Hi Guys new to this forum and sorry my first post is a technical question

 

I have a 2013 Fabia RS with 25,000 kms on the clock. About 3 weeks ago my car started to develop a rough idle after about 30 minutes of driving. It wasnt every time the car s topped but more so.

Then 2 days later the orange check engine light came up and the car went into limp mode. I took it to our skoda dealer and they said no faults came up and sound slike dodgy fuel. I always fill Shell 98.

Dealer said run it as dry as possible then fill so i did that and put in 41 litres of fresh 98 fuel.

 

The car went back  to normal for about 2 weeks and the one cold 12 degrees morning i started the car and a bit of smoke was coming form the exhaust with the rough idle. The orange check engine light came up flashing then went away. When it warmed up it was fine on my 1 hr trip to work.

 

A week later last night the rough idle came up after 20 mins of driving and the car would hesitate before taking off and the engine felt rough at low speed between gears 1-3.

 

To me it sounds like plugs but the dealer said they are iridium and last up to 95,000 kms. Fuel consumption is about 6.3 l/100

 

what are your thoughts?

 

*edit* the subject says 2012 but should be 2013

Edited 29 May, 201412 yr by johngermanos

Welcome to the forum.

 

Your Dealer is mistaken, lies, or just makes up to suit them selves.

The Service Schedule for the Spark Plugs is change at 64,000 km,  

but many Twincharger cars plugs do not last to 32,000 km, they have failed as low as 25km here,  (15,000 miles)

1 plug fails in cylinder 3.

You need them all checked.

 

george

George above is correct, don't let them tell you otherwise, removal of the coils and plugs will quickly reveal the issue. The car is still in warranty so they are obligated to solve the issue.

On another note, George, I notice you mention cylinder 3 often in regards to spark plug failures, why is this?

Earlier this year I experienced the misfiring problem on cylinder 1 which, you guessed it was due to a duff plug. I'm now wondering if they changed all 4 or just the one that was at fault, would they still have information on parts used?

I would change all plugs for the sake of £40.

One plug fouls up because of the Engine Management and then gets blasted on while giving it fill bore on Super/Turbo and its getting cooked.

Early Failure.

Have just changed all 4 plugs on mine and it still seems to be getting the rough idle and occasional misfire when cold at low RPM. Never had any lights on the dash though. Any thoughts?

Has your car had the latest ECU update from Skoda, & if so how recent?

 

....................................

On another subject.

Does you car require 'Field Action' on the DSG as part of the 'Skoda Silent Service Campaign',

Replacing the DQ200 DSG Synthetic Oil for Mineral & a ECU Update?

George, out of interest,, why is it always the cylinder 3 plug that fails?

Thanks for the replies guys. I will take it to another Skoda dealer because  th eone i got the car from is always so packed they must go through the car services like an assembly line.

 

The dealer said it wouldnt be plugs because they are iridium and can last up to 95000kms. I had an evo 3 previously that was heavily modified and the engine  tuner said to me on a turbo car you will never get 95000kms on iridiums.

 

Whats interesting is that its inconsistent. This morniing on the way to work it was driving fine.

'Can' and 'will' is different though, and the vrs doesnt seem to be friendly on plugs.

Has your car had the latest ECU update from Skoda, & if so how recent?

 

....................................

On another subject.

Does you car require 'Field Action' on the DSG as part of the 'Skoda Silent Service Campaign',

Replacing the DQ200 DSG Synthetic Oil for Mineral & a ECU Update?

I'm not sure of the most recent update on the ecu software, dealers are a bit useless around my parts. My guess is that it was done as past of my last service which was July ish last year. 

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I will take it to another Skoda dealer because  th eone i got the car from is always so packed they must go through the car services like an assembly line.

 

The dealer said it wouldnt be plugs because they are iridium and can last up to 95000kms. I had an evo 3 previously that was heavily modified and the engine  tuner said to me on a turbo car you will never get 95000kms on iridiums.

 

Whats interesting is that its inconsistent. This morniing on the way to work it was driving fine.

Mine is the same with inconsistency and I haven't managed to figure out if its something to do with how it was driven the day before ie. hard workout or lots of low power cruising

There is a Skoda ECU update for the 1.4 TSI CAVE Twincharger,  and it is well worth having. IMO.

 

I would assume nothing about the Service, they should show that a VAS Diagnostic was done,

it used to be at Major Inspection Services, it should be done at Minor Services at Skoda Franchised Dealerships,

and they should tell you if a ECU Update was done.

In many cases it will not have been done.

 

I would not guess on things being done, the Customer Pays for the work,

its not for those taking the money to decide to do what they are paid for or not.

Just ask them what they are doing or not, and what they did before.

 

They have worksheets, & Computers to input that info into.

(If a car is Serviced Pre-Sale as a Used car, the Service and Warranty Work History should still

all be available.(

To give you guys an update. I normally check my oil every 2 weeks and on saturday the oil was just below half way down the cross section. i topped it up with about 300 ml's and my car has been driving so much better. no hesitation or check engine lights.

 

could the low level have caused any of my previous issues?

Not really, if the car had enough oil, though not the full 3.6 litres, as long as the Oil Temperature was not too high.

But even at 110 *oc Plus indicated oil temp and higher ambient Temperatures your car should run correctly.

 

Are you going to have the Spark Plugs Checked, the latest ECU Update done?

& do you run it on 98 ron or higher octane fuel?

 

A spark plug can be getting oiled, and this plug fails, and you get Rough Idle due to a mis-fire,

and then under load a more serious Mis-fire  as the one plug breaks down more.

 

The Service Schedule on them is @ 64,000 km,

& as said in post #2.  some Spark Plugs do not last half of that.

Or at least 1 plug does not.

