gmrtn14

That's interesting - the battery cables are showing their age for sure so I might replace them regardless of whether the starter issue is sorted or not

Checked over the wiring with a meter today and it all seems fine - apart from the wire from the solenoid to the motor which is badly corroded and was either broken or broke when I touched it! Whipped the starter out and I'll replace that wire and see what happens!

Either of those scenarios involving the battery will amuse me since he insisted on taking it to a certain large motor accessories / cycling goods retailer rather than letting me sort it out for him

It's had a battery very recently but I will check it out!

My old Felicia 1.9D has spent a year or so in the custody of my father in law - it's done 190k miles now and failed to start the other morning so he's got another car and I have the old girl back to do as I please with. It had the usual failed ignition switch/barrel in the past so has a push button start wired in - turn the ignition on with the key and then push to start. When I push the button now, I can hear the starter relay click but absolutely nothing from the motor. Also noticed that the glow plug light no longer comes on when the ignition is turned on (temperature sensor is disconnected so it comes on every time normally) Any ideas? First thought was starter but the lack of a glow plug light has me wondering. It starts and drives fine with a bump start!

Had no issues just firing in Euro Car Parts own brand OAT coolant when I changed the radiator in my 1.9D, I doubt it'd make a great deal of difference which grade you use providing you don't mix them.

Are your seats just badly worn? At 160k miles the ones in my Felicia were completely shot so I replaced them with used ones from a much lower mileage car and it's fine now.

With regards to the fuel filter - unpack and fill the new one before you take the old one off, reducing the amount of time the fuel pipes are left disconnected. Had no trouble getting mine to start after changing through making sure everything was ready to go back together quickly. Depending on the condition of the jubilee clips that hold the hoses on, have new ones ready - mine were very badly corroded and fell apart. My 1.9D needs a service too - oil/filter, air filter and gearbox oil this time.

Don't know about the power loss but this might help http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/295468-felicia-gear-selectorlinkage-refurbishment/ with the gear linkage. Check if the photos look similar to what' s fitted to your car at the moment.

Sounds familiar :think:

I'm guessing those clips won't be supplied with the rubbers and I'll need to order them seperately if I want to replace any?

Had no problem getting underneath it enough to refurb the gear linkage so hopefully that'll be fine..... Ordered a full set of rubbers so if anyone's got any tips on how best to get the old ones off that'd help (my experience so far with this car is that everything is well and truely caked in 14 years / 166k miles of crud and takes an age to remove!)

I think the exhaust on my Felicia is rattling at idle. The rearmost rubber mount is held together with cable ties and has been for the past 4 years according to the advisories on the previous MOTs so I assume there's too much play in it now hence the rattle. Is this an easy job to DIY on the driveway or should I go to a local exhaust place and have them check it out? I assume there are other rubber mounts further forward that also might need replacing?

What is the service interval for a 1.9D Felicia and what grade of engine oil should be used? I guess this could be turned into a thread for all Felicias with details on each engine, hence the open title.

Posted a guide here http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/295468-felicia-gear-selectorlinkage-refurbishment/ for anyone that is interested in sorting out their gear linkage - it is unbelievable the difference it has made to the way the car drives!

This guide explains how to refurbish the selector rod on a Felicia, solving the very common problem of a sloppy gear linkage. The parts list is from a 1999 1.9D as are all of the photos - parts may vary by year and engine variant so please do not rely upon them for your own vehicle unless you have a 1999 UK RHD 1.9D like I do. Play in the gear linkage is most commonly caused by wear in the joint at the gearbox end of the selector rod. My car also had a gearbox oil leak from the selector rod oil seal so I replaced that too. Parts list: For the gear linkage: 6U0711893A - Sleeve - £6.51 N0137671 - Expanding Nut - £0.70 6U0711458 - Pin - £1.55 N90043201 - Seal x2 - £1.26 N90362001 - O Ring x2 - £3.32 N10439701 - Pin - £0.23 Selector oil seal: 002301227B - Gasket (Gearbox oil seal) - £1.29 Steps: 1) Remove the roll pin at the gearbox end of the linkage using a punch and hammer. I used these for the job http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Pin+Punch+Set/p44554 but found they were a bit too long for a cramped job under a car on a driveway. Did the job though. 2) Remove the bolt at the gearstick end and unclip the gaiter. The gaiter is packed with grease - so you're going to get dirty - wear gloves. 3) Having removed the linkage rod from the car, take it to your bench / garden wall and drill out the expanding nut that holds the joint in. It's been flattened out at each end a bit like a rivet, so just removing the first few mm will let the nut be knocked out and the joint free. Unfortunately I only have photos of the newly re-assembled rod but it looks the same just cleaner! 4) Remove the sleeve from the inside of the joint so that you can see how the new one is to be assembled: 5) Assemble the new sleeve with new o-rings and insert it into the joint - then fit the outer O-rings. Result will look like this: 6) Refit to the end of the selector rod and insert the expanding nut 7) Use a hammer to flatten the ends of the nut so that it looks the same as it did when you removed it 8A) If you want to change the selector rod oil seal, pry out the old one using pliers/a flat head screwdriver. If your car is like mine and has covered a lot of miles, the rubber will disintegrate into a million pieces leaving behind a metal collar. You need to get it all out of there (a set of picks help) before pressing the new seal in otherwise you'll spend a long time swearing at it and wondering why it won't go in. Using a big socket like a spark plug socket to press the seal in helps it go in a bit easier. 8B) Fit the linkage rod to the car using the reverse of removal (I refitted at the gearstick end first, then the gearbox end) using the new roll pin. Hope this guide helps and I'm sorry that I didn't manage to take more photos

I've reassembled the linkage with the new joint, ready to go back on the car. Pics/guide coming soon. Unfortunately the car is still on stands on the driveway because, upon taking the selector rod oil seal off, it crumbled into a million pieces and there's still some in there, stopping the new seal from being pushed in. Ran out of time last night so had to give up scraping out little bits of seal and leave the car. Costs me about twice as much in fuel to use my other car for my 130 mile commute so I need it back on the road ASAP! :(

How old / what mileage are these cars you've driven? My 165k mile car did have a lopsided seat - because the frame was broken!

Thank you, I'll get to it if I have time this weekend Are the switches push-to-make or push-to-break ?

Open circuit no matter whether the doors are open or closed. The ground is connected. Got the light to now be on in the two positions and off in the off position though so I've not really made it worse....

Thank you so much for the detailed diagram - I hope someone else with the same problem can benefit from it too! The buzzer does not seem to work no matter what door is opened - it's lead to me draining the battery through leaving the lights on once already! :(

If that's what we think is a buzzer, my instrument cluster does have one of those on the back! I need to take it out in a bit to change another bulb, so I'll try to take some photos when I do. I attempted to fix the interior light last night but ended up with it on in all 3 positions so I need to try again!

Thanks, I'll check out the light and see if I can get if working! Do you know if the relay is model/engine specific? I know that one from a mk1 petrol doesn't fit because I got one from a breaker car when getting other bits!

Sorted the first two things but can't seem to find any answers for the rest - anyone able to help?

That sounds good for those looking for a cheaper solution - don't suppose you managed to take some photos of it? I'm going to write a guide for replacing with OE parts when I get round to it (hopefully this weekend) but it'd be good to have the cheaper solution available for anyone in the future too.