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Skoda Fabia?

Was the car running fine well before she refuelled or has it been an intermittent engine light on before that ?

Whip the spark plugs out & check appearance, if they are looking decidedly black or oily put new ones in, if the fault persists it might be coil pack failure is on the way.

Lambda sensor might also be a problem, they are cheap enough.
 
Most independent garages only charge a fiver to read the code and then it off. When my car had its MoT the engine light was on, a fail. It was the EGR valve, they advised me if it came on again to give it a good thrash down the motorway, 70mph in a low gear, 3000 rpm for half an hour, to burn off any carbon deposits. My usage is a long drive on Monday and Friday, was 150 miles now 230, it hasn't come back. I imagine it's very clean by now.
 
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Car was running fine before.
Fuel was from an Esso station the posh side of Worsley, Manchester

Some chap on a forum saying that main dealers charge £80+ for diagnostics which they only waive if you let them do repairs, which obviously involves triple the price for bits and labour. Given that 3 coils and 3 plugs can be had from Eurocarparts for less than£85, it almost makes sense to just swap them out. Same chap says this is usually the fault in his experience.

I have an Auto Electrician who has done work for us in the past, so may get him to take a look.

Do coil packs just pull out?

Is that the Lambda sensor front and centre on top of exhaust manifold? Not our car. Ours is much cleaner. :rolleyes:

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The only problem I had with a 1.2 Skoda engine was sudden rough running at random, it turned out to be HT lead 3 which runs close to the exhaust. The roughness then leads to other HT leads working loose. It cost me £80 + for the dealer to put a laptop near it to find that out !!
 
Mullardman said:
I think Mrs Mull has finally accepted that her 19 year old Fiat Punto has had it...since latest MOT demands welding up of seat belt mounts and more...

So.. I'm looking to get something for her. Something half decent around a couple of £k, give or take. Half decent 5 door hatch with a few years left in it. IOW, a classic 'runabout' (I don't have Seeker's 'First World Problems'...)

Best I've seen so far is a very tidy '09 Fabia at about the right price. Having a closer look tomorrow, but I think it's the 3 cylinder engine. Hardly overpowered, but should be adequate for Mrs Mull's 'staid' style of driving. I believe that engine has timing chain..which is generally a plus.

Thing is, checking out numerous examples of this model online, shows wildy differing prices which seem to hint at more than just mileage differences. Is the market that crazy at the moment?

Also..any known issues I should consider?
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Have a look for a Skoda Roomster. An amazingly practical car...

I had a 1.9TDI Roster 3. Sold it on to my friend. It has just clocked up 225k miles, needed brakes, a new clutch, tyres, bulbs and an antiroll bar since 2008.
 
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Take the 1.2 plastic cover off, coil packs under there, they need pulling off the spark plugs :

sp4.jpg


That is the front lambda sensor, might well be another one downstream on the exhaust pipe, ones I have changed have always been the one you have in your photo.
 
billo said:
The only problem I had with a 1.2 Skoda engine was sudden rough running at random, it turned out to be HT lead 3 which runs close to the exhaust. The roughness then leads to other HT leads working loose. It cost me £80 + for the dealer to put a laptop near it to find that out !!
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If it's an HT lead you can sometimes diagnose it by inspecting it in the dark. Any lightshow is a dead lead. Takes 2 minutes, costs nada.
 
Interestngly there is no plastic cover over the coil packs etc.. on Mrs Mull's Fabia. It's always struck me that the top of the motor looks a bit odd and that exlains why. I only properly realised when I saw the pic I posted above. I'll have to try to get one off a 'scrapper' or somesuch.

Meanwhile, auto electrician coming tomorrow.

Edit: @ Stevec67, just went out to check for light show. I'd forgotten that one.. Anyway..Nothing to see... but thanks.

Further edit. On closer inspection, the coil packs on mine sit further forward on the engine. It's different to the one illustrated.

It's this one:

zoom_USED_-_SKODA_engines_Fits_ALL_FABIA_1.2_PETROL_ENGINE_WITH_CODE_CHFA_bare_engine_75317.jpg
 
OP, this may be irrelevant/may help. Could it be the fuel filter?

I went through various stages trying to fix an engine light/fuel system issue with my previous car, including eventually replacing coils, HT leads and lambda sensor, all to no effect. That was after first replacing a fuel pump (twice – long saga), and the more likely fuel filter (after Tony Lockhart picked up on it here on PFM).

After eventually scrapping the car (2005 Mitsubishi 1.6 lancer estate 170k miles) I came across the description in the link below which I think sums up exactly the symptoms and the likely cause, specifically a fuel filter long overdue a change to the extent that muck was eventually forced through to contaminate the injectors (the reason why a new filter didn't provide a fix). On that car (and some other Japanese models at least), the fuel filter is integrated in a plastic moulding (the whole thing is the new filter) which also houses the fuel pump, the whole assembly located in the fuel tank and accessed under the rear passenger seat (very similar to the picture in the link). See in particular the description under ‘Performance’.

Genuine Honda Civic Petrol Fuel Filter 2012-2016 - 17048TV1E00 - Cox Motor Parts

If the service history for your car shows the fuel filter as having been replaced then this is irrelevant. If not, and it is, as mine was, long overdue replacement, might this be the cause of your problem?

Good luck with getting a resolution.

(In case anyone reading is wondering, I should also say, yes, as well as replacing the fuel filter and fuel pump, I did try both fuel system cleaner and injector cleaner added to the fuel tank, and used an aggressive carburettor cleaner directly into the injector intake, the latter making the biggest difference. As mentioned, a long saga and I’ll leave it there.)
 
Thanks for all that Nicetone. Short answer on the fuel filter is 'I have no idea..', but the car has full service history which does not indicate fuel filter replaced.
 
I am interested to find out (eventually) what the problem is.

I had a 2l. petrol Octavia that had a similar issue. Never got to the bottom of it.
 
Auto Electrician turned up about 6:30 pm. His kit read 'misfire cyl 1'. Swapped coil packs on 1 and 2 and took it for a short spin. It went into limp mode while he was out and on return was showing 'misfire Cyl 2.' So fairly conclusive. One failed coil pack.
He's going to get the bits first thing tomorrow and come to fix the job.
Simple in the end. :)
 
I've been wondering why a mis-fire would invoke 'limp mode'..which itself is a pretty dangerous state in which to try to drive safely.
I'm guessing it's not the misfire as such. I imagine the unburnt fuel and oxygen from the misfire trigger the Lambda Sensor.
 
Mullardman said:
I've been wondering why a mis-fire would invoke 'limp mode'..which itself is a pretty dangerous state in which to try to drive safely.
I'm guessing it's not the misfire as such. I imagine the unburnt fuel and oxygen from the misfire trigger the Lambda Sensor.
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Correct. If you drive on 2 cylinders the unburnt fuel will overheat the cat at the very least. Limp mode will reduce this and force you to fix it.
 
Mullardman said:
Auto Electrician turned up about 6:30 pm. His kit read 'misfire cyl 1'. Swapped coil packs on 1 and 2 and took it for a short spin. It went into limp mode while he was out and on return was showing 'misfire Cyl 2.' So fairly conclusive. One failed coil pack.
He's going to get the bits first thing tomorrow and come to fix the job.
Simple in the end. :)
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It's always simple in the end, after the computer has told him where to look.
 
My father had the old 1.4L Auto until recently and ECU warning lights were a recurring and the only problem, that engine ate sensors
 
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