Engine failure.

[bigad85]

Just got back from a camping trip and I go 8o% of the way home and my engine light came on my 08 1.2 fabia and I lost all my power. Pulled over turned the engine off and back on and it was chugging really heavy. Really strange just out of no where it went. Oil looks good plenty of petrol no over smoke or over heating. Gutted.

[scoobysn7x]

Could just be old worn spark plugs or a dodgy coil, my EPC and management light came on a few weeks ago when accelerating hard, power reduced and sounded like it was running on 2/3 cylinders, got misfire codes on cylinder 2, as the plugs had been recently changed, I replaced the coils, issue still there but not as bad checked the plugs against a standard OEM plug and the gapping seems miles off, changed the plugs for OEM and it was back to running fine

[bigad85]

The AA had a look changed the coil changed the spark plug checked the electrics but it's still saying low compression in cyclinder 2. Anyone got any ideas what the issue might be and how much I'm looking at for a garage to fix it?

[xman]

Dont panic! 1.2htp? Its almost certainly a duff coilpak. Order a new one from Eurocarparts or gsfcarparts at about £20-£25 (dont forget to apply whatever discount code is current usually 25% for ecp and 40%+ for Gsf at weekends). Dealer will let you have one for about £35-£40.

Easy to change, youll need a couple of broad flat screwdrivers to gently lever a pak out, squeeze the wire connector and pull off, then remove the pak and replace.

Start engine and see if the misfire has cleared, dont worry about the lights, they may take a few minutes/starts before they clear.

As you dont know which is the duff pak, you might need to pass the coilpak to the next cylinder and so on before you eventually get the culprit. (Last time mine was no.3 so had to pull them all)

[xman]

Woah, missed your last post. Whats saying low compression? The AA? Diagnostics. The only way to test compression is to remove all paks/plugs and use a compression tester and follow the procedure dry test followed by wet test, I doubt the AA did that.

If its running ok, whats the worry?

[bigad85]

The engine light came on on the motorway and I I instantly lost power managed to cruise down the motorway until I found a layby. Car won't go over 30mph and is chugging whilst idle. The AA man changed coil sparks check electrics but said compression was still low and that he couldn't fix it at the road side so towed me to a garage who are going to look at it tomorrow.

[James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale]

The timing chain could well have jumped.

[xman]

Still think its a duff coilpak, some aa guys are not that good, maybe his spare pak came out of another car and was also duff. It can take a minute or two after fitting new pak and running for the ecu to settle down and start running sweetly. The ecu shuts down the injector if it detects repeated misfires. Thats why the power disappeared. In extreme cases, it may even be necessary to reset the ecu by removing battery lead for a minute.

Diagnostic scan should point to the problem area and you can reset/clear faults before restarting.

[bigad85]

Ironically it was already booked in to the garage tomorrow because the hand brake needs looked at so hopefully whilst he's on it the mechanic can sort it. AA guy just said the compression in the 2nd cylinder was low and misfiring he did say he didn't see and leaking so gaskets look ok and all the electrics going in looked good. I'm not sure on the quality of his coilpak tho.

[bigad85]

Just got off the phone to the mechanic he says it looks like one of the valves is broken. He's going to have to strip it down replace the valve. Looking at around £500 to fix.

[xman]

Very unusual. Never heard of that om a mk2 htp engone.

It could be a chain jump, in which case much more than one valve could be damaged, but I cant conceive of that happenning while the car was cruising UNLESS the oil level was very low and you lost oil pressure.

Worn valve guides and seats are known on high mileage cars with neglected oil changes, but this is a gradual process not sudden failure.

It could be that the spark plug has shed its tip or insulator, that then wedges in the exhaust valve seat on its way out keeping it open, but the mechanic could see that by simply inspecting the plugs.

I hope the mechanic is right, in the mk1 forum is a long sorry tale of mechanics swearing blind its a valve/cylinder head problem, changing everything for around £1000 all to no avail. In the end it was simply a bunged up fuel injector which was replaced for about £25 iirc.

[bigad85]

Just too update finally got my car back after nearly 2 weeks in the garage turns out the car I bought in September had been poorly kept and hardly serviced. One cylinder was cracked the other 2 in poor repair. So all 3 cylinders have been replaced new head gaskgey new timing belt all new coils and spark plugs new oil and air filters he also mended exhaust and put it through its mot and labour all for £700. Which I'm happy about it now feels like a new car and most of all its safe and back to full working order.

[Tech1e]

Replaced a cylinder?

[thomasbham]

Replaced a cylinder?

Cut it out with angle grinder and weld new one on...simple

[Tech1e]

Not to mention a new timing belt. Err

[Ootohere]

'Much Cheapness' what ever they did.  

The parts list would be interesting to see.  

 

Maybe worth checking the Engine Number of the one fitted now against the V5.

Or best let dogs lay, and accept all is well now, however they did it....

[xman]

Also converted it to cambelt drive! new filters inc air, oil, plugs, coils and put it through the mot!

A total strip down/rebuild is required to replace pistons (doubt if this engine has replaceable liners). I think they must mean valves.

This garage is truly remarkable, a totally rebuilt engine with loads of new bits, ignition system, mended exhaust and full service/mot for only £700?

Edited 18 June, 2016 by xman

[Tech1e]

[bigad85]

Thanks for the help and advice everyone it's been really useful...

[Tech1e]

Thanks for the help and advice everyone it's been really useful...

I'm glad, just hope they didn't charge you £700 for a coil pack because if that's what they actually told you has been carried out its made up.

[bigad85]

The AA spent 2 hours at the roadside changing all the coils and spark plugs checking all the electrics and trying everything to get it going but said it would need to be opened up to see what is wrong. I will be the first to admit that i have zero mechanics knowledge so I may have got some of the technical terms mixed up and also my mam was doing most of the communicating as I work long hours which meant I couldn't talk to them directly so maybe a case of Chinese whispers. I have a break down of the part (although it doesn't state brands) which I will upload if I can.

[bigad85]

content://media/external/file/11637

[bigad85]

content://media/external/file/11637

that didn't work. I'm not sure how to insert images.

[Tech1e]

Sounds like it's been lost in translation then.

Pics can be uploaded when you click more reply options.

[bigad85]

See if this works.