Serious missfire problem Fabia vRS

[MikeB]

Hi

I'm getting pretty desperate about a problem with my Fabia vRS.
As soon as I drive off in the car the engine starts to missfire (only 3 or less cylinders working), then the engine management light comes on along with the traction control light. There's obviously a serious lack of power and the car sounds as loud as a tractor.

I took the car to Vindis Skoda in Cambridge, in January, and they said that it was probably dirty fuel, so they bled the system and changed the fuel filter, oil & oil filter and the car was OK for about a day.

Now the problem has been with me ever since and I can't face driving the thing.

Has this happened to anyone else?
I'd be grateful for any suggestions about what it could be before I push the bloody thing off a cliff.

Mike

[bobjim]

injector problem???

[Lummox]

I would say injector, a quick check of the measuring blocks will tell them which injector isnt working crrectly and then they can remove and test as required.

[MikeB]

Oh, they tested all the injectors and they said they were fine after resting the ECU. The diagnostic machine said that all of the injectors had showed faults at various times but were now working fine. The mechanic suggested that they couldn't all be knackered so it's probably not that.

Maybe they are all buggered

[kemputy]

injectors almost never go wrong could be the engine temp sensor but dont no

[cheezemonkhai]

It could be ****e getting into the fuel.

You haven't tried to use biodiesel at any point recently have you? If so get the fuel filter changed again or if you can afford it the tank drained and cleaned, a new fuel filter and a fresh tank of dino diesel.

The bioderv will strip all the cr*p that has accumulated in the fuel tank off and send it down to the fuel pump and injectors.

It might be worth checking the fuel pumps are supplying the injectors with the derv they need too.

BTW, yes all 4 injectors could die at the same time, especially if you were to try and run them on petrol for a good amount of tries.

[Lummox]

Originally Posted by kemputy

injectors almost never go wrong could be the engine temp sensor but dont no

Really?

I've changed no end of them. Due to the one bolt fixing on the 1.9 PD after a time the injector pitches over in the cylinder head. This leads to failure of the seal meaning the fuel bypasses the injector and goes straight down the return drilling in the head. The fuel passing the side of the injector wears it out and renders it useless.

[kemputy]

i meant in general on most things they dont go thought it would be the same on these sorry my bad

[Lummox]

Fair enough, didnt mean to sound off with you.

[suep1972]

I put my Fabia back to the car showroom under warranty cos I lost power on M'way. Managed to get it started again and crawled to cardiff. I dont no if same as urs, but was misfiring, engine management light was on and reduced power. Going over 3000 rpm kicked it off. Garage said a sensor was broken off on the inlet and needed replacing. When I foned up next day, they said cam belt pulley was cracked and had to be replaced and have new cam belt.

[vRS Dovit]

If the cars still under warranty, keep bugging them until the problem is solved. They'll do it just to get rid of you! Lol lol

[bengie]

can a diesel misfire? seeing as they don't fire like a petrol.

[Conshine]

Originally Posted by Lummox

I would say injector, a quick check of the measuring blocks will tell them which injector isnt working crrectly and then they can remove and test as required.

Are the injectors for the PD expensive (£100's) or is that for the whole PD unit?

Ben

[Bigw2069]

I think the standard PD130 injectors are £330+VAT Each

[vindaloo]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Hi

I'm getting pretty desperate about a problem with my Fabia vRS.
As soon as I drive off in the car the engine starts to missfire (only 3 or less cylinders working), then the engine management light comes on along with the traction control light. There's obviously a serious lack of power and the car sounds as loud as a tractor.

I took the car to Vindis Skoda in Cambridge, in January, and they said that it was probably dirty fuel, so they bled the system and changed the fuel filter, oil & oil filter and the car was OK for about a day.

Now the problem has been with me ever since and I can't face driving the thing.

Has this happened to anyone else?
I'd be grateful for any suggestions about what it could be before I push the bloody thing off a cliff.

Mike

Does it do it if you load the engine whilst stationary? I.e. Brakes on but slip the clutch until light/medium load?

J.

[MikeB]

It only starts after pulling away (even very gently will induce the problem). Once it's started though, it'll rattle whether it's moving or not. Had it looked at yesterday by an independent garage and they weren't sure.

The initial suspicion was dodgy diesel from a supermarket, but a full bleed and change of all the filters hasn't made any difference... maybe it was bad fuel and it was enough to kill the thing.

I've been reading all sorts of horror stories on various forums about the PD engine, it could be anything from the flywheel, injectors, cam belt pulleys, ecu failure, wiring looms shorting out... the list goes on!

It first happened on exactly 3 years of ownership but the mileage was 61000 so it was just out of warranty. Typical!

[ric04vrs]

Injector wiring looms do go faulty

also a faulty DMF can cause misfire symptoms

[Micky 32]

Originally Posted by bengie

can a diesel misfire? seeing as they don't fire like a petrol.

Yes if one or 2 cylinders weren't getting fuel. Possible cam wear can cause the same symptoms or the injector wiring loom.

[Decron]

Bad fuel from a supermarket???

You can get bad fuel from anywhere. Don't know why people rubbish fuel bought in supermarkets. It's the same as you buy everywhere else.

If you have changed the filter then it wasn't the fuel as these would stop any crap (They get blocked in the process and exibit symptoms like you described but as you have got new and a clean system then that can't be it.

[Mouse]

Sounds like could be 1 of a 100 things. My first thoughts are your cam belt has been replaced recently,or slipped belt tooth for it to be sounding like a bag of spanners.

Metal on metal is generally not electrical more mechanical...