pricey7184

After having an intermitant ECU fault for a few months (sometimes light on sometimes off) my Skoda Fabia is finally on its way out.

Its an '03 plate 1.2 and has only done just over 30, 000 miles. On Saturday morning out of the blue my car would not start and was just badly misfiring and when it would kick in just died again straight away and ECU was also constantly on. After applying a little gas while firing it up I managed to get the car started but was spluttering and chugging badly, with a huge rattle coming from the engine, especially when changing gear, would also cut out any time was put in neutral gear.

Yesterday I took it to a local garage who put it in the fault finder and diagnosed it with a coolant temp tensor fault and a coil fault on one of the cylinders for which they quoted my £400 to reapair but I do not think they did a thorough investigation into the fault.

Out of interest I decided to take it to another local garage for a second opinion before having an reapirs done. The second garage found the same faults by diagnosing the ECU fault on the fault finder but claim this is a totally seperate fault and not what is causing the misfire which they are 100% is an mechanical fault not electrical.

The have flushed the engine to no effect and seems to be at a loss to the actual cause of the misfire, they are claiming that as the car is a 3 cylinder makes it extremnely difficult to identify the route cause and feel that the only way to truely diagnose and cure the problem is to practically take the engine apart which when done the cost may run up to as much as £1500!!!

Obviously if this is the case then my only option is to sell the car as spare or repair as no way is in feasible to pay this for a car that is only worth just over double the cost of the possible repair but I feel that for a car less than 5 years old with just over 30k on the clock and that I have never had any real problems with before a fault as extreme as this just seems really odd.

If anyone out there has experienced anything like this or has any idea what it could be you would be doing me a massive favour as im at my wits end and feel this could end up costing me a lot of money, so please please please any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

ScoobyChris

One option would be to look at taking out a 3rd party warranty to cover it. I've had good experience with Warranty Direct...

Chris

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Holding up the traffic in a little Italian..........

pricey7184

I had considered that but having worked for a used car company myself my understanding of 3rd party warranty companies is that its like getting blood from a stone trying to get them to cover sumthin.

Do you know of any stipulations as to how long you have to have the warranty before you can claim or anything that would except a part/repair from being covered (other than wear and tear/servicable items) ?

ScoobyChris

You'd have to check the T&C's but I think the WD one you can claim immediately unless it's a wear 'n' tear item in which case you have to wait 3 months. WD authorised the repairs immediately and I had a cheque to cover the cost of the work within a week. If you use one of their approved garages they can pay direct, but I had a main dealer do the work. Their policy booklet is very detailed about what is and isn't covered and in your situation I'd guess that it's engine related and as such it should be covered.

No connection, just a happy customer

Chris

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Holding up the traffic in a little Italian..........

fordfan

Why not get a temperature sensor and an ignition coil and fit them yourself?, not a dificult job and shouldn't cost you much more than £60.
Should be straight forward to work out which coil it is, disconnect each one in turn and see if it makes any difference to the running, if not, you have found the culprit.

pricey7184

The second garage have already swapped the coils around on the car to see if they are fault and does not seem to make any difference, also if either of these was causing the misfire would they create such a huge rattle from the engine?

ExAudiSi

On a three cylinder engine, if one cylinder isn't firing I would expect it to sound pretty rough. A four cylinder running on three doesn't sound good, so I would expect a three cylinder on two to be even worse!

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pricey7184

Believe me it sound TERRIBLE, if its not the coils causing it could it possibley be the cylinder itself? Are they expensive to replace and could anything else be causing, because as i say im pretty sure the fault with the coolant sensor is a fault all on its own.

Forgot to mention the garage do think its possibly the timing chains on teh 1st cylinder causing the fault and this is where dismantling the engine (and the added cost) comes into play.

pricey7184

After doing some digging have come across this:

'Timing chains of 3-cylinder chain cam petrol engines are snapping, possibly because they need cleaner oil than VAG anticipated with its service regime, or possibly because the wrong oil has been used. iming chain tensioner problems on 2002-2003 1.2s, usually caused by not changing the oil and filter often enough. Cured on later engines by a more substantial tensioner.'

Could this be a possible cause even though the car is only 30k miles old and has had regular services throughout its life (latest about two months ago), or am I simply cutching at straws?

cjb

If the chain has snapped it won't run, full stop. I suppose if it's going, it could have that effect.

However, I can't see that happening after 30k miles. You should have a compression check done. If the misfire has a mechanical cause that will show it up- I'm very surprised neither garage has tried this- especially the one that thinks there is a mechanical fault. Personally, I'd consider buying a new coil pack, and fitting it on each cylinder in turn to see if that improves things- and I'd consider trying to find a good independent Skoda/VW specialist that knows what they are doing. Where in the country are you?

I'd agree with what others have said about a 3-cyl engine: if it's running on 2 it will be rougher than a scrapyard guard-dog.

Oh- £400 sounds very expensive for replacing a coil pack and a temp sensor.

one more thing: how about whipping the plugs out for a look? Plug colour and condition can tell you a lot- the failing cylinder's plug will look different.

