Automotive Youtube does mean that I understand cars from a technical point of view and well the engineering side also helps. This is a lets say journal about my automotive journey with my first car.

In 2021 on December 24th my brother and I set out in the morning to Pune to look at a car for me. 2 owners, 96000km and 16 years old. 4 days ago I had abandoned the plan of buying a Gen 1 Honda City and plopping in a R18 Honda civic engine and gearbox I had lying around due to my dad's concern of the car being too old and the legality of the engine swap. I thought fine let's go get something a little crazy then. I knew exactly what I wanted and I fired up good old olx to find something suitable and let's just say that I did.

After entering Pune something caught my eye on the road. It was a 2002 Honda Accord 2.3vti in white. It looked like it had been sitting there for a while but I pulled the taxi pullover paid him and sent him off. After asking around the car was for sale and apparently it runs and drives perfectly. The owner is supposedly some rich guy who offloaded all his old cars to this mechanic to sell so that's that. The car was jumpstarted and it started up fine although with some squeaky belt that went away in a bit. The car was given a nice wash and then we took it for a drive. The front seat is power operated but it wasn't working and I was sat in a very awkward position. Upon driving it I expected a lot more immediateness and eagerness with the throttle as I'm used to driving a 2008 Honda Civic. This Honda however wouldn't rev above up 6000 rpm and at that point we decided its got some problems probably an ECM that's gone kaput so we moved on.

We finally reached the dealership we originally intended to go to and there she was. The hood was open and the Corrida Red paint was looking pretty.
From the side it had on 16" Vrs Spyder wheels and a spoiler on the back. After an extensive 45 minute test drive and pushing the car hard and a full visual inspection later this was the case.
- The engine seemed in very good condition. It pulled cleanly all the way through out the rev range didn't get caught out even once
- It idled perfectly at all times.
- Temperature needle stayed bang on 90

Cosmetically there was a small dent on the boot in the top left corner and the it needed a new RHS side mirror. Mechanically all it needed was some brake work but apart from that it looked like an 18 year old's dream. So the decision was made and a bank transfer of 1.7 lacs later it was mine.

This is the car the next morning parked on the street.



Details about the car:[list]
- Skoda Octavia 2005 1.8T Rider in Corrida red
- 150bhp and 220nm of torque courtesy of a fat old turbo
- 5 speed manual transmission
- 97 thousand abusive Indian road kms for a very sensitive object

3 days after getting the car I decided to to take it to the mechanic for a service where it got all the usual stuff done except an oil change as the drain plug was stuck. The brakes were doing pretty bad due to uneven wear and so I got the brakes skimmed as well. The odo stood at 96,700 kms and just about a year later it stands at 1,06,000 kms. After having driven the car for 9k kms for various purposes and a wide variety of roads, I've come to the conclusion that there's no other I'd want right now.

I started using the car basically as a daily driver. I used it to travel from Vashi to Juhu everyday for college and its actually decent comfortable even by modern standards. There is a thud from the suspension over a large bumps taken at speed but otherwise the ride is extremely pliant. Just the right amount of stiff in front of me. On the engine side things are very very good. Although there's not a lot of low end torque it'll never really get caught out while taking off from low speeds. The turbo starts building boost at around 1700rpm but it only kicks in at about 2200rpm and that is when shit hits the fan and you realise what you're really sitting in. With the stock exhaust there was absolutely no engine noise just the turbo whistle. That has since changed with a cat-con delete and a Remus Exhaust.

Floor it in 1st gear and you'll be dealing with a lot of torque steer which continues for a second as you slam it into second and then you're flying through the air with an almost silly turbo whistle for company. What has continuously shattered my mind is how it absolutely embarrasses basically any new car < 35l except probably the new octavia. I've run this car a number of times against various cars and the only cars that have just about kept up are the Compass 4x4, Virtus GT, 325i. There are countless other cars like the Creta turbo that have been absolutely demolished and I was left quite surprised as I didn't think that a 17 year old Skoda would gap a modern 148hp DCT car like it were standing still.