Just out of interest with regard to petrol, here in the sunny Emerald Isle the government basically shafted everyone a few years back with extra tax on petrol above 95 octane. As such it didn't sell and is no longer available anywhere in the country. My only options are standard 95 petrol, or E5 of which I choose the latter as it generally has a higher octane rating than standard 95. Could this be causing a misfire when cold as I remember seeing somewhere that the Ethanol can be a bit more resistant to combustion when cold? 

 

Might give an octane booster a go again on regular petrol, but I don't really like using them plus its expensive to use all the time. Only other option is a long drive up to Nor'n Ireland to fill up with real fuel. 

It could be the problem. But I would not use an octane booster personally.

E5 should be fine (generally speaking) as a fair proportion of UK unleaded is E5 already (although not Tesco Momentum99 which is the fuel of choice for both George and I) - and I think E10 is mentioned either on the filler cap or in the handbook (but I don't recall if it's OK or not).

 

Octane Boosters aren't bad per se although I don't know if they are fine for the TSI engine...

Edited 3 June, 201412 yr by philhoward

My car's booked in for a third diagnostic visit to cure a lumpy idle when cold.

I'll let you know if they find anything conclusive.

Ok another new development, driving home today having just come off the motorway (engine hot, oil temp 96 ish) i pulled away from the roundabout on the next road up to 50mph and sat there for a while when I noticed the engine was running a bit rough. Seemed like a slight misfire, so I left it in gear and put my foot down to see what would happen.

 

Very rough running engine, clattering heard from the engine and black smoke obscuring the car behind until it seemed to clear itself and then was fine. I couldn't get it to repeat it either. No lights on the dash again, and now not related to being cold. 

Not really, if the car had enough oil, though not the full 3.6 litres, as long as the Oil Temperature was not too high.

But even at 110 *oc Plus indicated oil temp and higher ambient Temperatures your car should run correctly.

 

Are you going to have the Spark Plugs Checked, the latest ECU Update done?

& do you run it on 98 ron or higher octane fuel?

 

A spark plug can be getting oiled, and this plug fails, and you get Rough Idle due to a mis-fire,

and then under load a more serious Mis-fire  as the one plug breaks down more.

 

The Service Schedule on them is @ 64,000 km,

& as said in post #2.  some Spark Plugs do not last half of that.

Or at least 1 plug does not.

 

I will get it c hecked at next service which is in  4000 kms

OK got my car back from another skoda dealer  this weekend and the issue was found and resolved !

the problem was a loose connector at the map sensor..when you would touch the wire the engine would shake and the engine light would come up.

 

glad its all fixed now

 

thanks everyone for the input.

Just out of interest with regard to petrol, here in the sunny Emerald Isle the government basically shafted everyone a few years back with extra tax on petrol above 95 octane. As such it didn't sell and is no longer available anywhere in the country. My only options are standard 95 petrol, or E5 of which I choose the latter as it generally has a higher octane rating than standard 95. Could this be causing a misfire when cold as I remember seeing somewhere that the Ethanol can be a bit more resistant to combustion when cold? 

 

Might give an octane booster a go again on regular petrol, but I don't really like using them plus its expensive to use all the time. Only other option is a long drive up to Nor'n Ireland to fill up with real fuel. 

Ethanol doesn't evaporate as well as petrol and therefore at cold startup is problematic. Octane booster can only be considered when you suffer from detonation as it actually retards combustion and "makes the fuel urn more difficult" i.e. the higher octane number the more resistant to detonation. The lower the octane level the more volatile the fuel is.

Glad johngermanos got his motor fixed - not all faults are due to mysterious "design issues" after all  

Ethanol doesn't evaporate as well as petrol and therefore at cold startup is problematic. Octane booster can only be considered when you suffer from detonation as it actually retards combustion and "makes the fuel urn more difficult" i.e. the higher octane number the more resistant to detonation. The lower the octane level the more volatile the fuel is.

Glad johngermanos got his motor fixed - not all faults are due to mysterious "design issues" after all

Yeh unfortunately I can't get my hands on 98/99 octane petrol over here so its the closest thing really. And I'm not about to drive an hour to fill up in "the north" :P 

 

Might have a look at cables etc in mine just to be sure its not something similar although I never get any lights on. 

Yeh unfortunately I can't get my hands on 98/99 octane petrol over here so its the closest thing really. And I'm not about to drive an hour to fill up in "the north" :p

 

Might have a look at cables etc in mine just to be sure its not something similar although I never get any lights on. 

 

Well you can try octane booster systems but most of them are bogus and show no improvement.

 

I run 95 for few tanks just to check. Above 5k rpm my bum dyno detected lower power compared to 98 but in normal driving no difference whatsoever. The only conceivable difference could be down to 98 being perhaps better quality fuel, cleaner or something like that?

As promised. I have a development to share. My rough idle is being caused by low compression, but I don't know any more than that yet. I'll keep you posted.

Well you can try octane booster systems but most of them are bogus and show no improvement.

 

I run 95 for few tanks just to check. Above 5k rpm my bum dyno detected lower power compared to 98 but in normal driving no difference whatsoever. The only conceivable difference could be down to 98 being perhaps better quality fuel, cleaner or something like that?

Ok so initial impressions running a tank of standard 95 petrol with a bottle of STP octane booster in....

 

Power I haven't really had a chance to give it beans over a good run so not too sure, maybe down slightly on top end but time will tell. 

Economy is rubbish! Pretty sure the STP stuff I put in has ruined the economy as I have used standard 95 fuel before and had the same as I was getting from e5 or better

Smoothness... well there was much less obvious misfire when cold yesterday, but again its all about consistency as it was never EVERY day.

 

I had run a tank with a fuel injector cleaner additive in just in case it might help, but no noticeable difference over the period of the tank so I guess that didnt make any difference