Oil Pump Failure Skoda Fabia 1.4

[Pipandmousie]

My Skoda Fabia (08), which has been regularly serviced (for the two years before I owned it and the two years I have owned it) recently broke down on the M1 (had been running fine until then). My local garage recovered it for me and diagnosed a failure of the oil pump. It needs thousands of pounds of work to it (which I simply don't have). Skoda are saying that they are not responsible for it and are not obliged to offer any good will gesture as I have not had it serviced with them (although I have owned previous Skodas which works in my favour apparently). Can anyone advise if they have had a similar problem and if they had any luck getting Skoda to admit any liability?

[marmaris30]

An oil pump does not normally fail on a car because it's usually such a simple device, although I'm not familiar with that particular engine. Water pumps fail but that's another matter.

 

We know it's four years old but what's the mileage?

 

Are Skoda alleging any negligence on your part, such as failure to change the oil as indicated by the car or service schedule, failure to follow service advisories, or failure to stop the car safely at the first sign of trouble?

 

If it's average mileage, you stopped as soon as you safely could, and all servicing is in order, then it's worth trying again to get them to agree to help with this, not least as a loyal Skoda customer. Meanwhile, see whether this is a common failure by searching motoring forums.

[Conniff]

Why does it need thousands of pounds spent on it, did it seize up ?

 

You don't have to have it serviced by them, legislation says so, but you must have used equivelent or better quality parts during servicing.

[Yukiko]

To be fair, I would say that the Oil Pump is a "lifetime" part, just like the engine block, dashboard and wiper arms.

 

They shouldn't go wrong and all of the above parts more than often outlast the cars they're fitted to, hence they're offered up for sale on eBay all the time from cars being broken for spares.

 

I wouldn't be happy with this at all and seeing as the oil pump is critical to the running of the engine, I'd be asking questions as to why they've seemingly made this one out of toffee and get VAG (Volkswagen/Audi Group) in on it to sort it out.

 

I'll reiterate, my car has over 200,000 miles on the clock and the oil pump has never been touched.

[LyndLynd]

My Skoda (08) oil pump has just failed. It too has taken out the crank and casing etc. You cannot buy just the parts that have broken but have to buy the whole small engine plus the labour for replacing has come to over £2500. I have been to the Skoda garage and complained. They are looking into a 'goodwill gesture' at head office. It might be worth you doing the same. Quote consumer rights at them. I have been told by the manager that if I get no joy with him phoning then I should do so myself and they will more than likely take notice.

[Conniff]

Any chance any of you can get details of what exactly has failed in the oil pump. To put it generally, oil pumps don't fail, there is nothing in them to fail.

 

I would be more inclined to think the strainer became blocked so there was oil starvation.

[LyndLynd]

The drive chain of the oil pump snapped and span off smashing the metal casing. In doing so the cogs that are attached to the crank had the teeth removed. (I have photos of the parts involved - not sure how to send them to you). When the recovery van came there was still plenty of oil in the engine.

The local garage cannot buy just the cogs and so needed to replace the whole of the small engine but on taking it to Skoda they want to replace the whole engine as they say they cannot guarentee the oil pressure in the rest of the engine otherwise. I am still in negotiation with them as to how much they will expect me to pay. Their initial quote is £5k of which they expect me to pay half!!

[badder]

Hi LyndLynd- I know your post was some time ago however I am interested to hear how you got on with the claim to Skoda?

A couple of days ago I was driving my Skoda Fabia 1.4 Sport down the motorway when I heard a dull thud, which was quickly followed by oil light coming on. I pulled over as quickly as was practical and got towed back home. The garage have advised me the oil pump chain has snapped and gone through the timing belt cover. Unfortunately there is no easy way to fix this so I may require an engine rebuild or a completely new one altogether. Apparently this is becoming a recurring theme with Skodas although the company won’t admit this. Given my car is 2008, low mileage and extremely well taken care of/ serviced… I am not best pleased so intend to pursue them for assistance.

[LyndLynd]

My car had to be taken to a skoda garage before they would entertain even talking to me. It sat there for rather a long while. The local garage giving me grief to make a decision of what I wanted to do. Head office were happy to pay 25% towards a new engine and the local garage 25% but would not budge no matter what else I threw at them. I ended up having to buy another vehicle as could not keep catching buses.

