Circuital

HI all, Just a quick update: -A couple of weeks ago, the hard starts seemed to stop and it now starts up fine each morning -However, until last week it was pumping out horrible white smoke like nobody's business. Again, sometimes it would do this and sometimes not. For the past week, it's been absolutely fine though - no smoke, no hard starts, nothing untoward -I took it to a garage last Saturday and despite using two different Snap-On diagnostic kits, he couldn't communicate with the car, so @paulski, don't worry it's my car being an idiot, rather than your kit The mechanic rang two of his Skoda-specialist mates and since the faults are intermittent, the conclusion is that i've probably got a faulty ecu. I asked whether he could recommend a decent auto-electrician and he basically told me it wouldn't be worth the amount of money it would cost to trace the fault 🤦‍♂️. Thanks for all your help anyway and i'll let you know if I get to the bottom of it. Hopefully it'll continue to magically work fine, as it has been doing for the past week!

@SuperbTWM "having a hard start, then shutting the engine off and plugging the cam sensor back in and having a good start proves nothing. You should have really stopped the engine and tried to start it again without touching anything to prove the fault repeats itself before you then change a variable when fault finding." Thanks for your time again. I have done this too and the result is always the same - once the engine has successfully started, turning it off and then on again results in a good start. I'm also thinking the cam position sensor isn't the root cause now. To be honest it was a lazy stab in the dark and I should've got diagnostics done first, which will be my next step. If that doesn't yield anything clear then i'll take it to a mechanic. I guess I was hoping i'd be able to have a go at fixing it myself like in my younger days when i'd do bits and bobs on my old Citroen C15D van - more for the satisfaction than anything else!

Sorry about the late reply, early starts and late finishes this week!. I unplugged it yesterday morning and it was exactly the same as the video - lots of cranking and took ages to kick in. I then turned off the engine, plugged it back in and started the engine again and it started no problem. I drove to work and then the next time I turned the engine (without any messing about with the sensor) was when I left work 11 hours later and again, it started fine. Then this morning, it needed lots of cranking again and then this evening, lots of cranking again.

@sepulchrave, I did get the mechanic to visually check the condition and tension of the cam belt last year because the car had incomplete service history when I bought it and he said it was in good nick. I've taken a couple of photos with the cover removed but i'm guessing they're not of much use without seeing it in person?

Hi @SuperbTWM, yes it does. I've swapped the sensor back to the original so at least it now starts after much cranking. After the initial crank-heavy start, if I turn the engine off and start it again, it starts immediately, without the excessive cranking. Fabia Cranking compressed.mp4

Thank you for your response. I have played around with diagnostics before and managed to sort a steering lock fault on my brother's BMW 520 with a cable and some software that I bought from eBay. I am thinking of buying this cable to see if if I can get some more information. I've also checked the VCDS owners map and @paulski I was wondering if I could trouble you to get a fault code reading for some beer money please?

Thank you. The engine number on my V5 is: AMF 910059. If that's not what is needed then here's a pic from the V5 (turns out it's 2005):

Sorry again (can't edit the post), the last one should read: Pin 3 to Batt positive: 12.33v

Sorry, just to make this more clear, when I tested the voltage it was done with the ignition in the on the position but without starting the car and I tested it as follows: Pin 1 to Batt negative: 12.33v (the video description suggest that this should be around 5v on a 1.4 model) Pin 2 to Batt negative: 4.98v Pin 3 to Batt negative: 12.33v

Morning all, I have a 2006 Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDi Ambiente (mileage around 114,000). Earlier last year whilst visiting my family in Nottingham (around August) it began intermittently struggling to start a little and producing a lot of smoke, which was easily resolved after a few seconds and pushing the accelerator to push up the revs on idle. I needed an interim service and my exhaust done so I got a mechanic to check it out and also had the following work done: 3 x glow plugs changed (1 was completely faulty, 1 partially and I thought I might as well get the other swapped whilst I was there) Injector seals replaced with Elring ones. This is because the mechanic s said the oil seemed smoky and the smoke was blue colured from the exhaust The same day the work was completed I drove back down to Brighton and there was no problem. However the intermittent fault has continued. In the last couple of weeks, when I turn the engine upon first start, it starts but then immediately (within a couple of seconds) stops again. Then I crank it again and have to keep the key turned and the engoine slowly turns faster and faster before it kicks in. Once started, it runs absolutely fine. There's no engine management light and I don't have a fault code reader/cable. I tested the battery and it's fine and also did a bit of research and thought the cam position sensor might be at fault. I found this video from HatBoyHarvey and followed it. The voltage reading I got with the sensor disconnected were as follows: 1 + earth approx: 12.33v (the video description suggest that this should be around 5v on a 1.4 model) 2 + earth approx: 4.98v 3 + battery pos. term: 12.33v I'd already bought the new (aftermarket Valeo) cam position sensor so went ahead and fitted it. Unfortunately the cranking problem is even worse now and I could barely get the car started after a few attempts. However, when I disconnected the cam position sensor and left it disconnected, I was able to get the car started. I'm thinking of putting the old sensor back in temporarily so I can at least get the car started whilst I figure this out! Does anyone have anyone have ideas about what's going on please? Thanks for your time!