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Engine seized up - 2017 Skoda Superb 2.0 TDi

  • 27-07-2023 09:07AM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭


    So my wife was driving our 2017 Superb Combi 2.0 TDi home the other day, when it suddenly cut out going up a hill. She tried starting it again, and while the starter motor would turn over, there was nothing from the engine at all. Bit of drama, because it was on a busy rural road in a dangerous spot. Luckily some passers-by stopped and helped direct traffic around her. She called her breakdown assist, and got the car towed to his garage. 

    On the roadside, he suspected injectors or "a diesel issue", but when he got it back and inspected it properly, he now says that the engine seized up due to lack of oil. I did get an oil level warning light come on one time last year, but I topped it up and it never came on again. The car was then serviced in a Skoda dealers in December 2022, and last time I checked the oil was probably 2 months ago, and it was fine. Like I said, no oil level or oil pressure light came on before this incident. 

    So now the car needs and engine swap. He's looking for a donor engine now. 

    Just wondering, has anyone come across this before? Engine failure due to lack of oil with no warning whatsoever? 



Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,661 ✭✭✭John.G


    Is there oil in it now as per dipstick ?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    No. Mechanic said he looked it when he got it back to his place, and there was no oil when he checked the dipstick.

    I'll also note that there was no sign of any oil on the road behind where the car stopped, and we've never had any drips in the driveway.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    If the engine has seized then surely the starter motor wouldn't be able to crank it over?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,246 ✭✭✭kirving


    Perhaps it might be for a while, until it cooled down? Or the starter motor was making a noise, but nothing actually moving?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 831 ✭✭✭raspberrypi67


    if there's no visible evidence of a leak then where did all the oil go? It cant just disappear. The warning light should come on if it goes low ....



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,896 ✭✭✭✭Spook_ie


    Dunno wasn't there but I read this and think it sounds like it was cranking but not starting. As if the cambelt had gone

    "She tried starting it again, and while the starter motor would turn over, there was nothing from the engine at all. "



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,941 ✭✭✭jmreire


    We have several Skoda's / VAG cars ( basically same mechanicals ) and most of them need a top up between oil changes, so normal enough. This is not just a Skoda / VAG issue, many other makes are the same. What puzzles me is why the oil level sensor did not work? This is the real cause of your problem. If it was not showing oil stains on the parking, (strange) then it had to be losing the oil while driving, and of course, its always possible that there was a catastrophic leak, and the sump lost its oil very quickly, the garage should be able to identify the cause. Anyway, Oil sensor or not, I always physically dip the engine regularly, that's not much use to you, I know, except for future reference. Good luck in sourcing a good 2 ltr engine, and let us know what the mechanics find as the cause of the damage of the original engine, OK? Thanks.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    Yeah, I'm possibly using incorrect terminology.

    The starter motor made its "chuuugh-chuuugh-chuuugh-chuuugh-chuuugh" sound. The engine itself never sprang to life. 



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,941 ✭✭✭jmreire


    Yes, it does sound more like cam belt, but he mentioned that the mechanic who checked it said it was a lack of oil. Even so its s bit strange, usually before the engine gives up the ghost, due to oil loss, it will start banging and knocking before stopping, and when it does stop, it can seize up and all you will get from the starter in "CLICK".



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 805 ✭✭✭RonanG86


    Could be an issue with the oil pump whereby there's still oil in the car, but it's not circulating properly.

    Although you'd still expect an oil pressure warning in that case.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,941 ✭✭✭jmreire


    The warning icon is the root problem. Going back awhile, there was an issue wit the oil pump's in Audi's. The pump was driven by a hexagon bar, inserted into a splined shaft, to make matters worse, it was only inserted a few mm. Designed to fail in fact. So engine failure due to lack of oil is nothing new, but its increasingly these days due to more advanced electronics. Maybe even at this stage, if a scan was run, it should show an oil sensor fault.?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73,546 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    Far as I remember the oil pump on the Audi was driven off a balancer shaft as opposed to a chain/belt ran off the crank, and only in longitudinal engine setups.

