Hi

Following on from my previous thread about what first ‘interesting’ car, I’m toying with the idea of getting my parents old Octavia going to get me on the road initially.

However, it’s been stood on a driveway for a very long time – perhaps 5 years or so.

It’s an S reg Octavia 1.6 petrol with 44k on the clock and was abandoned after my father couldn’t find a decent garage to sort out it’s MOT emissions failure (it also apparently failed on suspension bushings).

I managed to get it bumped started back in April (battery knackered as you’d expect) and drove it around my parents field. Nothing fell off, the brakes worked, it changed gear etc.

However it did have the ABS light on and some of the electrics do weird things (although reading on Octavia forums these appear fixable).

Anyway, do the STW masses think it worthwhile throwing a bit of money at it in order to see if I can get it through an MOT, or is it very likely to have rotten er rubber bits and er rusted metal bits?

Has anyone revived a car after a similar period of it standing?

ta

It’ll be fine even if it’s that long…. there’s a list:
New battery
Change oil/filter
Change brake fluid
New wiper blades!

be nice to it to start with and run the fuel down as low as you can before putting fresh in.

MOT will show suspension stuff that needs fixing.

Edit: if it’s failed an MOT once it will probably fail again – the emisions thing is a worry. Everything else should be fine. The MOT fail notice will say what’s wrong with it.

Check tyres for perishing – electrics & ABS might just be moisture in the connectors.

Well the emmissions were only just outside the limits by some crazy small degree. I’ve read that a lot people with similar issues have just used that engine cleaning gunk, given their cars good run and seen them pass!

The suspension bushings failure I’m suspicious about as the same garage failed my father’s 2 year old Accord on the same thing. It then sailed through a test at a Honda specialist….

The problem is I can’t really get the car to a bit of private road or carpark in order to get a feel for how it is. It’s really quite hard to tell what’s what when you’re bumping along a bumpy field in 2nd gear..

I’m going to be the voice of dooooom. I bought a car from an aunt that had been sitting for a couple of years.

It was smelly, needed a whole bunch of fluids and hoses/pipes changed, and it very quickly died of seal/airflow problems. It never worked properly.

I wouldn’t do it again…

Fresh oil change first.

Then the coolant changed once you’ve established it runs.

The backbox/exhaust system is probably shot but TBH you’d be better off getting a *mobile mechanic to do the above. You’d need it anyway once you’d got it started. The current oil wont be much use at all so you need to stop running it on the old stuff IMO.

*Yellow pages will be full of them.

Tyres will be ****. Buy 4x used wheels off of ebay and fit or figure a way of getting the tyres swapped.

For its emissions once the above has been done a real good italian tune should sort it!

I reckon you need to spend circa £400 to get it sorted properly (this may inc a new aftermarket exhaust and seals).

At least for £400-500 you’ll KNOW its a good car and you’d struggle to find a decent Skoda for this price used.

Well the emmissions were only just outside the limits by some crazy small degree.

Fresh oil could sort this then, plus Hora’s italian tune.

Um, this may sound like a stupid question but how can I tell if the tyres are shot?

They’re round, have loads of tread on them and no cracks, bulges, dents or flat bits. Is it just that the compound perishes?

ta

Sound alright. MOT tester will tell you if they’re shot.

Just put it in for an MOT and see what it fails on.

But the initial items that spring to mind are –
Brakes will probably be corroded, and bonded linings most likely lifting, so allow for new pads/disk/shoes/drum cleaning.
Handbrake cables seized.
Brake pipes may be corroded.
Exhaust might be corroded.
Rubber bits may be perished, like CV joint boots/ball joint boots (only outer CV joints/steering rack gaiters are a fail right now, but ball joint boots come in to mot next year).
Suspension rubbers may be perished/deteriorated.
Tyres may look ok, but I’d be very suspect of any that have sat for that length of time, as they may look ok, but develop faults once driven a bit.

Biggest issue is all the rubber bits may be good enough to pass an mot, however after a bit use, they may fall apart.

well just bought a 1954 francis barnett.. last taxed 1968 changed the oil and petrol and it runs changes gear the brakes work and the springy bits go up and down.. it ll easy pass the mot.. how old is the skoda..

This is a Skoda isn’t it?

If so then drain the fuel tank and put fresh fuel in. Give it a service – new plugs, oil, oil filter, air filter as a minimum. Get it to MOT and I bet it passes.

