1.4 MPI 2000 Sluggish + Crap MPG

[Joey122mac]

I d be grateful is fomeone could help here .

I did use a full can of Redex but I havent seen performance improve and the car struggles to get up steep hills or has no accelaration

ALso I typically get 24 MPG which I think is awful

Two things come to mind:

1) Type pressure - Fronts are 30 - Backs are 32 - Is this right - They have got the skoda alloys that came standard with the comfort model

2) Exhaust needs changing - It got through its MOT but the exhaust does look a little rusty so would need to get changed for next MOT

Does anyone else know if there s something I should be doing instead

Cheers

[ScoobyChris]

You sure those tyre pressures are correct? I'd have expected to have more pressure up front as the engine end will be heavier than the rear end?

Chris

[Tom_vRS]

If the exhaust is blowing that will effect mpg for sure.

[ScoobyChris]

Worth checking air filter condition too..............

Chris

[Chrispy]

Lambda sensor. What mileage does it have on the car?

[Fabia1.4]

Originally Posted by Joey122mac

I d be grateful is fomeone could help here .

I did use a full can of Redex but I havent seen performance improve and the car struggles to get up steep hills or has no accelaration

ALso I typically get 24 MPG which I think is awful

Two things come to mind:

1) Type pressure - Fronts are 30 - Backs are 32 - Is this right - They have got the skoda alloys that came standard with the comfort model

2) Exhaust needs changing - It got through its MOT but the exhaust does look a little rusty so would need to get changed for next MOT

Does anyone else know if there s something I should be doing instead

Cheers

Your not the first to have these problems a few people on here have reported that they only get 220miles to a tank I have the same car and get about 26mpg but so far haven't been able to pin the problem down.

My aceleration was sluggish and hills were a problem but a bottle of redex seemed to help plus it had missfired so the garage changed the plugs on it. Acceleration is now ok and hills not so much of a problem. I used to have a bad stutter/judder effect when changing into second but that's gone now.

Garage told me that no errors were showing when run on a diagnostic machine but not sure how good their machine is and they have said that they will put it in at the main dealership for me if I don't have an improvement.

Mine has had a full service all filters changed, tyres checked, new plugs and still no joy.

My local Skoda garage quoted me £30 to hook it up to the diagnositic machine I think thats your best option as it has to be something not so obvious like a sensor.

[KTea88]

I had the same problem with mine an 8v MPI.
sorted out in the end.

list of things I did

changed the Plugs to the Bosh 4 electrode silver ones FR78 is the code. GSF has them in stock.
this sorted out an uneven tickover.

Oil filter change + slick 50 now not so noisey little free-er revving

changed the Air filter for a high flow K&N panel a little more torque down low.

cleaned the air intake throttle housing with carb clean (see threads about this)

I still had crap mpg !!! argh

then noticed that the temp gauge took ages to get up to temp. (maybe temp sensor)

bought the complete thermostat housing from Skoda £30 just for the sensor its £26
and you get the sensor with the housing for £30 no brainer.

changed the sensor as its a 5 min job. (blast no difference)

so changed the thermostat and yippe!!

now get 37Mpg mixed driving to work bit of duel and A roads then stop start town stuff over an 11 mile trip.

check your temp gauge should be upto temp in a mile or two max

[Fabia1.4]

check your temp gauge should be upto temp in a mile or two max[/quote]


Will check tonight on the way home it does go in the middle but I'm thinking it takes a bit longer than you suggest.

For the sake of £30 it might be worth just getting it changed myself anyway, on the current fuel rate the part only works out at one weeks fuel. What would the labour be from a garage to fit them? as I wouldn't have a clue.

I always find my petrol needle seems to drop drastically after about 6 miles into my 8 mile trip to work for the first 6 miles I think blimey it's doing well today then it dies later on.

[mannyo]

The temp gauge should rise quickly to the normal running position (around 90 IIRC) if it takes ages to get there, or never quiet get there then the thermostat is stuck open. The effect of this on fuel consumption is dramatic, because the engine will never run at the optimal temperature so the ecu will overfuel as it think the engine is cold.

[KTea88]

Fabia1.4
Its a doddle to do DIY thermostat change as it sits on the top of the engine
two bolts hold it on three hoses to unclip.
just remember that you will loose some coolant so when finished top it up and squeez the hoses to get traped air out.
all done while the cap off the header tank also run it up to temp with cap off.
then put cap on once level ok.

there might be a tech guide of how to do this do a search.

hope you sort things out I know it's a pain in AR5E.

[Fabia1.4]

Morning

Quick update on the temp gauge.

From cold this morning it doesn't move at all for the first mile stays on rock bottom.

Then after a mile it slowly and steadily starts to rise it then takes another 2 miles I would say to get up to full temperature.
When it's slowly rising and gets to halfway it seems to sit there for a bit and has a bit of a think before carrying on.

I would say in total it took 10 min and 3 miles to reach tempertaure.
Does that sound normal or a bit slow?

[Mark raw]

Mine did this too with temp gague. garage took ages to sort it (non skoda garage Rayrigg at Barrow) but on third attempt they said it wa definately the whole thermostt not just the sensor. Annoying thing was they had to take it to Windermere branch on time and in spite of the distance they still fooked it up. once the thermost was replcaced it seemed fine. the above post seem exactly what mine did plus blowing out cold or just warm air. Oh yea also had problems with power steering at same time. The thermostat seemed to have a lot to answer to.

