[Resolved]  Skoda Auto India — Skoda Rapid fuel injector problem

I would like to let you guys know on how I am dealing with the problems related to Skoda Rapid 1. 6 TDI 2012 model assembled in India.

Here is a story on how the problem occurred and how did I solved it. It’s a problem related to diesel injector, ABS, start up problem and normal servicing. From Zero knowledge to a stage where I could handle most of the problems related to my Skoda Rapid. All by myself!

Here it is. 2 years after I purchased my car, we moved to Germany and since it was my first car and I trusted this Brand, I was not willing to sell it and also it was just driven for 20K kms. So I decided to send it from Pune to Silchar, Assam which is my native place. Before sending the car to my native place, I confirmed with Skoda about the servicing possibility and they mentioned me that I can do it in Guwahati where technician from Kolkotta comes for a regular servicing.
During my First Holiday to India, I planned to meet my Engineering college friends in Barapani shillong. So I started at 05:30 chilled December from Silchar to Shillong. The route was scenic with beautiful view of rivers and gorges and it was also a misty morning. I was enjoying my drive ……..BUTTT……. When I was at half a way from my destination, my car suddenly lost power and it was not able to drive up the hilly road. Damn…..I have no idea what’s going on and had ‘ 0 ‘ zero knowledge about fixing problems related to engine area . I was stuck in the middle of the forest and somehow drove the car to find a small workshop. I spoke to Skoda service and they informed me that most probably my diesel injector got failed. I then talked to the road side assist to tow the car to the nearest Skoda workshop which was 1, 200 kms in Kolkata and since my road side assist expired, they quoted me around Rs 82, 000 /- only for the towing. I had only few days left to return to Germany and so sending the car to Kolkatta was not possible. Moreover, the workshop guy where I parked the car in that forest had no idea about such cars with lots of electronic devices in it. This is where I dared to take the matter in my own hand. I wanted to check which injectors and how many of them got effected. So I kept the engine on and plug out the injector connection one by one and this way we could identify that 2 injectors are either having electronic problem or got chocked. And that workshop guy said’ may be we could just clean it and could work’. Having no option left, I agreed and asked him to open the injectors and clean them. Man……..what happen next is where things went worst….he removed all the four injectors from the cylinder head and…..tried to open the top part of the injector where the electronic chip is fitted…. Mann oh Mann…..Only the laboratory guys should disassemble the injector individual parts….(NEVER OPEN AN INJECTOR PARTS) you should take out of the cylinder as a complete unit but don’t even try to open individual part of the injectors. ….very important…without knowing the consequences, the workshop guys cleaned it, assembled it, and fitted it back to the cylinder….and….now non of the injectors worked ….Yes…all the 4 injectors failed. In India one injector cost Rs 21, 500. So the cost of towing + 4 injectors would cost me 1, 68, 000 INR….hmmm…That was my worst day of life with no solutions left.
By the time we finished assembling, the car completely broke down. It was dark and so I spent the night sleeping inside the car. Luckily I was alone and my family didn’t join me for the trip to Shillong. The next morning I searched for a tempo traveler or a truck to pull my car back to silchar, my home town, but was hard to find one in that isolated place. Finally I could manage a person who have a tempo traveler and he agreed to pull the car until my home at Silchar. By the time we started, dusk set in and the matter became worst again . One more challenge to face. The journey back to home from the workshop was terrible. Why ? because the engine was not starting and so the power steering, brakes are very hard to operate and no lights as the battery went down in making several attempts to start the engine. We need to drive downhill and the only way to control my car is to use hand brake or shifting to small gears. The road was not good and to make the things worst, it started to rain heavily, typical Meghalaya heavy rainfall. But at the end we managed to reach my home with a minor scratch on my car.
I lost hope on Skoda service and so I left the car without repairing and came back to Germany. As I said, at that time I had ZERO knowledge on how to repair a car. Not even the basics. Once in Germany, I started getting knowledge about repairing a car, visited some VW service here in Germany, googled it, watched you tube and most important is the blogs. Also the Team bhp website helped me a lot. I decided to buy a refurbished injector here in Germany and there are lots of small companies who sell such refurbished expensive parts of cars here in Germay. I bought 4 Siemens Injector (part no. 03L130277S) at 1/3 rd the price quoted by Skoda India. I got it tested infront of me at their lab to make sure all 4 are functioning. That person was very nice and he explained that I would need to updated the codes in ECU after replacing the injectors and for that I would need the Diagnostic software. Oh….one more twist for me….I have no idea what was he talking about…then after a lot of study, I came to know that I need the VCDS diagnostic software sold by Ross Tech and which the VW group uses for their cars. I talked to the VCS dealer in US, India and Germany and finally decided to buy it from a German dealer….Thank god that I live in Germany and that everything works here fine. I bought “HEX V2 for 3VIN” and it costed around Rs 18, 000/- (240 Euro). I registered the software online and tried it here in Germany in my Audi A3 and works absolutely fine. So in my 2nd trip back to India after a year, I have the VCDS software, Tools, Injectors and workshop manual with me…. Jung ladne ke liye tayar…As soon as I reached my home in Silchar, the next day I started alone with my task of replacing the injectors…my parents asked me to call for some mechanics but honestly I have no faith on anybody including the Skoda guys. This VCDs software is a must have if you want to repair such cars with electronic controls. As you read along, you will come to know how this software made my life easy. So, after replacing the Injectors one must update the code through VCDs software and the fuel system must be primed and priming fuel system is so easy with VCDs without which would be terrible. After everything is ready, I turned on the ignition BUTT…it didn’t start, the ignition doesn’t start at all…I just hear a click sound…something like Tak..tak like something is popping out and heating something…OH God what this new Problem? Then I googled it and came to know that the starter motor mayyyy… be the problem. The diesel car was just standing still for a year and so other problems appeared. So I checked if the battery was dead and I made the battery recharged it at a local workshop and it was perfectly OK. To me its like something got jammed in the starter motor. So I opened the starter motor which is Located at the lower most position. I cleaned it with petrol and manually rotated the shaft just to release the jam. Before opening it, I hit with a rod, pushed the vehicle backward but didn’t work. After cleaning, I fitted the starter motor and remembering God (hey bhagvan!), I turned on the ignition….YES…after a long hold, the engine finally started and everything is back to normal like before. Huraah!!!...

