Felicia 1.3L Overheating

[essential]

Hello All,

Hope you may be able to shed some light on my problem.

I bought a used Skoda Felicia classic 1.3L Estate last weekend.

Paid £1300 for it as was in excellent condition, with full Skoda service history.

82000 miles on the clock.

When we first took it for a test drive it ran beautifully, really quiet.

When we collected it a week later the engine seemed to be rattling a little.

Anyway, first day we drove about 20 miles all seemed well, but on finishing our journey we heard what I can only describe as a gurgling sound from the engine for a few seconds after turning the engine off.

Following day my girlfriend drove the car around for the day and told me that the temp guage had been running into the red! She doesn't know how long she drove it like that for! I put about 2 litres of coolant into the filler tank and this settled at a low level and then dissapered altogether. Subsequently we took it back to the dealer for inspection I topped up with a further 2 litres of plain water and when we got there after a 20minutes journey it seemed stable and heater was working and car not overheating.

Other info that may help..

1: Putting on heater from when we first tested it actually caused smell like kippers to come through vents, (coolant possibly?)

2: Radiator fan does not appear to cut in (even when car was going into red on temp scale)

3: Engine now sounds very rough.

Does this car sound like a lemon to any of you? Any advice would be appreciated,

Many thanks.

[KenONeill]

I've a nasty feeling about this one.

It might just have been low on coolant, or it might have a failed head gasket or pressure cap. Anyway, I think your GF has well and truly cooked the engine now (based mostly on Point [3]).

[TeflonTom]

if your getting a smell in the car when the heater is on it's probably got a crack in the heater matrix

[fordfan]

I'd say caused by a faulty thermo switch for the cooling fan in the radiator.

[essential]

Thanks so much for the input everyone.

The dealer has just called to say that he replaced the radiator fan switch and its all ok now.

I questioned him about the lack of coolant and he says that if it was getting hot the coolant would have evaporated, and its not losing coolant now. I'm guessing these don't have closed systems?

RE: possible crack in the heater matrix... is this an expensive / difficult repair.

There really is a weird fishy smell coming in when ithe heater is on, we assumed (stupid I know) that it was probably as a result of the engine being steam cleaned. Does it affect the car to have the heater matrix cracked, can we leave this?

All ended a bit nasty when I thanked him for the repair and advised him that I was getting the car serviced this weekend coming and if there were any major problems, i.e. cracked or warped cylindar head i would let him know.

Got the usual cars under £2000 dont have warrenties from me etc etc, you would think the sale of goods act never happened.

Anyway really appreciate the advice and your time, just hope that I dont live to regret going down the Skoda path.

[KenONeill]

They have a sealed system up to a point, like everything else. If they get really hot due to a fan failure or a blocked radiator, they push water into an overflow bottle, but if you push enough water into them, then you get water pushed out of an overflow pipe.

I'm afraid you may be on a sticky wicket with recompense, not because of the condition of the car when you bought it, but because of what you said about you GF driving it with the temperature guage in the red.

[essential]

They have a sealed system up to a point, like everything else. If they get really hot due to a fan failure or a blocked radiator, they push water into an overflow bottle, but if you push enough water into them, then you get water pushed out of an overflow pipe.

I'm afraid you may be on a sticky wicket with recompense, not because of the condition of the car when you bought it, but because of what you said about you GF driving it with the temperature guage in the red.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your response, hopefully all is well.

Once she noticed the temp gauge was up she stopped driving, however its just that she wasn't looking for a problem so didn't keep her eye on it. Sticky situation indeed!

I would hope that you would have to drive with the temp out of control for a while to cause cylinder head problems.

/knows nothing but hopes fervently that car is ok

[KenONeill]

My concern is that you say the engine sounds rough now, and that it wasn't before.

It might just be tappets though.

[essential]

My concern is that you say the engine sounds rough now, and that it wasn't before.

It might just be tappets though.

Drive chain possibly?

If the engine did get hot for quite some time ...hypothetically... why would the engine sound noisy?

Ken, I know nothing about these beasts so really appreciate your replies.

[KenONeill]

The only things that are chain driven (presumes 135 or 136 engine), are the oil pump and camshaft. Neither of these chains rely on the water cooling system, but do need oil. As long as oil is visible on the tip of the dipstick, it'll do until this weekend for service. As there's no tensioner on the cam chain, they're notorious for being noisy, but I don't think they come on that quick. You'll find more on them than I can remember on the Felicia et al and RWD

Skoda fora.

Tappets (valve gear adjusters) might have opened up as a result of being cooked. If so, not an issue; they're designed to be adjusted to take out free play.