Bottom line it needed a new engine - if I went 2nd hand it would cost me about £2k fitted or a brand new one with 50% discount at £2250.

In the end I opted for a new one, but at no point was I offered a courtesy car or any way of financing the payment.

Best of luck. Let me know the outcome. If enough people get together about this with trading standards maybe we would get somewhere.

[MaisyMouse]

It does sound like the chain that drives the pump rather than the pump itself. Spare pumps on auction sites would therefore be irrelevant.

[badder]

LyndLynd- we went to 2 dealerships, one wasn't even interested and the other told us we may stand a small chance of getting 20-25% off the repair costs if we fought long enough. Given the repair costs were looking like nearly £3.5-£4k including labour for a new engine, then even with the discount it wouldn't really be worth it for a 5yr old car. Like you, I couldn't live without a car that long (I live in sleepy Suffolk and buses just don't exist on my route) and I can't afford to hire a car for months... therefore I regretfully say that I'm giving up and flogging the car as a non runner.

 

I would still like to highlight this issue to the relevant bodies as Skoda/ VW need to recognise this as a recurring issue, will try Trading Standards as a starting point.

[JohnWinchester]

I have recently had a similar failure.

My car is a Fabia Diesel 1.4 Greenline with a 2010 plate.

I have had the car from new.

 

The car has had no problems at all and recently went in (to the dealer and supplier) for a cam belt change.

Approximately 150 Miles after the cam belt was changed; oil light came on (whilst travelling on the motorway at 70 MPH). Car was swiftly pulled up on the Motorway hard shoulder; AA was called out and they quickly diagnosed an 'oil pump' problem (probably).

 

Car was recovered to the Skoda dealer where (after stripping the engine down including removing the sump) they diagnosed an oil pressure failure due to a chain breaking. I believe that the chain they refer to is the chain that drives the contra-rotating balance shaft together with the oil pump. The chain (I believe) is driven by the crankshaft via a sprocket behind the cam belt driver cog. I believe that the cam belt driver cog and chain sprocket are separated by an oil seal and plate.

 

Dealer has suggested that the car needs a new Engine and that they will contact Skoda UK to see if a 'good will' payment is appropriate in the circumstances. Their quote for new Engine and installation is approx £4800.

 

The car has done approximately 95,000 miles. All services have been performed with Skoda recommended parts:

 

1) Oil and oil filters

2) Front discs and pads.

3) Cam belt kit.

 

The car was bought for reliability and longevity - hence the decision to purchase the Diesel version back in 2010. I must say that it's performed very well up to date - trouble free over 90000 miles.

 

Previous experiences with Diesels (Peugeot and Volkswagen) suggest that it's not a fiction to expect over 250k Miles out of a regularly serviced engine and that 90k seems excessively low for an Engine from VAG.

 

I note (from the service schedule) that there does not appear to be an interval where the contra-rotating balance shaft chain is either inspected or considered for replacement. I assume (possibly wrongly) that this component (along with the oil pump) should outlast the engine.

 

Would welcome any comments about this sorry tale.

[cornishcat]

Hi fellow Skoda drives and oil pump chain casualties.

 

 

I too have recently experienced the same failure within my 2010 1.4 TDI greenline fabia (91,000 miles).

 

 

Surely skoda has to take responsibility for the poor design and failure of these chains. I have read through a number of fourms know this a real problem.

 

 

My local mechanic has had three more of these happen since Christmas. It is not only Skoda but also a VW and Audi problem.

 

 

I want to start a Class Action law suit against Skoda and reckon that some of you guys might want to explore this further with me and maybe join me.

 

 

let me know if there is any interest out there.

[JohnWinchester]

Hi. The dealership who replaced the Engine reckoned the problem was all down to poor service. Evidently it's not enough to purchase oil and filters from Skoda - the oil and filters must be installed by a suitably qualified Skoda mechanic (one armed with a magic wand and copious amounts of fairy dust). The evidence for their assertions was an inspection of the Engine. Their inspection threw up evidence of overheating. They couldn't show pictures or other evidence of the overheating - the broken Engine had been returned to the supplier (presumably Skoda). Good luck with a court action against the dealership.