The brakes will be rusty but a few miles of driving (to the MOT station) will clean them up.

Once you get it back then change the coolant for peace of mind. Oh! and check the power stearing fluid level.

It may well need new tyres but you can get them cheap.

If you need any parts then as it’s a Skoda you can go to the likes of ‘German and Swedish’ or ‘Eurocarparts’ and save yourself a small fortune.

Then go drive and enjoy.

If so then drain the fuel tank and put fresh fuel in. Give it a service – new plugs, oil, oil filter, air filter as a minimum. Get it to MOT and I bet it passes.

FWIW there’s no need to drain the fuel or change any of the above parts, they’ll be fine, but a service is a good idea (change of oil and filter) as the oil tends to get condensation in it while sitting changing temps regularly.

I would change the brake fluid though if it passes it’s MOT.

The only real concern for me would be brake fluid, rubber brake lines and tyres. Check them over, give brake lines a good wiggle (though the MOT will do this for you it’s best to be a bit violent as they won’t) and after a few runs check the tyres for cracks/damage again. One final check would be the timing belt – sat for 4-5 years puts it right on the edge if the belt was changed just before being taken off road. It’ll probably be fine, but it might not.

Emissions may be the lambda sensor – car needs a good ragging before its test to get it up to temperature.

It’s all very well servicing it, but if it’s going to fail an mot on other stuff that’s going to make it uneconomical to repair, then you’ve just wasted money on servicing it.

For the cost of an mot (or somebody competent to check it over), it’ll give you a good indicator on whether to fix it, or just take it to the nearest scrapyard.

coffeeking – I would change the fuel. the modern fuels we get at the pump are very different – not much real fuel inthem anymore. The old fuel tends to gum up and if you shove that through the system it can be a right pain.

We’ve rebuilt lots of engines in our time and gum is a bugger for sure. For the sake of draining it and stinking in ten quids worth to get to you and from the testing station it aint worth it.

Take the plugs out and crank it to get the oil pressure up before you start it properly. Put the plugs back in and then get it warm, make sure stat opens and the cabin gets warm air. Once you are happy its warm then change the oil. Take along trip to the mot centre to clean the pads up and go for it. Its the water pump that fails on these this then takes the timing belt off with it.

I see your approach to money management hasn’t changed.

Take along trip to the mot centre to clean the pads up and go for it. Its the water pump that fails on these this then takes the timing belt off with it.

Actually this is a very good point that I forgot about!

As I said the long trip will clean up the discs but at 5 years standing this motor is due a timing belt change – you MUST change the water pump as VAG motors are well known for shearing their water pump impellers. Whilst you’re doing the timing belt to do the water pump is around another £20 or so for the part. Do all this and you are good for many more years motoring.

Thanks guys. For info i think it’s a 1998/99 Octavia (S reg)

inbred, I take it you missed the fourth sentance in the first post 😉

coffeeking – I would change the fuel. the modern fuels we get at the pump are very different – not much real fuel inthem anymore. The old fuel tends to gum up and if you shove that through the system it can be a right pain.

FWIW I have a car that sat for 3 years, the fuel in the tank was perfectly OK (and the inside of the tank spotless, I had expected rust). You’ll still have fuel lines and filters full of old fuel anyway so draining the tank makes no odds – if you have gunk in there it’s going to be in there regardless of the fuel coming from the tank. You must be thinking seriously old fuel to worry about gum/varnish issues of old carb days? I’ve a genny in the garage that’s not seen new fuel for nigh on a decade, the fuel in that is still fine, not a hint of gum or problems of age. “old” fuels sure, flush them if you like, but anything in the last decade is going to be fine IMO.

No point tanking plugs out and cranking without to get oil pressure up – the oil won’t have drained away any more than it does overnight, waste of time.

In reality that 98/99 is fairly modern. It will be fine if you follow thw advice above.

Spend a little cash (use the specialists not the dealer) and you will easily get a lot of years from it.

All good. Enjoy.

FWIW, the water pump impeller doesn’t shear of, it simply cracks and starts spinning on the spindle (it’s a plastic impeller on a steel shaft), which leads to overheating.

VAG motors are notorious for timing belt idler bearing failing though, so if you do decide to repair it, I’d do the whole lot, belt, pump and tensioner/idlers, which is another cost to factor into the repair/scrap calculation.

Agree with mc but I’d see if its a decent runner first before throwing 300 at it.