The expensive trouble comes if the engine was running hot enough for long enough to have damaged bearing surfaces.

[essential]

Thanks again Ken,

The girlfriend has picked up the car but is very reluctant to speak to me at the moment.

God knows what state it is in.

I will keep an eye on it and let you know how the service goes.

[anewman]

Be nice to the GF, hopefully she's more important than the car driving in the red in the gauge is something anyone could do and you would expect the car not to have gone in the red, especially being from a dealer.

Radiator fan switch failing seems quite common.

Smell could be due to the car standing at the dealers perhaps, and could be bacteria living somewhere on the heater matrix? Just a random guess. I've had a peculiar creamed mushroom smell from the vents with no apparent reason.

In my experience, some days these engines can be quiet, then another day they can be a bit noisy. Hopefully I'm not imagining things and someone else can say they have similar experiences.

[essential]

Be nice to the GF, hopefully she's more important than the car driving in the red in the gauge is something anyone could do and you would expect the car not to have gone in the red, especially being from a dealer.

Radiator fan switch failing seems quite common.

Smell could be due to the car standing at the dealers perhaps, and could be bacteria living somewhere on the heater matrix? Just a random guess. I've had a peculiar creamed mushroom smell from the vents with no apparent reason.

In my experience, some days these engines can be quiet, then another day they can be a bit noisy. Hopefully I'm not imagining things and someone else can say they have similar experiences.

Yes I was really nice to her and she is more important than the car, she will be really chuffed by your post, thanks

[KenONeill]

Smell could be due to the car standing at the dealers perhaps, and could be bacteria living somewhere on the heater matrix? Just a random guess. I've had a peculiar creamed mushroom smell from the vents with no apparent reason.

In my experience, some days these engines can be quiet, then another day they can be a bit noisy. Hopefully I'm not imagining things and someone else can say they have similar experiences.

That gives me an idea; you can buy disinfectant sprays for car heating (well technically designed for air con) systems. They basically work by being sprayed into the ducts with the heat on, and the pollen filter (if applicable) removed.

Also, I've never owned a Felicia, but I do find that some days my car just seems to run better (smoother, quieter, better turn-in...) than others. I think it's down to the (fairly average) driver being "in the zone" more some days than others.

[essential]

Hi,

Compared the smell out of the vents to the coolant bottle contents suspiciously similar.

Mmmmmh, so tonight to the mechanic for the service, I haven't checked the coolant level since the dealer replaced the fan switch.

[cheezemonkhai]

Could be an old hose cracking up too.

[essential]

Right then...

Took it to the mehanice for a service over the weekend.

Plugs, filters etc all changed, he says the car is fine, absolutely no oil in the water and no water in the oil. In fact he says its quite a good car, high praise indeed from him.

He did advise that the water pump is slowly on the way out, (dried coolant crust around it) and he will get a price to replace for me and in the meantime just to check the coolant level every few days as a precaution.

Unfortunately I forgot to mention the burning coolant smell when the heater is on full.

Don't really notice a sweet smell in the car (might be the dealers air freshner he had clipped to the air vent.. mmmh) in normal driving and although the floor mats are stained the windscreen isn't misting up and there is no sign of liquid coming out of the vents.

Is the money still on the heater matrix being cracked or could a small leak on the pump cause the hot coolant smell?

It really makes my nose and throat itch, am assuming that unless breathed in every day for the next ten years there will be no long term health risks.

Thanks again for everybodys input.

[KenONeill]

A leak on the water pump could indeed account for pretty much everything you've listed, even the noisy engine.

[essential]

Ken, I see light at the end of the tunnel!

The noisey engine is just the chain, it's just that after the 'over heating' I noticed it much more. Now the car has had a clean bill of health it sounds quiet again (to me).

So you really think that a smallish leak on the water pump could cause the car to fill with the heady scent of coolant, (I'm hoping you will say yes so I wont worry that the coolant system is about to fall to pieces, but you have to give me the truth Ken... however painful!)

edited: Forgot to add the burning coolant smell is only when the heater is turned up to hot, normal airflow smells ok.... could that still be the pump or would the matrix have to be involved?

[KenONeill]

I said that noisy could be partly psychological on some cases; it's just that I know that really hot can knacker an engine in others too. I trust the GF has learnt that the guages are there for a reason though?

I'd fix the leak you know about because it might be the source of the smell, before worrying about the heater matrix.

[essential]

I trust the GF has learnt that the guages are there for a reason though?

We had a chat in the woodshed after supper