D.FYLAKTOS

After 20 years the original air filter box is in my hands again, take a look of the mechanism. Upper entrance: hot air from the exhaust manifold Right entrance: fresh air from the grille The initial position is with the clapet closed which means the throttle gets air only from the upper entrance (hot air) and later the clapet will removed and the throttle will get fresh air from the right entrance. As you can see from my finger the spring is strong so how the clapet will open? The fresh air would have the capability to do this? The temperature of the hot air from the exhaust will make the mechanism to make the spring get shrink? And every time the car stops (no incoming air) the clapet will close and the throttle will get hot air? Is this good for the engine?

I don't remember if i mention it before but when i said to the mechanic to remove the reservoir and clean it with a spray and then use compressed air or a clean rag to clean it inside said immediately ''NO''. I was against of use of any chemical way, i asked why and he insisted that there is a possibility to remain something and this will make a chemical reaction with the Hydraulic Oil and soon or later i will have a problem with the seals. He preferred the ''flush with new oil" method.

I can find a new Skoda Original air filter box from a local parts shop so everything would be as the 1st day. It was a mistake from that i believed a guy then ''Hey, you have a ECU chip and free air filter so you don't need that system". Maybe the density of air plays some part, the oxygen is different, no fresh air down there.

I didn't said the car is colder in that case, i said that my worst cold start are in that occasion so except if something ''magic'' is happening then this situation must be the cause. Keep in mind that for 17 years the car was parked outside (not in a garage) in the road so after finishing my shift at night the 2nd cold start of the day was with the car cold (as in the morning/noon when i was starting from home). The last 4years allow me to park my car in the garage to the end of it which is 5 floors below earth, has many benefits and only one drawback that 3:45 minutes of waiting. So it's worth to reinstall that system as it was from the factory?

When the engine starts the exhaust manifold starts getting hot thus some quantity of warmer air from the hose is transferred to the air box, there must be a reason for this isn't it? I suspect that is to help the cold start that's why the clapet closes after a while. After 6-7 hours i don't know how much heat can remain in the engine bay. My best cold starts is when the car was outside in the road for all night and the worst are when the car is parked inside a building.

Above the exhaust manifold there is a cover (yellow arrow) which has a socket where fits the hose which brings hot air inside the air filter box (green arrow) those first minutes. Is this hot air except the better emissions can make the cold start easier? I have removed that hose many years so i can not remember if the ''second" cold starts of 2000-2001 were with a delay of 3:45 as i have the latest years.

My next task is to replace the ''clapet'' on the air filter box , below is the lower part VAG 6U0129607B When you start the car hot air (red arrow) comes from the exhaust manifold and when the temperature rises (if i remember correct at 30 'C) then the clapet opens and allow cool air (blue arrow) to come inside the box while closing the entrance of the hot air. According to theory those first minutes the hot air will make the starting process easier, the fuel-air ratio will be better etc. As a young driver (No internet back then) i follow the advise of a guy and remove it, i can't find it now so i had to buy a new air filter box or the lower part as Used. Few weeks back another Felician mention it, i can't remember if it was @Papez @J.R. @Pete_Ex-Wino

Due to Covid restrictions and 2 times Quarantine period there were no options except home-work-home. Few years back things weren't this way, i could go to a boulevard or make short trips to national roads that's why i was seeing better fuel consumption. I will try to go the highway and later i will make a detour to a quiet mountain road, so far the spark plus turn out to be an excellent choice!

Update: Today noon after finishing work i found a boulevard and finally manage to put the 3rd-4th gear even for few seconds, i reached the U turn and turn back again having the chance to put 3rd-4th gear again but for a little bit. Unfortunately the city traffic ''caught me'' and after one kilometre i returned home because i didn't had enough time. The TC-6 showed fuel consumption 10,68 ltr for that small trip which means: 1) My Trusty as is isn't for hard city traffic 2) the Air Intake Manifold cleaning, the correction on the thermostat Coolant Sensor and the new Iridium spark plugs were worth it. The new plug for the Coolant sensor is coming soon, i can't leave the old cables because after so many years are hardened and i don't trust them.

