Favorit cutting out problem

[David Collier]

Hi folks, I didn't know this Club existed but for me searching on Google for the 'other one'. I am amember of SOCGB, but since I gave my Favorit estate to my dad (with membership details) I've forgotten how to ask questions on their site. I must say that for the two years I had the Favorit, what a usefull car it was and like a Tardis inside. More legroom in the rear than cars the next class up and the rear load area with the seats down was huge, I can't see the new Fabia estate being as big, but it may just be the style of it that belies its size.
I never had any trouble with the car, except changing the discs and pads when I first got it, but my dad had trouble with it cutting out which was traced to a faulty earth wire on the fuel pump and he had to have a new head gasket last year, but I think that may have been going when I had it as it used to loose water somewhere. A recent problem he's had is difficulty starting the engine and sometimes it has refused to start altogether, but when left a couple of hours it has started fine. He did say that the first time this starting problem happened the engine would not rev and he came back from Lancaster to Garstang (where he lives) virtually in second gear! He's taken it to a local garage, who I don't trust, who gave it an oil change and said there was no compression and changed the air filter! Has anyone any idea what the problem is as I don't want my dad,who's over 75 now and doesn't 'tinker' anymore, being ripped off by some yokel mechanic.
Also, does anyone have a complete towbar for the mentioned 1995 Favorit estate as he and my mum would still like to take their little caravan out while they are able.
Thanks in anticipation, David
Upate! My dad took the car out the other day and after about half an hour it conked out, as though he had just turned it off-no spluttering or hesitation-it just stopped. After calling a friend for help and waiting an hour or so, he tried it again and it started first time and ran perfectly all the way home! Any ideas? Please let me know.

[KenONeill]

I can ontain myself no more! WTF did those cowboys think an oil and air filter would achieve with an engine that was down on compression!!? No, worse than that; think sparks from lips and smoke from ears mad!

With your description, I'm wondering about the possibility of a bad block earth as the actual fault.

[johnh510]

no compression (hopefully only 1 or 2 cylinders) is likely to be:

overtight valve clearances, or

blown head gasket, or

hole in piston.


First option is the only cheap/easy one to sort, provided the valve seats aren't burnt.

It's worth doing the valve clearances, as they tend to tighten up.

[Richard Black]

Sounds to me as if the head gasket has gone again. That quite often happens on a replacement: either the head might have been warped (was it skimmed when the gasket was replaced?) or there may be erosion around the edge of one or more cylinders, where the first gasket was leaking.

A blown gasket can, as someone already pointed out, cause poor compression, and it can certainly cause the poor running/cutting out/difficult restarting symptoms you describe.

It could also be an electrical fault or a few other things. It's certainly not immediately obvious. Check the valve clearances, as suggested (a piece of cake on a Fav), make sure electrical connections are nice and snug, and if all that passes I'd probably do the gasket again. While the head is off, make sure it's flat - put a straight edge along it. Any visible distortion and it needs a skim. Check the block and liners too.

And take it to another garage! Sounds as if the one you describe couldn't be trusted to empty an ashtray!

[David Collier]

Thanks for the suggestions. The car runs perfectly when it's going, so I think the bit about 'no compression' was just crap from the first garage. My dad has taken the Fav to his normal garage where it's mot'd and they've conncted it to an engine diognostic bit of kit which came up with a faulty flywheel sensor on the bellhousing. Does this sound more plausible?

[fordfan]

It depends on how they did the diagnostic, they all show up as faulty if the engine isn't running when they do the check. A faulty engine speed sensor will prevent it from starting, it could be dirty and is a favourite for getting damaged when the clutch is replaced.

When it stops is the ignition coil excessively hot?, condition of the cap, rotor arm and leads, what about the fuel system and pump. A non start is going to down to engine electrics or fuel, the first step is to find which system is causing the problem.

[surprising_skod]

im thinking something to do with heat from all of the description. it isn't running problems - therefore it's electrical, and something probably has a dodgy earth causing it to overload.

coil, ecu and fuseboard (favourite choice) all need felt when it happens again and see which is hot...

[David Collier]

Thanks again guys. the car started and dad took it to the garage for the new sensor. the mechanic took the old one off, which was dirty, then found the replacement was too long! cleaned the old one and put it back - wouldn't start! left it a few minutes, it started. dad took car home (a couple of miles), tried it again and wouldn't start. dad's just tried it now after a break of about three hours and it's started after a couple of turns! He's going to check the suggested overheating electrical bits tomorrow, if it goes. Thanks folks.

[David Collier]

Dad's not checked the electrical bits for heat. correct flywheel sensor came to garage. car wouldn't start to take to garage. garage brought unit to car and fitted it. car started. later car didn't start. garage came back, hit fuel tank underneath, car started.garage took car away. had no report back yet from garage. any more suggestions? If the pump is faulty (£150+ apparently), are they the same on the Felicia? poss source from a scrapper. Thanks

[anewman]

Try the fuel pump relay first. Easy enough to swap yourself. It's the grey relay under a plastic cover behind the ECU.

[David Collier]

My dad has finally had the problem sorted. turned out to be the fuel pump according to the garage, but it has been running perfectly since the 'op'. he's now £280 lighter - so frustrating when you have to pay someone for something so simple!

[daverapid]

Sorry David, I've only just seen this...glad to see you're a member of SOCGB, and also glad you've got the Favorit sorted. The Club doesn't have it's own forum, but as you can see from the website in my signature below there is a link to a couple of Skoda forums that we heartily recommend....including this one!