I test driven it in the hills of Manipur border and was driving the whole day continuously and I didn’t face any problem. But yes after a week, while I was driving, I had another different problem and that was with ABS . The ABS suddenly started functioning and it was jamming the wheels…Oh…NO…once again different problem…I was not able to drive so I decided to deactivate the ABS by plugging out the ABS Fuse just to somehow reach home. Huh!...needed to google which fuse is for ABS….Stupid Skoda designers didn’t mentioned the fuse in the back side of the cover. That fuse cover must have been localised in India or China. Once I reached home, I connected my laptop to the car via HEX V2 and scanned the problem. It said “ not receiving proper signal from Front right wheel” it was something like that kind of information. So I suspected that the ABS sensor from the front right wheel was the culprit. I opened the wheel and cleaned the sensor and it worked perfectly OK . The ABS error display is GONE !!!...So now you understand how the VCDs detects problem and is so helpful. Just scan and directly jump into the problem. And off course I asked my brother to buy oil filter, cabin filter, air filter, engine oil nut, which you change during every servicing and the engine oil (Fully synthetic 5w-40 )I got it at a local shop.
"Toi toi toi" the car is running without any problem and my parents are happy about it. I hope I would not face any more major problems with my Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI 2012.
This is not a rocket science guys. I think everybody must have some knowledge on repairing cars so that the service centers can’t fool you. All service centers and everywhere in the world tries to extract money as much as possible from the customers because it’s their business and I do not blame them. Instead I have learnt to tackle them. My only request to Skoda is to have at least one permanent service center in a big city like Guwahati. They say that they use to have it but not amymore. Don’t know how true it is.

So guys, If you have questions on Skoda Rapid Injector problems, VCDS software, normal servicing by your own, you can write me at [protected]@gmail.com. Being born as a human being let me help you as much as I can. I can understand the problem you are going through.

The problem has been sorted out by free replacement from SKODA.

Im having the same problem and my car is currently at service station at Vizag, may i know how they have resolved the issue, as i'm informed by service engineer they are trying for software update.

Same problem for my car, they say all 4 fuel injectors failed and also the fuel injection system. Total estimation 2.5 lakhs. All this happens within one months after full service. Fact is their fuel injectors are sub-standard. They are selectively doing free service but not to everyone. YES IT IS A PERFECT CASE FOR RECALL. They have recalled for the same reason in other countries but they don't want to support Indian customers.

TO skoda technical & management team,

I have been experiencing the similar injector issues ever since oct 2016.. first 2 INJECTORS failed and costed 55000 to bring back car motorable. Now exactly after 1 yr oct 2017 one more injector failed + some sensor issues.. will cost me 35000.