I use the car for house to work and work to house, steady hours same route and the road conditions are 95% the same. I know when the temperature will start rising, when it will reach the 91 'C when the fan will start spinning for 1st time etc and the weather all these days was the same except a light rain today. The 2nd cold start of the day is from the same spot 5 floors below earth almost the same time and i follow the same rout to exit, one road block, turn right, main road, here is the 1st traffic light etc. I began with 13,1 ltr fuel consumption and now i am on 11,02 (same road conditions) and when i pushed it few days back in the mountain (Champion spark plugs) i was in 10,8 ltr. The car is one click better when i start from the traffic light plus on the acceleration after change from 1st to 2nd gear in the alleys close to home. I want to find a boulevard with minimum traffic to push the car at higher rpm or one evening to go out to the national road to see the difference with the iridium spark plugs.

As a matter of fact no one ever told me to change that part as "precautionary". They only thing that mention over decades here to pay attenrion for any signs of moisture (and do anything to prevent it) inside that plastic pipes. I measure the gap, was 0,33 inch which is 0.8382 cm so OK. The fuel consumption slowly degreases, now i am 11,02 ltr which brings a light smile in my face.

These are my previous Champion, only for 3175 Km on use but the majority of them on slow city traffic.

Skoda Felicia has DIS Here is it on the engine bay The factory one is from Champion, it's ''plug and play'' with 2 allen screws and 1 clip.

I am moderately optimistic but i have not forgotten what happened with those Denso iridium many years back. I need at least a month with the new NGK ''on'' to feel reassured. My car is a little bit upgrated, those Champion were old technology and the city traffic was ''choking'' them. What worried me was that the engineer asked me if i had changed the Ignition Coil, i said no this is the factory and he told me sooner or later i will have an issue with one of the cylinders because of him. He said it's statistically sure that at least one (at the base of that plastic tube which here we call it ''Spark plug pipe'') will have a problem and the car will start tremble. Skoda 047905104 Yes mine it's 21 years on duty for about 84.800 km of use but is this true?

I change them today, first words of the mechanic "oh, these are good, now it revs better". Small test from me (house to work): Yes indeed especially when the traffic light goes green and i start plus the sound of the engine at low-medioum rpm (not enough road for high rpm moving). I kept the previous Champion, look good and i will post a photo ot them tomorrow.

I have put that chart with link before because i thought was better (no time to reduse the size on the smartphone). If things are far better in city traffic i will keep them, as for their high rpm attitude i don't dare to say anything, the test will begin very slow monitoring the fuel consumption-coolant temperature-acceleration feeling etc because i am afraid. If i had bought the BKR6 i would feel more assured but maybe the performance was the same with Champion so for what all the trouble? I am in agony....

Plus another one from Champion: https://www.championiridiumplugs.com/heat-range-conversion-chart-2 Today i notice these Heat range crossreference chart and i am thinking: I have Champion 89 (which in NGK was let's say 6,5) and now i bought the NGK BKR5 EIX11 which is (let's say) 1,5 scales Hotter, is it a significant difference? On the other hand if i had bought the BKR6EIX-11 the difference would be so small that i doubt if i could notice any difference in performance.

The set of NGK IRIDIUM BKR5EIX-11 is in my hand, i check them one by one (not counterfeit), i measured the gap and it's 1,1mm so i feel reassured about these factors. In few days i will install them and let's pray that they work fine and not as those damned Denso did.

That ''timing gap" or as i read it elsewhere ''missing teeth" or ''empty space" here in Greece the mechanics on their slang call it ''Eye" because the sensor 'sees it". I will use a tough paintbrush and a spray (not strong) to remove the light oxidation and i wipe it with a clean rag. Then i will put a new inox bolt with a washer.

