Papez

I'd still try to inspect all soldering joints around the gauge, there's chance one of them is cracked. If it is, you'll get free spare cluster 😁

12V at the both sides of the indicator lamp is correct - it's operated by a transistor, which typically connects load to the ground, as this type of transistor is cheaper and overall circuitry is simpler. Same case with the gauge. There should be an 8V stabiliser in the cluster, so 8V measured on gauges is correct. As with the lamp, it's likely that top of gauges is connected directly to the voltage input and a transistor is operated between ground and gauge - this can be the failure point, a transistor can fail and be stuck in shorted state. Voltage drop on the yellow cable is indeed caused by sender's resistance and it's correct function - the voltage should correspondent with the fuel level.

This is diagram for wiring, the functional blocks are extremely simplified, just to show basic function of the block. Both gauge and lamp are operated by the operational amplifier chip. Combination of resistors and capacitors around it provides delay, that prevents oscillating of the needle because of fuel sloshing around, and signal for the lamp to go off once voltage gets below set threshold. The lamp also requires some transistor, because OA isn't able to drive a lightbulb directly. Any open solder or burnt component can cause bad signal for the gaige. But it will be quite hard to pinpoint the root cause without the complete circuit diagram.

Do you have the diagram? This definitely isn't correct. The lamp cannot be operated directly by the float, because the current would be too high and the lamp would illuminate gradually instead of going off instantly. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find schematics of the instrument panel, I only found information, that the gauge is operated through cluster of operational amplifiers in the LM2902N chip. Something like bad resistor can cause output to be stuck at full voltage, or the chip could be burned. Unfortunately I cannot say more without full schematic diagram.

That was later in production, originally it was full shroud, but with an extra fan So it could be combination of both factors... Small radiator blocked by the evaporator and shroud. For reference, the 1.6 radiator is 285x590, 1.6AC is 322x590. There was also Favorit rad for hot climates, that had same dimensions as the 1.6, but 1.3 outlets - that would suggest that the stock rad indeed doesn't have much headroom... Unfortunately that radiator probably wouldn't fit on an AC Felicia, even if you were lucky enough to get one. BTW, I also experienced slightly higher temps on highway during heatwave. That was with small fan and without AC. But also stock 20YO radiator.

Felicia Radiator was originally designed for Skoda 120 - a car with nearly half the power and no AC condenser in front of it. The fan shroud was designed for larger 1.6 radiator that doesn't cover around 10cm on the right side... Add current heat waves and sediments over past 25 years.. I wouldn't be surprised if the rad was insufficient. Does the Grande Punto come with AC? I think I have better comparison - Fabia with 1.4 Skoda engine. Non-AC - 6Q0 121 253 AE dimensions - 430x413x23 AC - 6Q0 121 253 R dimensions - 632x414 (ETKA doesn't list thickness, but I found 23mm aswell?) The larger rad was used for 2.0 engine. Another case is Felicia 1.6, which used larger rad for AC version. I think it's another case of "good enough", as they didn't want to rework the cooling circuit to fit a larger rad... It will work, but you can hit it's limits pretty soon.

Imo this is how it should be, assuming that the bottom red line is 90°C. Felicia has working temp at 90°C to reduce heat losses and there's no reason to run 80° thermostat from the older Skodas. FYI, on a 1 speed fan, which has lower power and covers smaller area than your 2 speed one, the stock setting is 97° +-3 - somewhere around your 2nd speed. Either to reduce fan's duty cycle, increase delta, or both. That's what Skoda deemed acceptable, so if engine operates within these conditions, it should be fine. Personally, I didn't like it and fit 80° thermoswitch from Skoda 120, which resulted in similar operation to yours (without the 2nd speed)

My point is that this is not the right assumption in case of Felicia. They did use safety systems and engines from VW, and Felicia had a similar design language to Polo.. but that's where similarity ends. So it's better to not rely on finding parts in the VW parts bucket. That's overall advice when dealing with Felicia repairs and service - it's no different from previous Skoda models (=it's becoming impossible to get actually good quality spare parts) Looking into catalogue, it seems that the maxgearnpart is for an LHD Felicia. RHD is a different part (6U2721335A/E/G)

Felicia is not a VW. It's a facelifted Favorit, only fraction of the parts was carried over from contemporary VWs. Fir example, the 1.6 is a VW engine, but it used an adaptor plate to mate it to Skoda gearbox. Unfortunately that means that the cable is also Favorit/Felicia specific part. @Schloompa Is your Fun equipped with AC? Some cables and hoses were specific for variants with AC to clear the larger heater box, but I'm not sure if that includes the clutch cable.

