Dogswards

That is the one I have. Thanks for the information. Good idea about looking at the intake manifold to check if it's even there. I already checked the carburetor bottom but I hadn't thought about the intake. Sure, does the end of the month work for you? Food is on me.

Ah, I believe you are talking of the rubber bit? The part I was referring to is below the rubber. It's not in the carburetor manual, but here is a photo of it: My rubber part is OK, but this has a noticeable wobble when pressed on corners. When placed on a flat surface, if I add water in the middle it leaks out to the sides so it's likely warped a bit.

Cancel that, the shop I contacted to get the part sanded quoted me a new part (original). I was a bit weary of that, but the price was so low that even if there is a risk the part is crappy I don't mind.

Thank you for the suggestions. So far I am steering away from replacement parts, as I read on the other thread that they are of poor quality and sometimes come pre-warped. I am considering 3 options for now: - Getting the metal part sanded flat by a local shop (best option IMO) - Sanding it myself with the method KenONeill mentioned - Getting a whole new part made. There are metal shops where I live that offer that kind of service. (worst option IMO due to cost) Regardless, I am going to be away from the car for the rest of the month, so I won't be able to offer up any news of progress. When I come back I'll likely have more questions about the reassembly of the carb itself, to make sure I am not making any mistakes there. Thank you for all the help so far, these forums have been a godsend with all the information provided both in this thread and throughout the others.

This thread: Seems to have a lot of good information. From this I have learned that my base gasket is warped as it rocks when pushed down on a corner when placed over glass (thank you KenONeill). From there I have also gotten a manual for the Carburetor (thank you RicardoM). The manual does say that the carburetor fixing screws should be torqued to 7Nm, but I had to use all my strength to get them off... I'll try to sort out these issues, but finding a new base gasket is going to be a challenge.

Ok thank you. I've given the pipes a quick check and nothing looked too bad. I'll properly check them for vacuum leaks when I have the carb ready to put back on. I have disassembled the carburetor and cleaned the interiors. Many thanks to RicardoM for having posted a video on the cleaning process. While the disassembly was a dog of a job to do (especially when you don't know what any part is), it was doable. There was some carbon on the walls of the "chambers" and some on the "paddles" (they are likely called something else), but none of the holes were clogged, and the carbon amount was so small that it doesn't seem likely to be the cause of the issues. I have ordered some new gaskets for the carburetor (the ones in it are really nasty), and I'll put it back into the car and adjust it once the Haynes manual I ordered arrives so I can have a bit more of a clue about what I'm doing. I found it pretty funny that the bottom of my carburetor was made in Czechoslovakia, and the top was made in the Czech Republic. Here is a photo of the carb before taking it off: There is a lot of what I assume is dried coolant on the leftmost hoses. I am unsure if that's a sign of an issue. There is also a hole on the cabin air box (top, towards the right). I'll fix that at some point, but surely it's unrelated to my issues, right?

I added the information regarding the engine type and was more specific about the model now. Absolutely not. From this I am assuming my car does not have a throttle body. While I would have probably figured that out on my own after I went looking for it, it saves me some trouble to know it's not there.

Ok, many thanks once again. It does turn out that they don't have a MAP or a MAF (thank you KenONeill). That's what I get for reading into what works for other Felicias and assuming it applies to my model. Could you elaborate on what you mean by MSM? So my next few steps will be: 1 - Use the cable to check for any codes 2 - Clean the throttle body and check for any vacuum leaks 3 - Reset throttle body using cable If that doesn't fix it then: 4 - Check Throttle Angle, timing advance and lambda voltage and report back with results.