The suspension setup is such that it's not extremely soft but what really complements it is the damping which is executed beautifully in my opinion. It still provides a decent amount of comfort and leeway for sharp bumps and is actually decently absorbent. But in no way or form does it compromise the handling characteristics of the car. All you have to do let go off the gas for a bit, turn in, let the weight go to the outside and put the power on. The car settles beautifully and goes around corners like it's on rails. One other thing the Octavia does beautifully is trail braking and it really enables you to enjoy the car on high speed runs.

What really lets you exploit the limits of the chassis is the hydraulic steering system. Heavy at slower speeds yes but it's nothing you won't get used to and you'll be quite happy with that tradeoff when you go through a corner and it just gives you some mind blowing precision and feel and really let's you understand exactly what the car is doing.

The weak point of the car at this point were the brakes. It has disc brakes all around but when I got the car the brakes were just about nearing the end of their life but they still stopped on a dime and without any drama. The ABS works well and is not too intrusive allowing you to really play with the brakes and throw the weight of the car around in tight corners.

Cons
- A bit of road noise filters in.
-Rear Seats are best for 2 people.
-Parts are pretty expensive.
-Needs work regularly.

Pros
- Beautiful power band that won't leave you wanting for more.
- Goes around corners completely flat and with no drama.
- Brakes are really good compared to the speeds this car can attain.
- Seats and seating position are very good you can sit very low.
- The steering offers lots of feedback although is a bit heavy at slower speeds.
-Massive Boot.

The journey that I intend to have this car is a long one and it ends with the car being an absolute monster but that's a long way down the line. Up until now I have added a Remus Exhaust to the mix and taken away the Cat- Con. The exhaust is really not that loud and in my opinion its perfect for my use case right now. It's completely changed the sound of the car and the db levels are perfectly acceptable. And of course you have turbo noises and small blow off noises for added aural pleasure. Exhaust sound attached below:

https://youtu.be/O2K05ICPczk

An area that I thought the car would not hold up well to was road trips with bad roads but the car actually has decent ground clearance and doesn't touch on big speed breakers when there's less than 3 people in it. The Mk1 Vrs actually had more issues with it's front bumper scraping rather than the underbelly touching but mine is a rider so it has a shallower bumper. Anyways its gone over some rough roads and slick mud and it's gotten out perfectly each time. On smaller roads the car doesn't feel too big and is very easy to manoeuver. Driving at places like Karjat is extremely easy and you can just stay in the very long 3rd gear all day right from 20kph to 80kph. It really has been nothing short of the best first car I could've had. There is a lot left to cover but I'll leave it here for now. As for future mods I'm planning on doing a downpipe some lowering springs and a stage 2 map in a few months.

Now coming to the achilles heel of the car namely the parts and the reliability and well it really hasn't been that bad. Pricey but not horrible and undoable
- Timing kit and water pump was done at 98k kms about 15k for the whole thing.
- It blew the fuse box one day and I had to tow the car back which was an enlightening experience. about 4k for the fuse box.
- The fuel level indicator broke which had to be replaced.
- The Ac compressor broke and had to be replaced with a new one. The rd bottle and temperature sensor also needed replacement. About 50k for everything
- One of the door locks has been replaced. 2.2k
- New brake rotors and pads all around. 20k
- Osram night breaker headlamps
- New Clutch and dual mass flywheel- 25k

Those have been the highlights apart from regular maintenance and a few things here and there but overall for me it has been worth it and I don't think you can ask for anything else from a 17 year old German car.

In the past 1 year I have driven quite a lot nice cars like the G30 BMW 330i and the GLA 35 AMG which my dad has recently bought and these cars obviously take what my car has to offer and multiply it extensively in every aspect but every time I pin the octavia's throttle the brutal force that it exhibits and the feeling you get of having to manage every aspect of the car with no intervention from anything is an absolutely unbeatable experience.

