apd007

Hi RicardoM, thanks for the reply. I swapped out the coil because the car was lacking in power when it was running on its last drive, and then later when doing diagnostics I got shocks off the housing when checking to see if I had a spark - this lead to me thinking the coil internally was breaking down and arcing to the ignition coil body, so at that point I think you'll agree if the ignition coil is breaking down internally and producing a weak spark it makes sense to swap it out. I do hear the fuel pump go, when I turn on the ignition. I have also put fuel down the throttle body and tried easy start, all to no avail. I have had a look at the fuse box and relays and cleaned the contacts using proper electrical cleaner (sorry, should have mentioned that in the original post).

All, I have a Skoda Felicia 1.3 MPi that anyone who used to go to some of the old Weston Meets 15ish years ago might have seen (has it been that long???). Late last year the car did something she had never done before and let me down, to the point I had to be towed back home, luckily only 2 miles and a mate is a mechanic. Initial symptoms on the drive home was a lack of power, to the point I had to pull over as there was no way I was going to make it up the hill near my house, the engine stopped running when I parked up. The lack of power, the engine stalling and coupled with the electric shock from the ignition coil housing when running diagnostics later, suggested the coil was breaking down internally, which as it's the original 20+ year old coil is to be expected. I purchased a new ignition coil, and also a new crank sensor in case that was failing (also the original 20+ year old sensor) but the car still refuses to start. I'm 99% certain it's not fuel related as I've tried petrol down the throttle body and also easy start, the engine turns over, occasionally sounds like it's going to catch (or even does run for a second) but won't keep running. Forum searches have lead to the immobiliser failing, but I've not been able to find any codes to confirm or deny this. I've had another mate who is an ex-VAG master tech scan the car with his fully legit version of VAG-COM but couldn't find any codes stored of any description. My mate who towed the car back and I even took the valve cover off and manually checked the valve timing in case the engine had somehow managed to jump a tooth, but everything was spot on. I said to my mechanic when I swapped out the coil and crank sensor I wasn't willing to just "part cannon" the car and swapped bits out cause "it might be xyz" and he agrees (he thinks I'm crazy keeping the car on the road this long anyway). The body work on the car is showing it's age in places, front wings are going as are the rear arches, although not MOT failure badly yet and certainly repairable for not a lot of money and was something I was considering having done this year. The bonnet has quite bad lacquer peel and the respray I did on the roof a few years back looks like it was done by the amateur I am. The bigger issue is I think the windscreen is starting to leak, and the sunroof leak I've never managed to fully solve either. Good points are the radiator was replaced a couple of years ago, and last MOT I had the cross member radiator support replaced with a new piece of metal and also a small patch on the inner wing by the shock tower on the drivers side. Prior to the engine letting me down the car drove well. The car is a two owner from new, my sister first then me. Sorry about the rambling post, and if you've made it this far, thank-you, it became a bit of a brain dump on where I am with the car and what my next move is. It's irrational how a piece of metal that was almost obsolete when new can generate such an emotional attachment. So this is where I am, what do I do with the car? Do I risk another £90+ on a immo delete ECU and see if that cures it? Or, do I cut my losses and advertise it on here in the hope that someone is willing and able to take the car on and restore it, last thing I want to do is just scrap it as there aren't many left now and I feel the car has many more years left in it yet if I could just get the car to run.

Hi Tigger, been a while. I'd be interested in a WSM meet, but might not be in a Skoda. Still got the Felly, but she's an old gal now so I don't take her out on long runs very often.