The new radiator switch fixed the issue of the fan being on all the time. Was a pretty easy job, many thanks to Thefeliciahacker for the idea of using spade connectors, it worked like a charm. Replacing the thermostat housing was also easy, previous one seemed to be broken, as the internal components were all loose inside. Now onto the rough idle problem. Whenever I start the car, the RPMs go down until it dies out. If I press the gas, it stays alive, but I have to keep pressing it to keep it that way. There are faint sputtering sounds at idle (though the roughness of it seems to have been improved a bit with the new thermostat). The issue doesn't show itself on the road and at speed, it goes on the highway with no issues, it seems to be at startup only. So far the ideas I have are: 1 - Clean and reset the throttle body 2 - Check the fuel pressure by using the "finger in hose" method 3 - I previously thought a look at the MAF sensor and a cleanup would be appropriate, but it seems Felicias have a MAP sensor instead, and I can't find much information about it and how to maintain it, especially in carburetor models. 4 - Check the tightness of the throttle cable. I've done it, and it has a tiny bit of play, which is how I think it's supposed to be. That is all I have for now. Are there other parts that could be causing this issue, maybe a sensor I don't know of? I ordered a Haynes manual but it will take a bit to get here. Any input or suggestions are appreciated.

Ok, that sounds reasonable enough. I'll also hunt around for a new thermostat since I already have the coolant drained and it could help with the rough idle. Thanks for the help!

Ok, so continuing on this topic (not sure if I should create a new topic for the new issue or not). All attempts to charge the battery ended in failure, so I took out the old one and put in a new battery. With that, car turned on and there was no trial or error with the key, the new ignition switch just worked, so that's an improvement. The car doesn't stay on without the gas pedal being pressed, but that's a problem for another day (need to check the throttle body, the fuel pump and the sensors but since I'm waiting on getting a proper VAGCOM cable for it, it has to wait). As soon as I plugged in the battery, the radiator fan came on and stayed on. That likely explains why the previous battery went flat. I read that in some cars this can be caused by a faulty relay, but I don't think that's a likely issue since I unplugged all relays and the connections look good. Next came checking the radiator: First off, it was out of coolant, so I flushed the cooling system and the stuff in there was absolutely disgusting. Secondly, I read that this can be caused by a faulty Temperature Switch, I took it out and it doesn't look too bad but it's a cheap replacement anyways so I might as well put in a new one. Here is a photo of the existing one: However, I think the likely issue is the cable that leads to the temperature switch. It looks pretty burnt out to my eyes: What part should I get to replace it? I can see temperature switches on local part websites and skoda-parts, but I can't seem to find the cable that actually leads to it. Here is also a photo of the inner part of the temperature switch. The stuff that was in the radiator was absolutely vile and left a coating of crud on the surface...

I never thought it would be a particularly easy thing to do (hence me asking for help), and I surely wouldn't have been able to get the ignition switch out if it wasn't for the great guide on this forum. But you gotta start somewhere. If you never try to tackle an electrical or electronics issue, then you'll never learn.

I was trying to start it with a dead battery. Since I was already having ignition or key problems beforehand it never occurred to me that this could be a separate issue caused by the battery. Live and learn...

Ok, so quick update. With the multimeter I got yesterday, I tested the car battery and it's fully dead. I'll try charging it one more time and if it doesn't work Ill put in a new one. However, I already have the ignition switch exposed and I was having key problems anyways so I ordered a TOPRAN ignition switch and I'll replace the one in the car. Hopefully fixing the battery and the switch resolves all my issues. Thank you for all your input and helpful advice!

Hello Ken Thank you very much. That explanation helped me a lot. I actually had no idea that's how ignition switches worked. Going in through the possible issues you mentioned: I don't really know how to read these, and I haven't found an ignition wiring schematic for my specific model (I just put it back the same way I had found it), but looking at this: And at the schematics for other similar models (diesel and pickup), it seems like the red wire is the one coming straight from the battery. The red one is also centered like you said, so it seems like a fair guess that that's the live one. I'll check it with a multimeter later today and see if it has power. I already tried to charge the battery with the help of another car with no effect, so if the red wire is carrying power I'll buy an ignition switch and replace it. I'll report back with the result.