Lacking accurate timing information from the crankshaft position sensor, fuel injectors won't pump gas into the engine efficiently. The engine will use more gas than it needs on short and long drives, reducing overall fuel economy. Have a mechanic inspect the sensor — as insufficient fuel economy can occur from other issues as well. https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/symptoms-of-a-bad-or-failing-crankshaft-position-sensor The rust is fragile, the spot is from my finger because i touch it. The sensor has not a gasket so it's relative easy after 22 years for some drops of water to bypass the plastic housing especially from the left side.

https://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/crankshaft-position-sensor-code/ This must be that rusty spot If it's the only rusty spot i can remove it gently of course. _________________________ One of the symptoms of a bad crankshaft sensor is: 7. Decreases Overall Fuel Economy Inaccurate timing information coming from the crankshaft position sensor affects fuel economy. This is because the fuel injectors will not be able to pump gas into the engine efficiently. This will result in the engine using more gas than usual, whether during long or short drives. Thus, decreasing overall fuel economy. The crankshaft position sensor has a great impact on smooth engine functionality and performance. The sensor provides a vital signal for engine calculations. Problems with the sensor quickly lead to issues that impact the drivability of the vehicle. https://roadsumo.com/crankshaft-position-sensor/ I don't think that my sensor is ''damaged'' but i wonder the rust on that spot plus the dirt on that sensor maybe helped a little bit for a bad mileage?

The only sensor that i have touch only once all these years was the Crankshaft sensor.Yesterday i have unplug it for inspection and look what i have found, check the new topic. Back i 2003 i didn't had internet and all the infos were coming from tuning magazines like this and this one . I went to a spare parts store, i gave my car's details and after searching his catalog (like a book) said a code and went to the shelf and brought me a set, i didn't had any way to check how accurate was his choice, maybe he gave me a wrong reference. Articles like this didn't exist that time but years later when the internet expanded here and many e-shops created rumours start to spread about counterfeit spark plugs, fake engine oils etc so we start to double check any purchase or avoid the ''huge discount" or ''very low price" etc stores. Unfortunately the first 3-4 years i didn't kept very detailed service notes (as i started after 2004) and i didn't wrote the code of these damned Denso so i can not check now if that employee did some sneaky. I ordered a NGK iridium from a well know store (family business), the price was the same as other stores and when the come i will measure the gap with feeler blades to be sure. I have to admit that i ''pushed a lot" the engine starter yesterday but i had no choice, you should see my face when i saw the fuel consumption dropping, i was keep telling to myself ''how can this be happening?"

Yes, they are protesting. 😜 Yesterday i went to a somehow quiet place on a small mountain, first i cleaned the throttle with Air Intake-Throttle cleaner spray, i used a clean rag and a paintbrush with synthetic tough bristles for the sides of the plate, turn the car on spray some more while revving by hand and white smoke came from the exhaust as i expected. In purpose i used another spray a MAF sensor cleaner because i thought would be less strong than the other and i didn't want to ''hurt'' the MAP and i sprayed a lot inside the air intake plus from the side (vacuum hose) and let it soak for 20 minutes. I knew that the car wouldn't start easily and yes at 5 attempts didn't start but i didn't push things more because i was afraid for the starter.Another 5 attempts and my Trusty started, no check engine light and after few seconds of very low idle things came back to normal. I choose especially a route which has 2 uphills, 2 small straight lines and 2 small downhills because i wanted to push the car to burn any remains, after the 1st cycle and when the temperature rise i start driving sport style with 2nd gear even at 5500 rpm (beginning of red line) and 3rd at 5000. I done this cycle 4 times plus i made a detour and i found another uphill but 2 times a silly driver blocked me and i couldn't accelerate as i wanted so i made an U turn and use the downhill (oh, i wish i had rear disk brakes) and then i drove 1km with light city traffic to home. Meanwhile i was glancing the TC-6 and all of that time that i was pushing the engine the fuel consumption was DROPPING! Yes, for first time since November when i made a trip the TC-6 was showing less fuel consumption, when i parked the car said 10,8 ltr fuel consumption. I was a shocking moment for me, the car was accelerating better than before, the needle was moving quicker to the higher rpm and after all these i had LESS fuel consumption.

Skoda Favorite 1994

Can i do anything for this rust or if i make an attempt will make things worst? It's something natural so must i leave it as is? On the other hand a dirty crankshaft sensor what false signs can give to the ECU?