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-- Chris
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The Devil may care, but I don't mind.

pricey7184

In South Wales (Newport), from what your saying pretty sure one of the cylinders is out. The £400 quote also included two other 'major' faults related to the coil pack and sensor, I thought it sounded exepnsive myself which is why I took it to a different garage who have just confused me even more and seem to think what ever it is it is not worth doing due to the possible costs. So coming back to the cylinders, if one is not firing is there a long list of possible problems that could cause this?

BTW, plugs have been checked and are all ok.

I have also found this http://briskoda.net/forums/fabia/sko...t-start/88916/ and the sympstoms described in the first post sound very similar.

cjb

The plugs were OK, but were they all the same colour? A normal plug in a engine firing normally will be a different colour to one misfiring badly.

It does sound like one (or more) is misfiring.

Is it worth a look for a workshop in here:
Tuners & Workshops - BRISKODA - The Skoda Forum and Community
?

There are several possible causes, yes. An ignition fault (plug, coil, wiring) or mechanical damage, for example (cracked head, gasket failure, damaged valves, incorrect valve timing). The compression check, if done by someone who knows what to look for, can reveal mecahnical issues quite often. If you have a problem like described in that thread, the compression check might show it up.


You need to get the valve timing checked, and a compression test done if the valve timing is OK.

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-- Chris
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The Devil may care, but I don't mind.

reflex88

I've had a coolant temp sensor failure, (though, on an AUB)... If this thing is freaking out it really CAN cause terrible problems.. Mine wouldn't start half the time and sound hellish whilst turning the engine.. it'd take (finally) sound rough and spit HUGE plooms of black smoke out of the back.. It was about this time last year.

Basically, the sensor was telling the engine that it was anything down to -10'c and then upto 60'C, from one extreme to the other.. completely randomly. when it was actually like manybe, 12'C outside.. cause..this caused the engine to mix stoopendusly rich and hence all the prioblems.. on my car the sensor was £8! find a good mechaninc and he'll prob do the awitch for £30.

bet it fixes atr least HALF of your problems.. it never made the engine misfire.. but then, it was a different engine!

Rob.

Dmac1969

I would be tempted to find a VAG specialist near you and have them take a look , from the symptoms you have desribed it sounds like it could be the temp sensor and one of the coils , they shouldnt cost too much to replace.

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Duncan - England's most Northerly Briskodian!

2000/V reg Fabia 1.4 Mpi Comfort-Dynamic Blue

Ex Octavia vRS and Octavia Slxi 1.8T.

ap0gee

Given the number of votes for the coolant temperature sensor, here's a link to the guide I did for the MPi Fabia. You may want to check part numbers with your dealer, but it was less than 30 quid for the part on the MPi, and took about 10 minutes. 400 quid all-in sounds extortionate, 'cos although the parts themselves can be pretty expensive, they should only take a few moments to replace...

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pricey7184

Would the sensor or coils explain the misfire/horrific rattle when starting the car and why it only starts when given a little extra juice by putting the accelerator in? For example would one of these faults cause one of the cylinders not to fire?

The garage have confirmed the sensor needs replacing but seem to think this is a totally seperate fault and nothing to do with what is causing the misfire which they have told me is '100% a mechanical fault'.

Would it be worth my while getting them to just change the sensor and coil and then see what impact that has on the misfire and running problems?

Dmac1969

If one of the coils (Im assuming the 3 cyl has one coil per cylinder??) isnt firing then , yes this will make one of the cylinders stop firing , as it wont be getting any electricity at the spark plug , hence running on 2 cyls and being as rough as f**k. The coolant temp sensor being faulty makes the car run badly as you will be getting the wrong mixture of fuel to the cylinders , bearing in mind if the coil is not working , then only 2 clinders are firing then this will make any symptoms much worse. Obviously its hard to make a diagnosis of a car thats not next to you , and Im not a mechanic , but thats what it sounds like to me.

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Duncan - England's most Northerly Briskodian!

2000/V reg Fabia 1.4 Mpi Comfort-Dynamic Blue

Ex Octavia vRS and Octavia Slxi 1.8T.

Reece_1

Yep, has a separate coil pack for each cylinder.

sc249

Hi! I'm new to this forum but desparately in need of some insight into the cylinder head / valve / piston ring issues with the fabia engine. I've got a 54 plate 1.4 16v ambiente and it's only done 16600! It's had a ECU warning light and now looks to be costing me because the cylinder head needs replacing. However, Skoda UK have agreed to cover the piston rings 100% parts and labour so why do you reckon they will only cover the cylinder head 50% parts and 50% labour (and it's outside it's 3 year warranty). I get the impression there's alot of examples of faulty valves / cylinders / piston rings with this model!!

ExAudiSi

As your car is a 54 plate, it should have the BBZ engine fitted which is generally regarded as being trouble free as far as the rings are concerned.

As far as the reason for only paying half towards the head, I can't understand why they would pay for the whole of the piston ring job, but not to repair the head either. Have you been in touch with Skoda Customer Care to ask for an explanation?

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akela

I have my skoda in the garage as we speak for the very same problem. Apparently it is the coolant sensor and is costing me £151.79

Happened in September last year but they could find anything wrong with it, although the AA man said it was the crank sensor he reset it and i haven't had any problems since this week.