Call me Ishmael

It is the original pump. In fact the only things not original on the engine are service items (belts, filters) and glow plugs - and I fitted a new thermostat while the system was drained. How can I tell if the coolant flow is amiss?

Hello folks, I've had my felicia for almost 12 years now and have over 200,000 miles on the clock. Last week we changed the coolant and flushed the cooling system with a proprietary flushing fluid. Lots of gunge came out. Since then I'm noticing a metallic rattle from the pulley end of the engine when she's idling. It's not constant, i.e. it isn't in time with the engine rotation, but it's always there. It sounds like something being randomly whipped around inside. There are no starting or performance issues, just this worrying light metallic rattle at idling speed. It's not the gear linkage as I can silence that with light pressure on the gearstick. Any ideas?

Happy days! Glad you're on the road again, without having to call in help.

The warning is to make you aware that diesel under injection pressure can cut your skin, rather like a razor. Obvioiusly you don't want that in the bloodstream! If the fuel only seeped out, you're ok. Just be careful not to get your hand (or anyone else) in the way of any potential jet of fuel. I still think if you've bled the system as far as the filter outlet, she'll start with a bit of cranking without further bleeding.

Jolly good. I've changed the filter on my 1.9D every 20,000 miles for the past 11 years and it can be a bit of a faff to get her started (or keep her running) afterwards. Expect a bit of chugging until all the air bubbles clear. Let us know how you get on when you get the battery back in.

Try refilling the filter. But, before connecting the feed from the fuel tank, draw the diesel through it using your bulb pump. That way there will be no air between the tank and the filter. She'll turn over a few times but should fire quite quickly.

Indeed I was thinking of a 'manual over-ride'. It wouldn't be too difficult to do. And, yes, if the heater suddenly goes cold it could be a sign that the coolant level's dropped significantly, which is never good!

Good point. I think the wiring on mine is ok. I bridged the terminals with a pair of pliers and the fan came on.

Thanks again Dohnjoe/Teflon Tom. I've got a new thermostat, so I'll try changing that, as well as the coolant, at the weekend. I too had started to wonder if the temperature gauge might be faulty. I'll see what happens after I change the thermostat and let you know.

Hello Dohnjoe. The wires on my car are red (live), black and blue. I measured the resistance between black and blue and got 74 ohms. How does that sound?

Thanks Dohnjoe. I'll check the resistance tomorrow and get back to you with the results.

I haven't heard the cooling fan running on my 1.9D Felicia for ages, even when the temperature gauge nears 110oC. I tested the fan by bridging the terminals on the connector on the back of the radiator fan switch and it runs. There are 3 terminals and I bridged the live and the one next to it. I don't know what the third terminal's for. Any ideas? So today I fitted a new radiator fan switch, ran the engine up to full temperature and then let her idle so that the needle continued to climb. The fan still doesn't come on. I bottled out at 110oC and turned on the heater to prevent a head gasket failure. It probably needs a new thermostat as well. The needle hovers around 70oC in normal driving. Would this have a bearing on the fan not operating when higher temperatures are attained? Anyone come across this problem before on the diesel engine or anyone got any opinions?

It's horrble when the car fails on something so simple. A bit of grease on the brake pipes seems to keep the corrosion at bay and the MOT man happy. I wasn't sure that mine would pass this year, but I got them cleaned up with sandpaper and then greased them - she went through no bother.

I've had a creak and knock from the front left wheel for a couple of weeks. It sounded like a ball joint, but got worse when cornering and under light (but not heavy) braking. After checking ball joints, bearings, springs etc. the only thing I could find wrong was one seized brake caliper slide pin. These are the ones that allow the caliper to move from side to side as the brake is applied and released. I freed it up, greased it and lo and behold the creaking/knocking has disappeared. I can only think it was holding the caliper against the disc and the knock was due to a slight irregularity in the disc causing some movement in the slide pin which wasn't seized, under light braking. Just thought I'd share this. Something to check, if anyone else has the same problem, before starting to replace suspension components. It's a quick, cheap fix.

Well done! It's always good to hear of another one making it through. Felicias are getting quite few and far between out here (I might see 1, maybe 2, others in a week). I always see more of them on my trips to mainland. With a bit of TLC, they'll outlive most of the other stuff on the roads.

The feed pipe runs from the outlet stub on the filter along the side of the engine. It's paired with a similar pipe, which is a return line, and goes from the injector pump to a plastic valve on top of the filter, which is held in place with a spring clip. It's the pipe connected to the filter outlet stub that's the feed pipe to the injector pump. Let us know how you get on.

The fuel filter may be empty. It happens on my 1.9d occasionally when she's been sitting a week or two. Try adding fresh diesel to the fuel filter. Do this by removing the pipe going into it from the tank and connecting one end of a piece of fuel pipe (or similar) to the inlet stub on the filter and push a funnel into the other end of the pipe. Slowly pour some clean diesel into the funnel and allow any air bubbles to rise to the surface. When no more air comes out, the filter is full. A completely empty filter will need just under a pint of diesel. Or you can remove both the pipe from the tank and the one going to the injector pump and allow the air to escape that way as you fill. When diesel emerges from the outlet pipe, the filter's full. Reconnect the pipes and try starting the engine. It should fire after a few turns.

No, I didn't do that. The shock absorbers have covered over 204,000 miles.

Thanks guys. I'm hoping to keep her going for a long time yet, after which my son says he'll take her and restore her to factory condition. After all this time, she's like a member of the family!

My wee blue Felicia just sailed through another MOT this morning. After 13 years and 204,000 miles, I still haven't managed to wear it out! She's still on the original engine, gearbox, shock absorbers, brake pipes and wheel bearings. It just goes to prove that they really don't make them like that anymore.

Given all the wet weather we've had, it could be something as simple as damp electrics, e.g. moisture around the spark plugs and/or distributor cap. Try taking each plug lead off and spraying WD-40 up into the caps. Also take off the distributor cap and give the inside of that a squirt too. It's worth a try before you start investigating some of the electronic gadgets.

On my 1.9D, I always used Quantum Synta 10/40 semi synthetic. £48 for a 20 litre drum from the VW dealer. I've been changing the oil and filter between 5,000 and 6,000 miles. It might seem a bit excessive, but I've had the car 11 years and she's just turned 202,000 miles this evening and still doesn't use any oil between services.

I would suggest a CV joint is on the way out. I had exactly the same symptoms on my old Favorit a few years ago.

The ball joints should be free to move. So long as they don't actually slip off the actuator arms they should be ok. On mine, the plastic joint broke and the rod came adrift from the actuator arm. I knew something was wrong by the way the engine was kicking about on the overrun. The glow plugs are a real fiddle to change. I've known blokes to remove the two middle injectors to get at them, which seems a bit extreme! My son was home last week and spent the time driving his girlfriend around the country seeing what passes for scenery here. So I now have 200,750 on the clock. He put over 700 miles on her in a week!

Gosh, that was a few years ago! If you look on svoburner's thread from 2009, he's got a photo of the beastie. I tried to copy and paste it but some electronic thing failed (as usual!). It's a short threaded bar about 4" long with plastic ball and socket ends. These are adjustable and the whole assembly needs to be EXACTLY the same length as the old one you're taking off. Mine had a broken end and had come off one of the ball joints, hence the jerky overrun. I got the new one from a place called Mid-Ulster Diesel Services for about a fiver. I've heard other people quoted all sorts of ridiculous prices for the same thing. About £5, give or take, is the right price. Any diesel specialist should be able to supply them. If you're stuck, give me a shout and I'll try Mid-Ulster for you. Have you got to 164,000 miles yet?