Here are some pictures that unfortunately have been taken by me and my diminishing photography skills of the car on various outings and with that I think I'll end this here with a lot more updates to come. Oh and also excuse the VRS badges. They're needed they add 60 more bhp



















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We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further.

[R34ul]

Absolutely love the thread on your beautiful mk1 Octavia hope you clock a ton of miles on it. What line of mods have you planned next?

[yashb1551]

Originally Posted by R34ul

Absolutely love the thread on your beautiful mk1 Octavia hope you clock a ton of miles on it. What line of mods have you planned next?

I actually just yesterday put a downpipe on the car. So now it's now running a straight pipe all the way through to a remus endcan that keeps sound levels in checks. After the downpipe the car has gotten louder by about 20% but the tone and overall sound has improved especially at higher rpm's. The downpipe is essentially a diy project using a 2 inch ss pipe and a choke plate at the header to provide backpressure to the turbo. The downpipe has improved the low end a bit and has made turbo spool marginally stronger and the real benefits of it can only be extracted with a tune. I am planning to get a tune but after a few months probably as the car is just a lot of fun right now and im pretty happy with the amount of power it makes currently. A mod i'll probably end up doing before a tune is lowering springs and a vrs bumper to basically get it looking right and stanced.

[shresan23]

Awesome post. Im 19 years old too and its super fun having a car to yourself. I got an A-Star from Truebil for fulfilling the need for a daily driver. I searched high and low for a good modded car and came across a lot of Honda Civic cars with Wolf remap (if that is how it should be specified, Commerce Student ). I was worried about the reliability and fraud pertaining to cars is on an all time here in Chennai. I didnt want to take risk, so i went with a stock, tiny, simple car to start with.

Looking to connect with more of the teens like us, in this forum. Congrats.

Also i had a few questions,

If you lower the springs, wont they get stiffer? Mumbai roads are notorious if im right and weight transfer will become a problem right?


Do get a thorough check before doing a stage 2 remap. I have heard that older Skodas and Volkswagens have a notorious history of danger when it comes to remaps.


Congrats and wishing you happy mile crunching

[yashb1551]

Originally Posted by shresan23

Awesome post. Im 19 years old too and its super fun having a car to yourself. I got an A-Star from Truebil for fulfilling the need for a daily driver. I searched high and low for a good modded car and came across a lot of Honda Civic cars with Wolf remap (if that is how it should be specified, Commerce Student ). I was worried about the reliability and fraud pertaining to cars is on an all time here in Chennai. I didnt want to take risk, so i went with a stock, tiny, simple car to start with.

Looking to connect with more of the teens like us, in this forum. Congrats.

Also i had a few questions,

If you lower the springs, wont they get stiffer? Mumbai roads are notorious if im right and weight transfer will become a problem right?


Do get a thorough check before doing a stage 2 remap. I have heard that older Skodas and Volkswagens have a notorious history of danger when it comes to remaps.


Congrats and wishing you happy mile crunching

Hey so lowering springs will make the suspension stiffer but not by a massive amount and the stock struts are well damped enough to absorb sharp bumps and it deals with road imperfections and potholes with an acceptable level of comfort. Weight transfer again even if the suspension were super stiff with coilovers you can still throw the car around and if anything it makes weight transfrer more predictable and controlled because less roll and pitch.
As for the remap the engine was detuned for india to 150hp down from 180 stock. Tuners in the uk offer stage 1 remaps for the 150hp versions which make a claimed 190hp. However they also offer a stage 1 remap for the 180hp version which produces 215hp tuned even though both engines are exactly the same and so is the turbo. I'm assuming they detuned the engine for India due to poor fuel quality and lack of higher octane petrol in 2005. Based on that, and through other friends who have built Mk1 octavia's I know that these cars can handle about 205 to 220hp with just a full system exhuast and no other supporting mods.