What thermostat do you have? With a 90°C thermostat, the gauge should be around the yellow line. If you have a 80°C thermostat, which was common in warmer climates, the observed behaviour would be correct. The engine heats up by around 5-10° before hot water reaches the thermoswitch. If it reliably turns on bellow the red line, it should be fine. If it's still unreliable, the cause could be gas bubbles caused by HG leak.

If the picture is correct, this is 1.3 engine mount. That indeed isn't compatible with 1.6. The bottom gearbox mount is also different - 1.6/1.9 uses larger diameter mount and the metal brackets is slightly angled, because the VW engine is mounted higher than the Skoda one. But I cannot tell which is which just from picture.

I don't think the bumpstop was the root case, more likely it's a symptom. Dampers shouldn't bottom out regularly, the fact that they aren't extended on your photos may suggest they were far from the best condition.

Here is some info from the service mnual. 14S was the older type, used until January of 1998 (I'm not sure about exact date). The year of manufacture is marked on the 2nd position of the gearbox number, gearboxes with X, Y, 1-4 are made after 1998, meaning they are likely 14SK. Clear identification is by the shape of the 5th gear cover, you can see it in images below: The differential ratio is on 4th position of the gearbox number, unfortunately there's no distinction between 3.350 and 3.579, both are mareked with number 1 on a 1.9D gearbox. Supposedly pickups used the 3.579 variant, 14SK unified the ratios and it's the shortest variant of all types. 1.6 petrol in its longest variant used 3,833 fitfth and 0,756 differential ratio, so it's slower than any 1.9D variant.

Felicia gearbox was designed for 140Nm - 1.6TD is close, so it should handle it. Gearbox depends on ratio you have and one you want to swap, there were different variants.. I'd keep 1.9 one, if it's the one with long gear ratios. There were some 1.9TD conversion and the engine itself fit, problem is with intake manifold, since the engine is designed to be mounted leaning backwards, but in Felicia, it leans to the front, the intake ilends up being too high, so that needs some modifications. I'm not sure what other differences are on the 1.6 engine.

VW engines were mounted a bit higher to lift the oil pan, but the 1.3 engine was the same. The engine bushing has 76mm diameter, a collapsed bushing may do ~2cm difference. Felicia 1.6 dampers may take care of that - there was 20kg difference between those 2 and some higher equipped 1.3 Felicias had them from the factory, according to the service manual.

New doesn't mean good. Dampers may have different damper rate. Now when we are talking about it, when I bought my car, it had some aftermarket, extremely stiff dampers with very similar behaviour that you're describing. They also had smaller body, so the front wheels had 2° camber angle. The engine mount is identical between Favorit and Felicia. The only difference is the rubber bushing, favorit's is more likely to collapse under the engine's weight. The gearbox mount is entirely different, so it's hard to say, but I doubt there is a difference. Felicia is also quite low under the bell housing, skidplates were quite popular acessory for lowered cars.

Air shock. The car is quite heavily modified Felicia Fun. @Skury was active on this forum, so he might tell more 5 bolt on the rear is the easier part, since 93 Favorit and Felicia use the entire brake assembly from MK3 Golf. The front is the issue, because it's specific for Favorit/Felicia, which is why the front conversion needs parts from different brands. There's something wrong. I was quite often skidding with front mudflaps, without hitting the bumpstop.

It can be done, I found this on Czech Facebook page But if I'm not mistaken, with exception of the 288mm variant, Fabia has the caliper bracket as part of the hub. Same case with other VWs with small vented brakes. I didn't mean the exact same part, but some reputable brand. Bosch isn't exactly brand focused on making brake components. One thing I forgot about the Renault brake discs - they need the center bore to be enlarged by ~1mm, it's not a straightforward conversion either.

I think I had Bosch on my car once and they were quite prone to fading. But it was quite a long time ago, so I'm not sure. But I'd give @Thefeliciahacker's advice a try.

If you have car without AC, the resistor pack is in the engine bay, on the right side of the heater box (in the driving direction) - you'll se wiring loom going to it.

I looked up Clio discs and apart from the main diameter, they appear to have same dimensions as the Williams variant, which is usually used for 260mm conversion. You can check ATE catalogue, PN 420125. Problem with the Clio discs is, that they require spacers under the brake calipers, because they are 5mm shallower than the stock discs. That may also require spacer under wheels or different ET.

The stalk itself is the switch between low and high beams. If high beams work normally, it's probably bad contact in the stalk.

I think there was also an option for vented discs of the original size, with calipers from sierra/fiesta? But I don't know if there are some proper discs available.

The charge lamp is in series with alternator excitatuon wire on Favorit and Felicia. On older cars, alternator wouldn't work if the bulb was burned, Felicia has a bypass resistor, not sure about Favorit. @ozanozten06's issue may indicate faulty regulator, or problem with wiring.

It actually sounds more like something Skoda could've done themselves - Felicia + ARC engine would make a nice RS version.