[KTea88]

Mr Fabia1.4, yep way too slow.

I checked mine this morning it was upto temp within a mile about 3 mins of driving.
(this is when the stat is closed engine from cold)

change it out.

I found the problem with mine was a plastic clip that holds the stat in place had sheered off so the stat was floating around in the housing on one clip.
water just gushing past, engine never getting hot.

I did a search on Favorit same engine this is a common fault with the stat clip breaking.

[Fabia1.4]

Originally Posted by Mark raw

Mine did this too with temp gague. garage took ages to sort it (non skoda garage Rayrigg at Barrow) but on third attempt they said it wa definately the whole thermostt not just the sensor. Annoying thing was they had to take it to Windermere branch on time and in spite of the distance they still fooked it up. once the thermost was replcaced it seemed fine. the above post seem exactly what mine did plus blowing out cold or just warm air. Oh yea also had problems with power steering at same time. The thermostat seemed to have a lot to answer to.

Aghh Rayrigg I bought my old 106 from them from the Morecambe branch and I could tell you a horror story about when they attempted to fit a new exhaust for me as well as many other things.

[Fabia1.4]

Originally Posted by KTea88

Mr Fabia1.4, yep way too slow.

I checked mine this morning it was upto temp within a mile about 3 mins of driving.
(this is when the stat is closed engine from cold)

change it out.

I found the problem with mine was a plastic clip that holds the stat in place had sheered off so the stat was floating around in the housing on one clip.
water just gushing past, engine never getting hot.

I did a search on Favorit same engine this is a common fault with the stat clip breaking.

Cheers

Will take it back and get them to replace it on warranty hopefully.

I pressume that this would not show on a diagnostic test?

[ap0gee]

KTea88 has made a valid point. If the sensor's on the way out, then the gauge will sometimes remain at 0, but if you've been driving for a bit and stop, switch off, and switch back on again, then the gauge will suddenly "wake up" and jump up the the 90 position (straight up-and-down). If it's the thermostat, however, then the gauge will take a long time to get to 90 (or maybe never even get there), but it will move and it'll behave in the more-or-less the same way every time. As KTea88's also said, there's very little difference in cost between just the sensor and the entire housing, and there's not much in it in terms of difficulty (although you won't lose any coolant replacing just the sensor on an MPi engine). If the thermostat and sensor are both 'ticking timebombs', then it may be worth getting both swapped-out at the same time by replacing the thermostat housing and sensor in one go...

[heresmo]

I learned from researching a different thread that the housing can suffer from a hairline crack behind, which might not therefore be visible. Deffo change housing as well methinks.

Re mileage, mine's always been thirsty, though I mainly do town driving. Hills aren't too bad unless I have the air con on. On setting off, I tend to keep off all of what I call battery drains, i.e. fan, radio, air con etc till the engine's warmed up a bit. It does say in the manual somewhere IIRC that you're meant to run the engine a minute or two before setting off - of course we never do that (well certainly not in summer), so maybe it's just how it works.

Regards
Mo

[Fabia1.4]

Just got car back from having a new thermostat fitted and there is a massive difference in how quick it gets up to temperature it was up to temp within a mile no problems.

Will just monitor the fuel for the next week but hopefully everything should be sorted.

Cheers for your advice on this one guys.

[ap0gee]

I'm very pleased for you that things are looking up. I'd hate for you to sell on a car that - once put right - should do you very good service. I hope the repair wasn't too dear, and pays for itself in better MPG!!!

[Dmac1969]

Nice to hear that its (fingers crossed) sorted! Mine takes about the same to get up to temperature , so yours sounds fine.

[Fabia1.4]

Originally Posted by ap0gee

I'm very pleased for you that things are looking up. I'd hate for you to sell on a car that - once put right - should do you very good service. I hope the repair wasn't too dear, and pays for itself in better MPG!!!

Warranty so didn't cost

Fuel needle will still dropping sharpish today though but we will see over the next week or two.

Funny enough the chap was saying his wifes car had the same problem and they fixed it with a change of thermostat I asked what car she had, a golf!!!

There the answer to my question about do volkswagen, and audi drivers have the same problem.

[Joey122mac]

Can anyone confirm what the trye presure should be? - Its a 1.4 MPI with Skoda alloys that came as standard with the comfort model

Would be very helpful as I always thought the 1back should be inflated more then the front but cant understand why

[Joey122mac]

I did have a look at http://www.briskoda.net/forums/fabia...essures/75291/
but it didnt make much sense - It it 30 front an 32 back?

Thanks

[ap0gee]

No, it's the other way round: 32psi front; 30psi back. It should be on the inside of your filler cap in bar - most gauges read in both, but if not, 1bar = 14psi roughly (call it 15 to make the maths easier!) The tyres supporting the most weight should have the highest pressures. Therefore, in a passenger car, the heaviest mass is the engine, which is at the front. Car-based vans are the other way round, and so they have the highest pressures in the tyres at the back... Likewise, if you travel heavily-laden, or tow a trailer or caravan, you should put a few extra psi in your rear tyres.

HTH

[heresmo]

Hello Fabia1.4. I find that the fuel gauge needle is not a good indicator as it stays put then drops quickly after the half full mark. It's better re my petrol budget to gauge cost per mile over two or three weeks of similar journeys. One way is to fill the car up to full and not refill till the light comes on each time. After having worked it out, I only fill to half full as otherwise carrying unnecessary weight from the fuel itself.

Mo