Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

If you need the car and can't afford to just buy a new one, I wouldn't fuck around and risk the timing chain breaking.

My understanding is if it's a chain it's not going to snap like a belt but would just get louder etc - will it lead to something more catastrophic?

Yes. Yes it could. It sounds as though the chain has slipped and ruined your valve timing, which would explain the drop in performance.

What engine code is it? There were lots of evolutions of the TSi engines. Some are more prone than others to issues.

It's just gone up to £2k as they've found some other issues inc rear calliper . Bleugh.

Don't know the code but he said it had cam sensor and some other sensor which suggested to him timing chain.

hell yeah. looks like a lot of fun.

The alphabet soup of 3 letter codes on the factory stickers can be deciphered here.

https://vag-codes.info/vag-option-codes

The build sticker is often inside the door jambs and / or in the boot near the spare tyre.

It will tell you everything you need to know about your car from transmission through to paint colours.

/stares in only been driving for a couple of years

That's shit.

But depending on the issue you may be able to do that yourself or hold on it. My understanding is things connected to timing chains/belts shouldn't be risked.

I wouldn't know where to begin. As much as I'd like to. I've changed the battery, the ignition leads and a brake light and that's about where my knowledge ends.

10 minutes of head unit shouldn't drain the battery completely, it might have been low already.

If it is that power hungry and it's drawing power while the leads are on, then it's likely it won't jump.

If you've got time and want to go through this methodically, disconnect the head unit then try jumping it again to either rule out the head unit or identify it as the problem.

If you remove the head unit and it still won't jump then plug it into a battery conditioner to check the health status of the battery.

Mind blowing. Innit?

The only bit I'm not sure about here is why did it rev higher?

If the chain slipped then the cam and crank shafts are now out of alignment. That wouldn't make the engine rev all of a sudden, if anything it would bog down, misfire, stutter etc.

A rev going up a step hill says clutch slip to me.

Now it could be the unexpected rev from a slipping clutch caused a jump in timing chain but the timeline (pun kind of intended...) doesn't match up to me.

I wonder the high revving was coincidental. It's felt a bit odd for a while. Sound in particular when starting it sometimes is very noisy rattly until I change gear (which, from reading skoda forums this morning, marries with a timing chain issue).

It's an automatic. It sometimes has trouble wanting to change up a gear in the low gears - if I'm coming away on a busy roundabout and wanting to accelerate quickly for example it'll stick in 1 or 2 and rev more than I'd like before switching to 3 and beyond. I usually do the direct gear select thing to keep on top of it. Going down very steep hills (a couple near us in particular) it always want to overrev and I'll either brake or change gear to manage the revs (this may be a terrible idea).

Basically I think the answer is I want a brand new electric ford transit custom. But I have 90s ford transit wreck money.

Ok, that makes more sense then. It's likely that the car saw a reduction in performance compared to the throttle position due to the timing chain and "dropped an extra gear" in an attempt to provide the level of performance required.

I have a skoda with a 1.2 tsi engine and it does sometimes rev a bit funny, I always put it down to the turbo engaging when its not needed or something (I obviously very mechanically minded).

At least now I can just stress about the engine being carked with a timing chain issue instead!

Where are you and do you have a multi meter

Main dealer or specialist?

Is the engine light still on?

Thanks for this. I disconnected the power to the head unit before trying to jump and that didn't work. AA coming out in the next hour so hopefully it's just a knackered battery and I'll get up and running again. I just need to be able to drive it to a service later this week anyway....

I’ve had a mare. I wrote off my M140i earlier this year (yes, they’re ditch finders. No, I’m not a yoof) and plumped for a S3 to replace it. Turns out that the coveted Super Sport seats are designed for those of average height and not only did I find them incredibly uncomfortable they had zero head rest adjustment - hi, whiplash - and my head skimmed the roof at the slightest of road undulation.

I’ve spent the last 2 months frequenting AT nightly looking for the perfect vehicle; fast and a headrest of required height. Finally found something and having bought the wife an eternity ring, I was able to pull the trigger without so much as a grumble. Travelling 250 miles on Friday to go a collect it and it's broken already. Day 1.

Don’t leave us hanging, what have you got? This could dramatically change the advice you get, as to waiting or not. But it sounds like it’s got an LSD and the clutches have given up the ghost. Not a massive deal, but if there’s not slipper I’d say it’s a bigger deal if the actual diff is shagged.

It's niche - 97 in UK and 9 in this colour. It's a Volvo estate. It's been fettled with by Polestar before they went all electric. And it has a supercharger and a turbo.

Ooh I like a quick dog hauler.

367BHP 470nm. 0-60 4.5s and Ohlins adjustable dampers.

I hope I can get it fixed because it really is a special car. It draws little road based sterotyping and to the untrained eye it's just another Volvo.

very nice car. i dont think you can make a decision until the dealer gets back to you though....

... and obviously everyone in here will goad you into keeping it anyway :-)