Don’t forget if you bought a used 99 Octy chances are it’ll have negligected missed services and no cambelt recently anyway

I think the Octavia had a FSH before my father left it to fester on the drive…

I’d take it to one of those very cheap MOT places that makes a living by luring in the unsuspecting, then failing their car. That’ll pick up every real fault, and some special imagined ones. Then take it away and price it all up.

Northwind that’s what I did with my pug306 that had sat for 2yrs. It failed on some realLy detailed things. Funnily passed just before it wad laid up with no advisories. They thought I’d be had by the curlies and go through with the repairs but I drove it the 400m’s home ‘risking it’ and sold it on ebay as spares or repair.

I’d rather get points and more than be ripped off by anyone.

Edukator (aka John Courgette) , care to expand on your comment?

I’ve only just noticed you piped up to contribute..

RRR

Care to tell us what happened in the end? Did it pass? Are you using it?

Someone recently said to me when we were talking about changing the oil in the motorbike after it sitting there over the winter..

“why bother changing the oil, Its been sitting there in the ground for millions of years,4 month ain’t going to make it ‘go off’ is it?!”

Re: this car you are planning,there’s other areas where you could be throwing time and money at to see if its worth it or not.

Quick question for the engine heids: Would it be worth pouring a few hundred ml of oil in from the top before start up or will the pump be quick enough to prevent any excess wear?

Would it be worth pouring a few hundred ml of oil in from the top before start up or will the pump be quick enough to prevent any excess wear?

Not really. Pouring oil in isn’t going to get it to where it’s needed i.e. in the high loaded parts.
Depending on filler location, it may benefit a few select components, but in the grand scheme of things, any wear caused by lack of lubrication during startup isn’t going to make much, if any, difference to longetivity.

Woody
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mk1-octavia-electrical-problems-easy-ish-to-diagnose#post-3532129

“why bother changing the oil, Its been sitting there in the ground for millions of years,4 month ain’t going to make it ‘go off’ is it?!”

Yes, but there is a fairly noteworthy refining process that comes in between those millions of years and four months…

Sounds like a scrapyard candidate.

Emissions + ABS light are dead cert MOT failures and probably £££££ to rectify. Let alone any other issues a five year unrun S reg car will have.

On the other hand, if you’ve got the time, cash and inclination to revive it then go for it.

I would do nothing except safety checks then book it into a cheap MOT place. My local Honda dealer does them for £27

Get some insurance (one with a 14 day full refund cooling off period).

Drive to the MOT station, get it nicely warmed up first. Explain explicitly to the tester that you do all your own work on the car and will be fixing it yourself so please show you any problems they find. You are allowed by law to observe the MOT test but people don’t like being watched so maybe just go for the full debrief – its fairly unusual for people to be so interested so you might have to pester the MOT person.

Get on EuroCarParts and cost up the parts needed – if you think its reasonable then fix it, if not drive it to the scrapyard.

ABS light likely a wheel sensor (cheap) get a cheap bay VAG-COM lead for your laptop – this will tell you any fault codes and which ABS wheel sensor it is causing the light to come on.

I’ve had 3 cars that initially failed the MOT test on emissions. One (Audi TT) had a temp sensor out causing it to run in cold start enrichment mode (£7.50), one a VW corrado VR6 that I fitted new plugs (old were a bit fouled) and I gave a spanking to it immediately before a retest (get the CAT really hot – some people even heat them with a blow lamp right before the retest) and the other an RX8 that we put a cheap CAT on (http://www.cats2u.co.uk/).

Bad emissions can be difficult to diagnose, but so long as sensors, cat, coils and spark plugs work then it should be fine.

Edukator (aka John Courgette)

Is he!?

Get on EuroCarParts and cost up the parts needed

Do not do this.

Use http://www.carparts4less.co.uk.

It’s exactly the same company as ECP but the prices are 25% less.

Just had discs/pads delivered for my car with no problems.

Blimey, a flurry of activity!

Octavia went for it’s first MOT a few weeks back and passed on emissions this time! We stuffed some additive in the tank , gave it some beans on the way to the test and also taped up the vacuum hose that needs replacing.

As such it only failed on suspension bushing (easy to sort) and ABS light. It’s since had diagnostics run on the ABS and it points to a faulty rear sensor. I’ve been quoted £270 for all of the work and retest.

After that the only outstanding thing will be the reportedly odd electrics.

I managed to get another banger going that’d also been standing at my parents and am using that temporarily until I can get back down there to sort Octavia .