    It may be an engine failure due to lack of oil, but that’s about all these would have in common.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,130 ✭✭✭coolbeans


    If it's not leaking the oil it's burning it. Agree that warning light should come on but even at that stage it's too late.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,941 ✭✭✭jmreire


    Yes, Colm, I'm aware of that with the twin Lancaster shaft's. The point I was trying to make was that oil loss (for whatever reason) is nothing new. If I remember correctly, there was an engineering company offering modified pumps, that had a deeper shaft, or actually changed the inner shaft to a hexagon, and that solved it. It would make you think when you see basic mistakes like that being made...the BMW N47 was another one. I know that sensors can and do fail, and I guess that's what happened here. Unfortunate for the owner, even sourcing a good S/H engine and swapping them over is an expensive procedure.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,226 ✭✭✭✭dodzy


    Twas Powermax Engineering. Up north. Balance shaft mods and replacement hex keys. OEM spec on the hex key dept was absolutely farcical. As someone earlier stated, "designed to fail". I remember doing pics here of a teardown and the damaged (rounded) sides of the OEM hex key. A joke of a design really. Mine was a Audi 2.0TDi 2006 A6. I got a delete kit, dumped the balance shaft assembly, and modified to a uber-reliable chain & sprocket setup from the older VAG design.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,614 ✭✭✭Markus Antonius


    starter motors have a bendix/electromagnetically driven gear on them which means they will spin and simply clatter off the fly wheel if the engine has seized.

    Skoda engines are fairly reliable if looked after. Brother's wife had the con rod come out through the block due to lack of oil so Op probably fortunate it seized before this happened.

    Post edited by Markus Antonius on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,941 ✭✭✭jmreire


    Yes, VAG engines are very reliable. I guess the out come is pretty much the same in both cases.. whether con-rod through the block, or seized from lack of oil.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17 idiot4


    I'm a long distance company driver and my 2019 Passat 2.0 TDI DSG DFGA 2.0 TDI which i recently returned to my company with 167k mi started needing top ups of oil around 10000km after servicing as the oil filter housing seal perished. 195 euro job at a good polish mechanic 😂

    Apparently common enough on those 2.0 TDIs. Put 10000km on my 2023 Superb Style 2.0 TDI DSG with the DTSB engine, oil still full.

    Hope you are sorted now.

    Check your oil frequently in the future.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17 idiot4


    Done over 650000km on VW Group 2.0 TDIs with DSG Gearboxes since 2013. Never had big issues, they definitely are reliable.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17 idiot4


    Burning oil on the 2015+ 2.0 TDIs i find is quite rare. My passat had a leak caused by the oil filter housing gasket.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 73,546 ✭✭✭✭colm_mcm


    My 270k 2.0 TDI oil level doesn’t go down between serviced and I’m often on 20-25k intervals because of the type of driving I do. it can be a problem on some of them though, dunno if it’s luck of the draw or what.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,941 ✭✭✭jmreire


    Being retired now for a few years, my annual klm's would only average about 8'000 klm's, and I change the oil and filters at 10'000 klm's / 1 year, in both my wife's 2015 1.6 Superb and my own 2019 2.0 VW Passat, and they never need top up's between changes. However, in my daughter's 2016 1.6 Superb, and 15'000 service intervals, it frequently needs half to three quarters of a litre top up. There's no visible signs of any leaks, so its not so much a problem, and we know about it and keep an eye on it. BTW, the 1.6 has about 240'000 Klm's on it. But otherwise, no problems



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,868 ✭✭✭wandererz


    A guy I helped at the side of the motorway had a similar problem.

    Oil warning indicator came on. He stopped immediately. Not a drop of oil on the dipstick.

    Was diagnosed as a failed turbo.

    It will draw in oil and send it down the exhaust, so there will not be any spills showing on the ground.



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