The car has hardly run of 20000km .. how can fundamental spare parts gets failed without any run .. also they claim 4 yr warranty + 2500 per annum service cost etc during sales promotion.
WHERE DO V STAND.. WHO BELIEVED IN SKODA BRAND AND NOW WE CAN'T EVEN DRIVE OUR CAR WITHOUT ANY FEAR OF ON ROAD FAILURE..

Despite my number of efforts through customer support cell, i do not have any solution. THEY JUST PUT US ACROSS SERVICE CENTER WHO ARE AUTHORIZED TO JUST REPAIR (without offering any route cause matters) .. and as a customer what u get is A HUGE SERVICE BILL .

LIKE MR. BALAMURLI B quoted, this is nothing but fundamental company fault and I AM STILL WAITING FOR SOME RESPONSIBLE SOLUTION TO BE OFFERED to RE-ESTABLISH MY FAITH IN "SKODA BRAND".. THEY SHOULD IMMEDIATELY RECALL & REPLACE THE VEHICLE ..

WILL WAIT TO HEAR FROM CONCERNED RESPONSIBLE PERSON . My no. [protected]..

-Nishant vasani, mumbai ..
Car no. MH04FZ2915 SKODA RAPID

Hi, I am also facing the same problem my vehicle getting checkpoint and getting knocked sound. But service centre guys told me to run 2k then knock sound away but still am getting same problem please tell me the best service center in hyderabad

I too had the same problem. My Rapid car (2012) had only 55000 Kms and regularly serviced by Gurudev Motors, Madurai (Now they have closed it). I never had any problem either in starting or running. Till now gives an average of 19.8 km on high ways. Last week (April 2018), on the high way the engine slowed down and stopped. The coil symbol started showing in the meter. I restarted the engine and it started jolting heavily. So I called the mechanic and they scanned the engine and informed me two of the cylinders are not firing. They towed the car to the garage and further screening showed that the third diesel injector also partly not working/ not functioning properly. As I had an important travel planI spent Rs 75000/- to replace the diesel injectors. The mechanics told me that they have attended several SKODA Rapid & VW Vento diesel cars with the same problem. I thing it is designing problem with SKODA Rapid Diesel engines. It classic case for recall of the Models. Advice SKODA people to recall the models and replace the engines. I also understand that the SKODA has silently replaced the entire diesel injectors after 2014. Will the SKODA respond.

Anbudurai
Madurai

I too had the same problem. My Rapid car (2012) had only 55000 Kms and regularly serviced by SGA CARS, COIMBATORE . Last week (JUNE 2018), on the high way the engine slowed down and stopped. The coil symbol started showing in the MFD . I restarted the engine and it started jolting heavily. So I called the mechanic and they scanned the engine and informed me two of the cylinders are not firing. They towed the car to the garage and further screening showed that the FOURTH diesel injector also not working/ not functioning properly. As I had an important travel planI spent Rs 23500/- to replace FIRST the diesel injector. The mechanics told me that they have attended several SKODA Rapid & VW Vento diesel cars with the same problem. after replacing first injector, car ran about 500 km again same problem, i took it to dealer after spending 10000rs for towing .I thing it is designing problem with SKODA Rapid Diesel engines. It classic case for recall of the Models. Advice SKODA people to recall the models and replace the engines. I also understand that the SKODA has silently replaced the entire diesel injectors after 2014. Will the SKODA respond.
I asked phone number of regional skoda representative, they denied to give and skip diplomatically,
i do not have words to explain my pain, my whole family get disappointed with this matter

Just thought of owning a skoda rapid 1.5 TDI Ambition 2018 Model. But after seeing such pathetic after sales service I have changed my mind.

Also there should be an written confirmation from customer to his/her satisfaction level to close this complaint, but skoda India had just given a basic reply to

customer complaint and closed the complaint in this consumer portal.

No peace of mind I guess after purchasing Skoda!

I was about to book a Skoda Rapid Diesel AT, but now changed my mind. Skoda doesn't change. It's better if they leave India instead of harassing their customers and their hard earned money and mental peace.

I had purchased Skoda rapid Dec, 2011 and till now i got the FUEL INJECTOR problem three times.
June - 2017 - 55, 000
Nov - 2019 - 65, 000
Jan - 2021 - 92, 000

I spent 50, 000 total for two FUEL INJECTOR. This is faulty part in Skoda Rapid.

Think before buy.